Bear Digest

Red zone matchup advantages tilting to Bears against Bengals

It's rare when the Bears offense has had an advantage in the red zone over an opponent but the Bengals provide several matchup opportunities there and all over the field.
Gene Chamberlain|
Rome Odunze remains the only Bears receiver with more than one TD catch.
Rome Odunze remains the only Bears receiver with more than one TD catch. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It's customary for coaches to build up opposing defenses or offenses, although Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle had to do some thinking when asked about Cincinnati's red zone defense.

"I would say this: Teams are doing a good job of trying to stress their coverages in fronts," Doyle said. "I think they're a young and hungry group. I certainly have a lot of respect for their coaching staff and what they do.

"Teams are going down and they're attacking the specific coverages that they're seeing and doing a good job of executing it down there.”

Young and hungry doesn't get it done usually in the NFL unless accompanied by the words "very talented."

The Bengals defense Caleb Williams faces Sunday is ranked last in the league and has allowed the most touchdowns in the red zone with 27, nine rushing and 18 passing. They rate 30th of 32 in terms of red zone TD percentage allowed. It's a chance for a team struggling in the red zone the last three games to get healthy, and the matchups favor it.

It's not easy playing defense when Trey Hendrickson is suffering from an injury or waiting to be traded. The Bengals edge rusher hasn't practiced this week and is said to have a back injury, although with the trade deadline coming Tuesday it would make total sense for the Bengals to hold him out of a game, anyway, if they plan to ship him off somewhere.

The Bears offense has mismatches it can take advantage of Sunday even if their own defense appears to have its hands full against the Cincinnati offense.

Here are the best mismatches favoring the Bears.

T Darnell Wright vs. DE Shemar Stewart

Stewart is the first-round draft pick from Texas A&M who held out and whose abilities were in question leading up to the draft despite high ranking. He has great physical tools but so far has flopped against the run. He ranks 114th of 119 defensive ends graded by Pro Football Focus against the run and Bears right tackle Darnell Wright is 11th out of 77 tackles blocking the run, 21st overall. The Bengals give up 7.03 yards per rush on plays run off right tackle and 6.39 yards on plays run around right end. The Bears rank fifth in the league at 6.89 yards per rush behind their right tackle and average 5.89 yards around right end. Facing this, it wouldn't be a shock if Cincinnati uses a defensive tackle at end.

TE Cole Kmet vs. LB Demetrius Knight

Part of the reason the Bengals run defense has been so soft trying to defend the offense's right side is their linebackers. Knight is graded 79th out of 80 linebackers against the run and 77th overall by PFF. Kmet is coming back from a back injury and looks positive for a start this week. Kmet not only gives them a good short-yardage passing target and red zone threat but his blocking in the running game has been solid as they go against the league's last-ranked run defense.

RG Jonah Jackson vs. DT TJ Slaton

The Bengals acquired Slaton, the former Packer, to be a run-stuffing defensive tackle but their analytics say he hasn't gotten the job done. The 6-foot-5, 340-pounder is graded by PFF as 117th out of 128 at stopping the run among defensive interior players. They use him on an equal amount of runs and passes, and he's 93rd among 128 rushing the passer, although they go to smaller linemen often in pass rush situations. Jackson had some criticism earlier this year but he is now a top 20 player at pass block win rate (18th) among interior offensive linemen according to ESPN, while blocking on a line now ranked sixth in run block win rate.

TE Colston Loveland vs. S Jordan Battle

Loveland seems to be building momentum with 11 catches and eight in the last three games. Battle is graded 56th among 88 safeties in pass coverage and gives up over 18 yards per catch according to PFF. He has picked off three passes, though, so it's been feast or famine for Battle.

WR Rome Odunze vs. S Geno Stone

Stone has a 125.3 passer rating against when targeted and has allowed three TDs according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference. He's also giving up 15.4 yards per reception and 68% completions while defending the deeper routes most often. Odunze has the most deeper routes for the Bears and is coming off a season's best four catches. He's also the only Bears receiver with more than one TD catch, with five.

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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.