Bears’ throwback defense has Cardinals facing 0-3

A third-straight loss awaits the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3, thanks to the Chicago Bears’ throwback defense.

Two games in, just six points scored, a misfiring quarterback and a visit from the big, bad Chicago Bears defense. It’s not easy being Arizona Cardinals rookie head coach Steve Wilks.

The former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator is facing an 0-3 start in the job. A Bears D’ led by the marauding Khalik Mack will see to it at State Farm Stadium.

Trading for Mack has given Chicago DC Vic Fangio the last piece in the puzzle. It’s the piece he needed to finish construction of a throwback unit reminiscent of his intimidating defenses with the San Francisco 49ers from earlier in the decade.

Fangio took over the defense in San Fran when Jim Harbaugh was appointed head coach in 2011. He turned a talented yet underachieving group into one of the league’s best.

The formula for the transformation was alarmingly simple. Fangio leaned on a four-man rush in front of coverage looks which rarely changed. Nor did the personnel on the field, as the Niners usually dominated offenses with the same fearsome 11.

Similarities abound between those 49ers units and the group Fangio directs for the Bears. The lion’s share of San Francisco’s pressure also came off the edge thanks to Aldon Smith.

Mack has assumed the Smith role as an edge menace who can swap sides and is never shy about stunting inside. Like the Bears, the 49ers ostensibly ran a base 3-4 but were able to keep nickel personnel on the field because they could still stop the run through the interior.

Justin Smith was Fangio’s monster in the middle in the Bay Area. He has two of those in Chicago, in the form of Eddie Goldman and Akiem Hicks.

The latter is a brilliant tackle who isn’t limited to early downs. Hicks can collapse the pocket as well as he clogs rushing lanes.

His presence is bad news for David Johnson. The Cardinals have “neutralized Johnson’s effectiveness by making him a straight-ahead runner with few attempts to get him in space,” according to NFL.com Fantasy editor Marcas Grant.

The same ploy won’t work against the interior of Chicago’s D-line.

Fortunately, Wilks has said offensive coordinator Mike McCoy will work on being more creative with Johnson, per Darren Urban of the team’s official website:

"We’ve got to utilize David from the standpoint of getting him out of the backfield, putting him in the slot, putting him out there to try and create that matchup that we need.David is very effective when he is out in space, so we have to start utilizing him in those particular matters."

Moving Johnson around is a solid idea, but one the Bears may have an answer for. The answer will come from inside linebackers Danny Trevathan and rookie Roquan Smith.

Both are athletic enough to matchup with pass-catches out in space. It’s why they stay on the field for nickel duty, much the same way Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman did for Fangio’s 49ers.

Fangio’s willingness to play combination coverage with zone looks and robbers stealing routes underneath will challenge Sam Bradford. The fragile veteran quarterback is already on the hot seat after a 55.6 passing rating through two games.

Bradford has averaged just four yards a pass. The number won’t increase by much against a capable secondary underpinned by cornerbacks Kyle Fuller and Prince Amukamara.

Wilks isn’t turning to 10th-overall pick Josh Rosen just yet. What he is doing is scaling back the offense.

Bradford said the idea is “to go out there and play faster, simplify everything a little bit,” per AZCentral.com’s Bob McManaman.

Getting rid of the ball quickly will be vital against a rampaging pass rush yielding double-digit sacks already.

The Cardinals can become more Bradford-friendly, but don’t count on it making much of a difference against this Bears defense.