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Showdown: 2006 Bears Defense vs. 2012 Bears Defense

By Rob Winn in News on Oct 10, 2012 5:20PM

During an appearance Tuesday, Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher said in some ways he believes the 2012 Bears defense is superior to the one he played on in 2006.

"That's a long time ago," Urlacher said. "I know we had a lot of takeaways back then as well. I'm not sure we got after the quarterback as we do now. We have a lot of guys up front who are getting after the quarterback. I don't think we scored as much on defense back then as we do right now."

That got us thinking, after five weeks just how does this defense stack up with the 2006 Super Bowl model? Turns out, Urlacher was pretty close in his comparison. They are neck and neck in total takeaways, with the 2006 defense creating 15 compared to this year's 17. However, they are identical in total sacks with both teams racking up 18 at this point in the season.

The 2006 Bears entered week 6 at 5-0 and the 2012 team enters at 4-1. Here is how they stack up:

2006 Defense

Total Yards: 1,173
Interceptions: 7
Fumble Recoveries: 8
Touchdowns: 0
Sacks: 18

2012 Defense

Total yards: 1,456
Interceptions: 13
Fumble Recoveries: 4
Touchdowns: 5
Sacks: 18

Urlacher went on to say; "The big plays are really separating us apart on defenses I've been on before. The touchdowns, the picks, the sacks, that's the big thing. We'll give up yards. That's not a big deal to us. We want the takeaways and sacks, and we're getting them, and the touchdowns as well."

He was right on in that point. The 2012 team leads the way with an impressive five touchdowns already. The 2006 defense had to wait for the combustible Dennis Green and the Arizona Cardinals in week six before they got their first two touchdowns.

Stats provided by http://www.pro-football-reference.com/.