Bear Digest

Tricky situation developing for Ben Johnson and the Bears defense

The Bears are rapidly approaching a point where they'll have a difficult decision to make on defense thanks to the strong play they're getting from C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Gene Chamberlain|
Gardner-Johnson celebrates with defensive tackle Gervon Dexter after on of his two sacks Sunday in the win over the Giants.
Gardner-Johnson celebrates with defensive tackle Gervon Dexter after on of his two sacks Sunday in the win over the Giants. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

An honest appraisal of the situation at Bears slot cornerback came from Ben Johnson following Sunday's win when asked about C.J. Gardner-Johnson's play.

Or was it an extremely lightly veiled message about their secondary personnel? Or both?

Gardner-Johnson produced two more sacks and the game-changing forced fumble against the Giants while Kyler Gordon missed his third game on injured reserve. He is eligible to come off of IR after four games, if his injured groin has healed.

“I haven't been around Kyler a whole lot yet," Johnson said. "He's been dinged up, so I can't speak to that."

Ouch. It couldn't have been a good thing to hear for Gordon, who got a contract extension at $13 million a year prior to this season.

"But, listen, I love what C.J. brings to the table right now. You feel him out there," Ben Johnson said. "He's a football player. He loves to be competing. He finds himself around the ball quite a bit. I think we all appreciate that.”

Johnson's knack for big plays haven't quite been equaled in pass coverage. Turnovers are a great deodorizer. Three sacks don't hurt. Gardner-Johnson's passer rating against when targeted isn't impressive at 109.5 in the two games but Gordon's was a disastrous 147.1. 

Then again, you're dealing with such a small sample size, but there's the problem.

Ben Johnson really hasn't been around Gordon much. He has played fewer snaps on defense this year (81) than Gardner-Johnson (112), and Gardner-Johnson started the year in Houston, then was on Baltimore's practice squad.

A coach can only go by what they're seeing on the field. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has been around Gardner-Johnson a lot more than he has been able to familiarize himself with the play of Gordon.

What happens when Gordon returns?

They'd like to know he truly is healthy before this happens as he was out four games to start the season.

Picking up sacks on slot blitzes shouldn't be marginalized. Nor is that a slot cornerback's primary function. Getting the job done in coverage is the goal, and the analytics say neither did that really well this year. It isn't an easy job when Allen likes to blitz so much, but what the Bears do know about both players is they're versatile.

Gardner-Johnson's best years might have been with the Eagles playing safety rather than playing slot cornerback for Johnson in New Orleans. He has played outside cornerback a little. Gordon, in 2022 as a rookie and even as recently as 2023, played some on the outside.

Gordon was probably better on the outside than Gardner-Johnson based on the amount of reps both took outside, but it's difficult to determine.     

If the Bears put Gordon outside in place of Nahshon Wright, it could strengthen the coverage. In Wright's defense, this has been his first real opportunity to play longer term as a starter. In his first four seasons, he got in for exactly half as many total plays (269) on defense as he has had in this season alone (538).

Wright hasn't been terrible, although Pro Football Focus doesn't think much of his play because they grade him 90th of 109 NFL cornerbacks. He's had a few really poor games mixed in with average play, but his passer rating against is a solid 87.2 according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference. PFF puts it at a worse level of 96.1, but still not a problem.

Either way, the Bears can't be elated with his play. Otherwise, they wouldn't  have displayed trade interest in New Orleans' Alontae Taylor, as NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported. Nor would they have brought Asante Samuel Jr. in for a look before he signed with Pittsburgh.

Whether they would be better with Gordon moving out to right cornerback remains to be seen. When he was playing outside in the past, it was usually on the defense's left side before they had Tyrique Stevenson.  

It's a mix they'll need to get a better feel for when Gordon returns. It is going to happen eventually, possibly as soon as after the Vikings game, when they're preparing to face Aaron Rodgers.

Ultimately, the deciding factor for who plays slot cornerback could be the Bears pass rush and not their secondary. With three sacks in two weeks, they might be better off keeping Gardner-Johnson in the slot and blitzing because Montez Sweat can use the help. The other pass rushers aren't providing much.

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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.