Chicago Bears: Kyle Fuller earned big money against A.J. Green
Chicago Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller had a huge day on Sunday to help earn him a contract this offseason
The Chicago Bears blow out win of the Cincinnati Bengals was fun, but there is nothing too major in the short term to take away from this game. The Bengals were banged up and unmotivated, and the Bears had nothing to lose. However, it was clear that this game was important for Kyle Fuller. Fuller, a free agent this offseason was matched up with annual Pro Bowler A.J. Green. Fuller has had a strong season, but had to know a late season shut down of Green would be the icing on top of his extension producing cake.
Fuller did just that, and went toe to toe with Green, coming away victorious. Below, you see the first route the two go up against each other. Green is running a comeback. However, look how well he runs it. His body is swaying in and out. He could run a post, an out or a comeback based on his movement. However, Fuller reads him like a book. He immediately gets in front of Green, jumps the route ,and forces an incompletion.
He also showed great recovery to keep up with Green down the field. Below, he knows he has the safety, Chris Prosinski over the top and towards the middle. He takes away the inside and sideline and forces a great pass from Andy Dalton to fit into the window of defenders. The pass fades just a touch, which gives Fuller the time to get his hand in and break up the attempt.
Fuller is working out of the slot on this deep pass attempt. However, he again is right on Green, forcing a deep pass where Green has to fully lay out to catch. In this case, Dalton leads him a touch too far and it goes incomplete.
When thinking of the Bears offseason, they may have to be deciding between Prince Amukamara and Kyle Fuller to re-sign. On one hand, Amukamara has not been bad and is going to be cheaper. However, the picture shown below could show the vast contrast in the two and make the strong case to spend the cash on Fuller.
On this play, A.J. Green is lined up on Amukamara. Notice the safety over the top. With Green on Amukamara, the coaching staff is not trusting their cornerback and is giving him the proper over the top coverage.
On the play below, you can see that with Fuller on Green, they are comfortable leaving him without the safety presence. Dalton is looking at his star receiver in a one-on-one matchup. However, Green is being jammed by Fuller and Dalton is forced to look away.
Due to the lack of a pass rush, Dalton is still working from a clean pocket and has a chance to go back to Green. However, Fuller is on him all the way down the field, forcing Dalton to finally give up and thrown the ball away.
This shut down of Green was on. Green finished the game with five receptions for 64 yards. However, you can see on his route chart below that Fuller was not having it from the start, and that the Bengals were not going to keep testing him. They made sure to get Green lined up in the more favorable matchup on the other side of the field. Four of his five receptions came on the left side of the field and the other came in the slot.
Whether it is in Chicago or somewhere else, Kyle Fuller is going to get paid this offseason. When asking if he is worth the money, ask A.J. Green and Andy Dalton.