Bears’ toughest Week 1 challenge could force Dennis Allen into some difficult decisions with his defensive personnel
The Chicago Bears will have a tough matchup against the Carolina Panthers’ budding WR duo in Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker, and it’ll be interesting to see how Dennis Allen matches his corners up on which threat.
The Chicago Bears are one day away from the season opener against the Carolina Panthers and there’s one more matchup for this game that I wanted to break down in depth, and it could be one that decides the outcome of this game.
Earlier in the week, I discussed how this matchup against quarterback Bryce Young is going to be a great early test for Chicago’s secondary to see how the unit is going to hold up right out of the gate.
Looking at it deeper, the Bears are going to have a difficult challenge defending against Carolina’s underrated wide receiver room and how the Bears plan to matchup up against those threats will be something to watch closely.
Carolina Panthers plan to get creative with Tetairoa McMillan, and he’s not the team’s only top threat
The biggest threat to account for in this game is going to be second-year wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, the NFL’s reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year. McMillan had a strong rookie campaign and is looking to follow up on that success in Year 2 after adding more weight to help be more of a mismatch. And the Panthers plan to get more creative with him this season.
“It’s our job as coaches is to put him in different positions to make sure he continues to have an impact on what we’re doing offensively,” Canales said. “Fortunately for us, T-Mac has done a great job of handling whatever we’ve thrown at him.”
One thing the Panthers plan to do more often this year is deploying McMillan out of the slot after playing just 152 snaps there last year and 832 snaps out-wide. When lined up in the slot, McMillan had 583 yards and five touchdowns with 15.3 yards per reception, which ranked fourth in the NFL among players with 50+ targets while lined up in the slot.
“I think he’s best in the slot,” former Panthers WR Adam Thielen explained. “His skill set, it just really fits well in the slot… You can really use that to your matchup advantage going against linebackers and safeties. You get man coverage, you can check to those things, it can be a route adjustment. I really like that idea and they also have other guys that can play outside.”
McMillan isn’t the only threat, as Thielen alluded to. The Panthers also have a big-bodied player in former first-round pick Xavier Legette and a burner in Jimmy Horn Jr. and don’t overlook Jalen Coker, who had 134 yards and a touchdown in the team’s playoff loss against the Los Angeles Rams.
“He’s their best receiver,” Thielen said of Coker. “I truly believe that, he has the ability to be one of the better receivers in the league. He doesn’t have a weakness, he is a massive target… and the guy can run. He can run slants, he’s got body control, he can run dig routes. His ability to stop and start is incredible for a guy who’s 213 pounds and running that fast.”
How Dennis Allen plans to deploy his cornerbacks against those two threats will be key
Matching up against McMillan is already going to be a tough decision for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. Do you shadow him the entire game with Jaylon Johnson? Or do you risk lining him up against another defender in the slot?
“I think the gameplan as you go through it dictates what you feel like you need to do to be successful,” Allen explained. “The game plan’s never about one individual, defensively. It’s really about who are their weapons, who are they trying to get the ball to, and how do we best defend those things that they do really really well and try to make them beat us left-handed.”
Shadowing Johnson on opposing #1 WRs was something the Bears hoped to do more often last season, prior to his injury. Now that he’s fully healthy and back to his former self, it’s something the Bears could look to finally showcase if they choose to do so.
Chicago also has Tyrique Stevenson on the outside, who’s eager to prove himself this season, with Cam Lewis and Malik Muhammad II as options in the slot. However, if Muhammad is playing inside, the rookie better be ready for McMillan to motion inside and try to exploit that mismatch. Fortunately, Muhammad seems ready for that potential challenge.
“I saw a smart, instinctive player that had good speed and good coverage ability,” Allen said of Muhammad. “And so anytime you get a rookie in here, you really want to throw a lot at him and see what they can handle. And he’s been able to handle a pretty good amount.”
It’s going to be a very important matchup to watch. You can’t just plan to take McMillan out of the game, because Coker’s shown he has the ability to take a game over too. How Allen plans to defend against both pass catchers could easily decide how this game goes.
