Bears Week 17 Snap Counts: Dennis Allen made some confusing decisions that played a part in the team’s defensive implosion
There was a lot of head-scratching when the defense was on the field for the Chicago Bears.
The Chicago Bears have a lot of frustration with the way Week 17 ended in San Francisco, but by no means is this team defeated after that loss.
The Bears went shot-for-shot against the hottest offense in the league on the road and had a chance to come away with a win on the final play before coming up short.
There’s a lot of areas to improve on, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And looking at the final snap counts from Sunday night’s game, there’s a few head-scratching decisions that were made.
Bears Week 17 Snap Counts vs. 49ers
Where was former Defensive Player of the Week D’Marco Jackson?
As Adam Hoge of CHGO noted on Monday, where was linebacker D’Marco Jackson on defense? Two weeks ago Jackson was the Defensive Player of the Week, although he was playing in place of Tremaine Edmunds, who returned in Week 16. Jackson was dealing with an illness earlier in the week, but was off the injury report after being a full participant on Friday and played 24 special teams snaps.
But, it’s the second week in a row in which Jackson did not log a single defensive snap. Instead, Edmunds and T.J. Edwards each played 99 percent of the defensive snaps. It was even more surprising to not see Jackson used after the team’s third linebacker, Noah Sewell, suffered a torn Achilles after playing 13 defensive snaps on Sunday.
Jackson has proved to be a solid player for this defense, and the last two weeks Edmunds frankly hasn’t since returning from a groin injury that forced him on the injured reserve. Edwards led the team with 10 tackles but allowed four receptions on four targets with a touchdown. Meanwhile, Edmunds had just six tackles and one missed tackle with seven receptions allowed on seven targets, including two touchdowns.
What was the deal with Jaylon Johnson?
The team’s standout cornerback has been back since Week 13 coming off a pretty serious groin injury that needed surgery to repair. Johnson’s been back in the swing of things for weeks, but the team is still being cautious with his availability.
While Johnson played 55 defensive snaps on Sunday (76 percent), he was absent coming out of halftime with Tyrique Stevenson taking on his role. Eventually, Johnson was back on the field. Perhaps the Bears wanted to monitor his workout after a long first-half, but Johnson himself says he’s fine.
“I’m 100%,” Johnson said after the game, via Brad Biggs. “I don’t know. I’m 100% right now. That’s above my pay grade.”
Johnson made a tremendous play on the first defensive snap of the game, jumping a route in front of 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings. His diving pass breakup was then caught by linebacker T.J. Edwards and returned for a 34-yard touchdown. Johnson was never targeted again all night.
In the meantime, Nahshon Wright played 96 percent of the defensive snaps and was targeted seven times, allowing six receptions for a team-high 101 yards. If Johnson says he’s healthy, there’s no reason to be taking him off the field at this point. It should be Johnson and Stevenson moving forward.
Jahdae Walker, not Luther Burden III, was WR2 in terms of total offensive snaps
It was another day of cardio for wide receiver DJ Moore, the team’s highest-paid offensive player, who finished the game with 61 offensive snaps (91 percent) but only recorded one catch for seven yards on four targets. Yet another frustrating final production from Moore after two strong games.
Behind Moore, undrafted rookie Jahdae Walker actually saw the second-most playing time at the position with 41 offensive snaps (61 percent). Before last week, Walker played just eight offensive snaps all season but has certainly risen to the occasion when his number was called, adding two receptions for 30 yards on four targets.
Fellow rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III played 38 offensive snaps (58 percent) and as always made the most of his opportunities, leading the team with eight receptions for 138 yards and one TD.
Devin Duvernay, the team’s WR4 without having Rome Odunze and Olamide Zaccheaus, played 11 offensive snaps and finished the game with just one target that was short and uncatchable.
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The defense certainly let the entire team down on Sunday.
