3 notable changes Chicago Bears defense made in week 5

1. Moving Chicago Bears CBs around

One thing we have seen through the first four weeks is the Chicago Bears will not move their cornerbacks around. Kindle Vildor has played the last side every snap. Jaylon Johnson has always played the right side.

Gordon played the right side when Johnson was out, but the left side was Johnson was in. However, against the Minnesota Vikings, the coaches clearly trusted Kindle Vildor over Gordon and UDFA rookie Jaylon Jones.

So, instead of playing sides and letting the Vikings pick who, Justin Jefferson would match up against, the team made a change. Of course, this change came after the first quarter when Jefferson already racked up 91 yards.

Still, they decided to let Vildor follow Jefferson. Vildor played 32 snaps on the left and 36 snaps on the right. This is the first time the Chicago Bears had a cornerback follow another team’s wide receiver.

The move worked as Jefferson was held in check during the second half, and Vildor recorded an interception as well. It will be interesting to see if they do this moving forward, though.

Jaylon Johnson is always more comfortable on his one side, and if they trust Vildor in that way, they probably will not worry as much about doing this. However, what it does show is that when the time calls for it, they will not just sit there and play sides because that is what they do. If they feel the opposite cornerback is in a mismatch, they will call for their top CB to follow the others team’s wide receiver. Also, they will make that call in the middle of the game.

This was a loss, but a good sign that the coaches will be making changes as the season continues and they have seen their fair share of snaps.