Bears set sights on slowing Lions’ rushing attack in Week 2, here’s what the defense can learn from the Packers’ success last week
It’ll be a tall task.
The Chicago Bears are eager to turn the page this week and look to avoid starting the season 0-2 in the NFC North when the team travels to take on the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
This will obviously be a big one for both sides after both teams failed to live up to expectations in Week 1 and it will also be a homecoming game for Bears’ head coach Ben Johnson returning to face his former team.
Going into this matchup, the Bears defense have zeroed in on stopping the ground game going up against the Lions’ offense, a task that’s always easier said than done.
“I think Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery is probably the best, if not one of the best, backfields in the league,” veteran safety Kevin Byard explained. “Kinda knowing how they want to attack offenses, they want to get the run game going so they can set up the play-action passes, the boots. Everything starts with the run game. If you stop that first, you then have to win your one-on-ones.”
Last week against the Green Bay Packers, the Lions offense surprisingly struggled to move the ball and the reason why is because the Packers dominated the line of scrimmage against the run game and then hit home with the pressure against the pass.
“The Packers certainly exploited the two new starters with their interior defensive linemen, Christian Mahogany and especially rookie Tate Ratledge—Colby Wooden in particular had a great game affecting gaps throughout the entire game. But the biggest point for Green Bay was how effective the off-ball linebackers were to close holes quickly and play well in space,” A to Z Sports Green Bay writer Wendell Ferreira explained. “In addition to running plays, the Lions tried to put Jahmyr Gibbs in space several times, but the Packers’ linebackers were everywhere to avoid significant gains. It’s not a coincidence that Gibbs had 10 catches, however finished the game with only 31 receiving yards.
“The Packers primarily played with Cover 3. Against a loaded box, the Lions would ideally throw some deep passes to open up the field, but Green Bay generated too much pressure too quickly, so the entire offense short circuited trying to exclusively generate yards after the catch without much success.”
For the Lions’ side of things, the left side of the front was a major problem in run protection. Left tackle Taylor Decker finished with a 36.6 run blocking grade, left guard Graham Glasgow posted a 34.4 and Mahogany at center had a 58.1 run blocking grade. Even in space, those three struggled to maintain their blocking assignments.
While this example is technically a screen pass to Montgomery, it’s easy to see how the Lions struggled to block against the Packers in space, where the offense usually prefers to have their playmakers work with the ball in their hands.
This play was dead from the moment Montgomery caught the ball. Decker, Glasgow and Mahogany all let their blocking assignments get by them, resulting in a loss of two yards. It’s clear those will be the main three players to attack.
Beyond the issues with one-on-one blocks by Detroit, the linebacker core in Green Bay gave the Lions some major fits in Week 1. Edgerrin Cooper, especially, was flying all over the field against the Lions but overall the Packers entire defense did a sound job filling gaps and getting multiple hats to the football on multiple plays in that game.
Replicating that level of success with the linebacker position is going to be key for the Bears’ defense in stopping the run. Ideally, the unit will have T.J. Edwards back in Week 2, but even if he’s out, the trio of Tremaine Edmunds, Noah Sewell, and Ruben Hyppolite II should be in for an ideal matchup.
From there, it’s just a matter of making sound tackles and getting everyone to the football.
“Our ability to get guys down in space is going to be important,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen explained. “As many eyes as we can have on their guys, is the better.”
At the same time, it only takes one explosive play to open the ground game back up and the Lions will be hunting for those shots. So, the secondary will have to be on their toes too.
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It’ll need to be all hands on deck.
