Bear Digest

Matchups for Chicago Bears to fear against Ben Johnson's old team

Several of Detroit's stars are real problems for the Bears Sunday, even those matched up against some of the better players on Chicago's roster.
Gene Chamberlain|
Aidan Hutchinson fights with Darnell Wright to make a strip-sack against the Bears at Ford Field in 2023.
Aidan Hutchinson fights with Darnell Wright to make a strip-sack against the Bears at Ford Field in 2023. | David Reginek-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Ben Johnson's return to Detroit might be a bit emotional but it's going to work two ways.

Lions players always spoke with great reverence for Johnson when he was their offensive coordinator and there was some talk of betrayal and trash talk when he went to another NFC North team, although much of it seemed to be taken with good humor.

Either way, it's going to be important for one of the teams to establish themselves over the other the first time they play and maybe more important for Lions coach Dan Campbell. He needs to show he can win games against teams he beat regularly with Johnson.

The Lions' disappointing performance last week against Green Bay in the opener definitely didn't say this for him.

Here are the matchups favoring Campbell's Lions when they try to deal Johnson his second straight loss this season on Sunday at Ford Field.

Amon Ra. St. Brown vs. Kyler Gordon

Gordon's status is unknown for the game, though an due to a hamstring injury that sidelined him last week. If he's out, Nick McCloud would play the slot defense again, provided Josh Blackwell remains out with a groin injury. St. Brown got off to a slow start by his measures, with four catches for 45 yards against Green Bay. When Johnson was his offensive coordinator he averaged 6.9 receptions per game. St. Browns combination of quickness and route running wasn't something the Bears faced in the slot last week, where 36-year-old Adam Thielen was the one opposing McCloud, a third-team slot cornerback.

The Bears have held St. Ra in check through much of the eight games they faced him, relatively speaking. He averages 5.7 catches and 64.4 yards against them but has only two TD receptions for the eight games. He has one 100-yard game, the only time he went over 77 yards against them.

It's the first time he's faced Ben Johnson's team, though, and he had a particularly good relationship with his former offensive coordinator. No doubt he'll be looking to impress.

Aidan Hutchinson vs. Darnell Wright

It was a particularly uneventful return to the field for Hutchinson against the Packers after he missed most of 2024 with an ACL tear. He had no tackles and a quarterback hit for 46 defensive snaps played in his first action since Week 5 in 2024, but is going against someone he's familiar with in Wright. Hutchinson owned when the Bears' right tackle was a rookie in 202 with two sacks, three QB hits, seven pressures and a tackle for loss in two games. Is it different now after Wright has gained some experience? PFF gave Wright the best pass blocking grade of anyone on the Bears roster in the loss to Minnesota, but the line allowed 19 pressures total and tat was second worst in the NFL last week. Not surprisingly, he also was the best run blocker in a game when the Bears didn't run well.

Will he maintain the momentum in Week 2 against a player he struggled against as a rookie, but who is still getting over the ACL tear of less than a year ago?

Montez Sweat vs. Penei Sewell

Going against the all-everything right tackle for the Lions is never an easy matchup but Sweat got off to a decent start on the edge last week, even if his cold stretch for sacks continued. The highest paid Bears player had no sacks and has had just one in his last seven games. He didn't get a sack against Sewell last year in two games and had just one pressure. Sewell didn't have a particularly great start to his season, with the team's third-best pass blocking grade on the line behind left tackle Taylor Decker and center Graham Glasgow. The Bears need pressure inside, in particular, on Jared Goff because he's not really mobile and likes stepping up to throw. But the outside concern always helps.

Tyrique Stevenson vs. Jameson Williams

Williams is certain to be out to make a statement after his first game with Johnson not in Detroit was close to a disaster. He made four catches on five targets against the Packers, for only 23 yards. But last year Johnson found a way to harness his 4.2-plus speed and he caught a bomb against the Bears for a TD in Chicago and had 10 catches for 171 yards. Stevenson has the better speed of the two Bears starting cornerbacks. He ran 4.41 in the combine in the 40 while Jaylon Johnson was at 4.5 but expecting Stevenson to blanket someone with that kind of natural ability is a big ask.

There was also some bad blood in this matchup as Williams came away with a penalty in the game at Detroit for a sideline incident after he had carried the ball and went out of bounds on the Bears' side.

Stevenson had a solid start, with the second-best pass coverage grade for Bears DBs against Minnesota. However, it only takes one for a TD with Williams speed on the field.

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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.