Bears Defense & Specialists: Final 2013 stats

We previously looked at how the defensive position groups' and specialists' stats projected coming out of the bye week (week 7) and after week 12.  How did they hold up over the final four weeks of the season?

As before, for reference I also included their 2012 stats and (for the specialists) pre-2013 career averages by way of comparison. All data is taken from NFL.com and Pro-Football-Reference.

Overall defensive stats

	Tackles	Sacks	Sfty	PDef	Ints	TD	FFum	FumR	TD
2013	742	31	0	63	19	5	19	20	1
Projected (week 12)	680	32		72	20	5	23	21	1
Projected (bye week)	752	21		98	23	7	30	18	2
2012	733	41	0	115	24	8	26	20	1

The defense maintained their improved sack rate (compared to the anaemic pass rush coming out of the bye week) and, as a whole, made more tackles in the final four games... their passes defended declined, though, which may reflect opposing teams taking advantage of the weak run defense by pounding the ball on the ground.

Defensive line

	Tackles	Sacks	Sfty	PDef	Ints	TD	FFum	FumR	TD
2013	127	21	0	11	2	1	4	5	0
Projected (week 12)	133	22		15	3	1	4	7
Projected (bye week)	114	9		2			5	11
2012	149	38	0	4	0		7	4	0

The defensive line maintained their improved sack rate following the bye week, but dipped slightly in tackles contributed and passes defended. These may, of course, be a result of facing increased run plays.  We'll get a clearer picture if we look at the second and third lines of defense.

Linebackers

	Tackles	Sacks	Sfty	PDef	Ints	TD	FFum	FumR	TD
2013	221	10	0	14	2		4	2	0
Projected (week 12)	223	9		17	3		5
Projected (bye week)	240	11		25			7	2
2012	188	3	0	23	3	3	5	3	0

Lance Briggs was lost to injury going into the bye week, and his return at the end of the season was too late to pick up the unit, as a whole.  The struggling group made a smaller percentage of the team's total tackles than was projected at the bye week.

Secondary

	Tackles	Sacks	Sfty	PDef	Ints	TD	FFum	FumR	TD
2013	336	0	0	37	15	0	9	1	0
Projected (week 12)	316	0.5		39	15	4	11	1
Projected (bye week)	306			48	23	7	14	2
2012	280	0	0	65	21	5	11	9	0

The secondary were called upon to make a higher and higher proportion of tackles as the season wore on, though their other defensive stats remained at moreorless the same level through the final four games of the season.  Having your safeties be second and third on the team for tackles (behind James Anderson's team-leading 85 solo) isn't a good sign.

As important as the nickel back position is with so many offenses featuring three-wide sets, it's striking to note that Isaiah Frey, who replaced original choice Kelvin Hayden when the latter was lost for the season in training camp, wasn't credited with any stats other than tackles.  The Bears will undoubtedly look for increased production from that position next season.

Kick returner: Devin Hester

	Punt Rt	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/Rt	K/o Rt	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/Rt	APYd
2013	18	256	1	81T	14.2	52	1,436	0	80	27.6	1,792
Projected (week 12)	20	223			11.1	48	1,353			28.2	1,576
Projected (bye week)	21	274	2		13.0	48	1,406			29.3	1,680
2012	40	331	0	44	8.3	24	621	0	40	25.9	1,200
Career avg	35.1	426.4	1.7	89T	12.1	24.3	581.1	0.7	98T	23.9	1,007.6

Hester was unable to get the 20th punt/KO TD return to take him clear of the record he shares with Deion Sanders, but he seemed to be increasingly productive in the return game late in the season; being removed from WR duties may have helped in that.  He's a free agent and it remains to be seen if the Bears value him enough to devote a roster spot to a pure returner, or if Lovie Smith can lure him to Tampa Bay.

Kicker: Robbie Gould

	FG att	FGM	Lng	Blk	Pct
2013	29	26	58	0	89.7
Projected (week 12)	32	28			87.5
Projected (bye week)	30	27			90.0
2012	25	21	54	2	84.0
Career avg	30.4	26	57	1.25	85.6

Robbie Gould had another solid season and the Bears rewarded him with a new contract.  No complaints here.

Punter: Adam Podlesh

	Punts	Yds	Net Yds	Lng	Avg	Net Avg	Blk	OOB	Dn	In 20	TB	FC	Ret	RetY	TD
2013	68	2,763	2,612	65	40.6	37.9	1	11	15	27	2	25	15	111	0
Projected (week 12)	73	3,052	2,880		41.8	39.5	1	13	16	31	1	27	16	145
Projected (bye week)	66	2,889	2,670		43.8	40.5		11	18	30	2	23	11	174
2012	81	3,399	3,195	64	42.0	39.4	0	7	18	34	6	25	25	84	0
Career avg	66.5	2,842.2	2,576.7	76	42.7	38.7	0	5.8	10.2	21.7	3.8	16.5	29.2	168.8	0

The Bears punted at a slightly decreased rate after the bye week, and overall Podlesh was called upon 13 fewer times than in the Ticefense.  It's noticeable that his gross and net averages declined as the season progressed; with the Bears set to bring a couple of young, cheap punters to camp who might be more than just camp legs (including the son of '85 Bears kicker Kevin Butler), it's fair to ask if his roster spot may be under pressure.

Long snapper: Patrick Mannelly

	Awesomeness
2013	Awesome
Projected (week 12)	Awesome
Projected (bye week)	Awesome
2012	Awesome
Career avg	Awesome

The Pat Man has yet to decide if he's returning to extend his franchise record of games played for the Bears, but his 2013 campaign was up to his usual standard.

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(Article pic in hi-res.)