Bear Digest

Mismatch for Bears defense begins with Commanders' Jayden Daniels

The No. 1 rushing team can be difficult for the last-ranked Bears run defense to overcome unless the expected additions of T.J. Edwards and Kyler Gordon to provide sparks.
Gene Chamberlain|
Kevin Byard and Austin Booker give chase to Jayden Daniels on a run last season in Washington's 18-15 win over the Bears.
Kevin Byard and Austin Booker give chase to Jayden Daniels on a run last season in Washington's 18-15 win over the Bears. | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The problem with stopping Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders offense for the Bears on defense is not simply Daniels.

There is also offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury to contend with, as he has designed his offense to suit one of the most mobile quarterbacks in the NFL.

In the past, many around the league referred to the Commanders style as a "college" offense and in plenty of respects this is true, but Kingsbury merely melded parts of the Air Raid offense with NFL style football and gave his QB a chance to run zone read plays among other things.

Stopping it is not simple because of Daniels' mobility.

“There's a lot to it," Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. "The engine to this thing is the quarterback and the ability of the quarterback to run the football, and that makes you play 11-on-11 football. So, you can't just isolate on the running back.

"It's like back in the old days of defending the triple option: everybody's going to have a dive, quarterback, pitch responsibilities, and everybody's got to do their job on each and every one of those plays."

They're not lining up in the old wishbone offense but the effect can split  up defenders' attention just the same.

"So, that's the thing that really makes it challenging is that they can be running a play over here where they create numbers, and yet the quarterback has the ability to take the ball out the backside," Allen said.

The change this year to rookie seventh-round running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt can challenge them, as well. He's averaging a league-high 6.6 yards a carry, and the Commanders have been able to block it well enough that backups Jeremy McNichols (112) and Chris Rodriguez (105) have gone over 100 yards on the season as they seek to replace the loss of Austin Ekeler to an Achilles injury.

"I think the offense is explosive and it has put him in good positions to make play," Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said of Croskey-Merritt. "Another athletic guy, he comes in and runs hard. We have to do a good job.

"It all comes down to us and understand what we need to do and our plan of attack."

As a result, what confronts the Bears' last-ranked defense against the run—at least in yards per carry—is the No. 1 rushing attack in the NFL.

It takes a ton of pressure off Daniels and the passing attack, and they've piled up 95 points in their last three games. Getting key defenders T.J. Edwards and Kyler Gordon back healthy couldn't come at a better time.

"I think their running backs run extremely well," Allen said. "I think they have great vision. I think they are able to find the seams in the defense, they get vertical within the defense, and they run really hard.

"So, this is obviously a very good running team and that'll be a big part of the game plan I would assume.”

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.