Jaylon Johnson, Bears' secondary pushing the bar higher
The Bears’ defense has done its part. Sunday’s 24-18 victory over the Rams at Soldier Field marked the 10th consecutive game going back to last season that the Bears have allowed 21 points or fewer — the longest active streak in the NFL.
The secondary has been a strength, as expected. Safety Jaquan Brisker had 12 tackles, a clinching interception, one sack and two tackles for loss against the Rams. Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson and safety Kevin Byard have all played starring roles. But as the leader of the group, Johnson isn’t taking any bows yet.
“Honestly, we haven’t been good enough,” Johnson said. “We definitely haven’t [prevented] the explosive plays we want to. We got hit on some of our runs — just not being disciplined, not being where we are consistently. Things like that are going to happen, but for us and our standard, we definitely haven’t scratched the surface for what we know we can do because we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”
By the numbers, the Bears aren’t the top-five unit they aspire to be — they’re 10th in points allowed, 11th in yards, third in interceptions per pass play and 17th in sacks per pass play. But through four games it has impressive balance at every level, with highly paid standouts getting plenty of support — defensive end Montez Sweat, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and Johnson.
Six players have at least one sack (defensive tackle Gervon Dexter has three). Twelve players have at least one tackle for loss (Dexter, Sweat, Brisker, linebacker T.J. Edwards and Johnson have three).
Twelve players have figured in a takeaway, including defensive end DeMarcus Walker, whose attempted sack of Titans quarterback Will Levis forced Levis into an ill-advised pass that was intercepted by Stevenson for a pick-6.
Dexter, the all-important 3-technique in Matt Eberflus’ defense, is making expected second-year strides through four games. He leads the Bears with three sacks and six quarterback hits. Rookie defensive end Austin Booker hasn’t made a big impact after an impressive training camp — no sacks, one tackle for loss — but that’s a footnote more than a disappointment that leaves any kind of hole.
The defense still has a big step to take. But with so many players contributing, it has a better chance of doing that. Because nobody wants to get left behind.
“Before we all go out, everybody says, ‘I’m going to get a pick. I’m going to get a pick. The d-line is like, ‘I’m going to get a strip-sack,’” Johnson said. “Just competing all the time … who’s going to make that play.”
Jenkins day to day
Left guard Teven Jenkins is day to day with a bruised rib, coach Matt Eberflus said. Jenkins played 11 snaps against the Rams. Right guard Matt Pryor replaced him, with veteran Nate Davis playing for Pryor.
There were no other reported injuries from the Rams game.
Tory Taylor Show
Even teammates are in awe of rookie punter Tory Taylor, who was a true weapon against the Rams with three punts pinning the Rams inside their 10-yard line. The highlight was a 66-yard punt to the 8 with 6:25 to play and the Bears leading 24-18.
“He’s awesome, man,” Kmet said. “He’s fun to watch. I’ve been telling guys, it’s fun to watch [him] at practice. We don’t want to be in a ton of punting scenarios, but when you’ve got somebody like that where in a four-minute scenario we get one first down and we’re in a good spot there. We’re able to get them to [use] those time outs and Tory takes care of the rest.
“It’s very hard for an offense to go 92 yards with no time outs. It allows the defense to play really aggressive. He’s a hell of a punter.”