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6. Chicago Bears (3-1)
I was very high on the Bears already before acquiring Khalil Mack in a trade from the Raiders, but at 9-7 I had them just miss the playoffs because of tiebreakers favoring the Vikings. I feel sick to my stomach to not have put them in there as that number six seed now.
Up to this point, Chicago has been the best defense in the league with the current MVP on either side of the ball in the aforementioned Mack. He has now recorded a sack and a forced fumble in all four games to start the season. With that being said, the entire front-seven is loaded – Akiem Hicks is one of the most underrated players in the NFL as an interior disruptor, the dynamic LB duo of Danny Trevathan and rookie Roquan Smith makes plays all over the field and even rotational guys like Aaron Lynch come up with impact plays.
The pressure they put on the opposition up front allows that secondary to be aggressive and guys like Prince Amukamara and Eddie Jackson benefit from that. Now the offense under Matt Nagy is showing signs and you have Mitch Trubisky throw six touchdowns? That’s a scary bunch, because they have the weapons around their second-year QB.
7. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-1)
Watching Blake Bortles play quarterback is like a rollercoaster ride. Week two in New England he destroys the Patriots D, then the next week he comes back against the Titans and seems like he doesn’t know how to throw a football.
Sacksonville’s defense is ranked first in yards and points allowed with the premiere cornerback duo and one of the best all-around pass rush attacks in the league. Their offensive line has taken a hit with the loss of left tackle Cam Robinson, but overall they have worked well together as a unit providing protection and getting their number two and three backs going in the run game.
With that being said, I’m not quite ready to put the Jags any higher at this point as long as Leonard Fournette can’t stay healthy. I don’t really have any questions about this defense, because on the back-end they have the personnel to simply run that single-high safety scheme and up front, I love their stunt and twist games. However, as long as this offense relies on Bortles to put points on the board (and he hasn’t been terrible) I like some other teams better.
