Bears preseason opener gave a taste of how aggressive this team can be under head coach Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen
This is an entirely new team.
Even though the Chicago Bears preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins ended in a 24-24 tie, we still learned a lot during the first game under new head coach Ben Johnson and his staff.
On the field, a few notable players made some impact plays and you can read some of those takeaways here.
As far as the coaching staff itself, let’s look into some of the main things we noticed in this game.
Ben Johnson channeling his inner Dan Campbell
We should have expected to see this. After spending three seasons in Detroit as Dan Campbell’s offensive coordinator, everyone knew Johnson would bring over a little bit of aggressiveness when it comes to calling his new offense on fourth down.
On Sunday against the Dolphins, the Bears attempted four fourth-down attempts on offense, with some mix results. Johnson noted after the game the team probably walks out with a win if the unit was able to capitalize on some of these failed attempts.
The first attempt came on the unit’s third drive of the game, facing a fourth-and-goal from the four-yard line. Johnson called a shotgun pass play with a TE motion across the formation. After a few seconds in the pocket, quarterback Tyson Bagent hit wide receiver Maurice Alexander, who made a nice catch and kept his feet in bounds in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
The second attempt came in the third quarter on a fourth-and-two from the five-yard line. Again Johnson called a pass play that fell incomplete with Case Keenum looking for Jahdae Walker.
The third attempt came late in the fourth quarter with Austin Reed in the game at quarterback. The Bears faced a fourth-and-three needing to get in field goal range. Reed took a shot down the left sideline looking to draw a pass interference instead of leading an open Walker, the pass fell incomplete. And on the last drive, the Bears went for another one on fourth-and-15 but the pass was incomplete intended for Samori Toure.
It was a small taste, and two of the attempts were in gotta-have-it situations to get into field goal range late in the game, but it’s notable Johnson felt comfortable keeping the offense out there in short-yardage situations to make a play.
Even more aggressiveness from Dennis Allen
Johnson wasn’t the only coach dialing up the aggression against the Dolphins. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s scheme looked really solid.
The unit gave up a few chunk plays, particularly on passes over the middle, but the pressure was cracked up all day long. Chicago’s defense had six sacks (including three from second-year defensive end Austin Booker), four forced fumbles, and two fourth-down stops.
The play from the defensive backs stood out as well. In coverage, the press-man scheme worked early on in the game and the unit held strong in most short-yardage situations. Allen mixed in some exotic blitzes using his defensive backs as well, including this one below that hit home with Alex Cook for a key fourth-down stop. It’s refreshing to see this kind of aggressiveness on defense.
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A rejuvenated Noah Sewell and strong runs by Kyle Monangai highlight top takeaways from the Bears preseason opener vs. Dolphins
The first (preseason) game of the Ben Johnson Era was a success for the Chicago Bears even though the game ended in a 24-24 tie with the Miami Dolphins. While the final outcome would mean a lot to the locker room and coaching staff, what happened on the field means a lot more than the […]
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