This season has been a good chance to learn how the Chicago Bears will do things with their new coaching staff. So far we have seen that while defensive coordinator Alan Williams will stick to his core principles, he also has no issue changing things up when the matchup calls for it.
He does not blitz, unless the matchup dictates it, and can mix up zone and man, although he prefers zone. Beyond that, the Chicago Bears have typically been playing sides with their cornerbacks.
Will Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson follow wide receivers
This has been going on since Vic Fangio, and most of the career of Jaylon Johnson has been spent defending one side of the field.
The Chicago Bears spent the first few weeks of the season following this, but in tough times decided to change against the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings were killing the depth cornerbacks in Chicago without Jaylon Johnson healthy.
So, the team elected to have Kindle Vildor follow Justin Jefferson, in an effort to slow him down. It worked, and Vildor produced a pick as the Bears started to mount a comeback.
With Jaylon Johnson back in the mix, they kept things normal against Washington, but after the mini-bye, it appeared they had changes in store.
The Chicago Bears used Jaylon Johnson to follow Devante Parker. When the Patriots initially went to Bailey Zappe he threw a jump ball to Parker that he won over Johnson. On the night Parker did finish with 68 yards, but only on three catches with that long being 43. Overall, Johnson performed well.
Matt Eberflus was asked about the situation and said they liked the matchup. Still, this is noteworthy because it is the first time they had Johnson follow someone. It is less likely that they see Parker as a game-changing threat and more likely that they will now try to pin Johnson up against most team’s number one as often as possible. Or, at least more than they currently were.
We will what the Chicago Bears do next week when Ceedee Lamb and Michael Gallup come into town. Lamb plays a lot of snaps in the slot, so the team may ask Johnson to follow Gallup, then provide extra help to Kyler Gordon against Lamb.
Keep an eye on if this is just a one wee blip, or after the success on Jefferson and Parker that they continue to look at matchups rather than playing sides.