Lions Could Challenge Young Bears DBs

Opponents have had only two incompletions this year when throwing to receivers matched up on Duke Shelley or Kindle Vildor so the Bears could face some problems against Jared Goff and Detroit's revamped receiver corps.

When a defense starts to move a cornerback onto the opponent's best receiver all over the field, it can be a sign of respect for the receiver and also the cornerback.

The Bears let Jaylon Johnson follow Odell Beckham Jr. all over the field last week.

"Nothing I'm not used to doing," Johnson said. "I did it in college. I practiced it throughout camp this year. For me, it was just knowing what the assignment was and going out there and executing."

Johnson didn't do a terrible job with five catches allowed for 77 yards in Beckham's return from an ACL tear.

"I would definitely say it's a confidence booster, but I mean definitely had to have confidence going into that matchup and just confident in my ability and confident in what I could do," Johnson said. "That was pretty much my thing, just really talking to myself throughout the week, the night before, the morning of, really just preparing my mind to just being in the right state. I mean, it's Odell Beckham at the end of the day, so he's going to make some plays."

The other thing doing this says is the defense might not have supreme confidence in other members of the secondary to handle this matchup.

Duke Shelley and Kindle Vildor are allowing reception percentages in the 90% range, so it's here were the Bears can anticipate the Detroit Lions trying to attack this week.

The Lions and quarterback Jared Goff have weapons on offense, and now their defense is starting to improve even if the have yet to win.

Here are the biggest matchup problems the Bears have this week against Detroit.

Bears S Deon Bush vs. Lions TE T.J. Hockenson

Bush had an up-and-down game last week playing in place of injured starter Tashaun Gipson. He had one pass defense. His tackling had been solid until he had one broken late in the game but his coverage was less impressive, and guarding Hockenson is never something the Bears have been able to do well. Hockenson has 18 receptions for 173 yards against the Bears and he has been below 11.2 per catch only once in the four games. Hockenson had seven catches for 84 yards in the Lions' 34-30 win at Soldier Field late last season and this year he is off to a solid start with a new passer and in a new offense.

Bears RT Germain Ifedi vs. Lions OLB Romeo Okwara

Ifedi struggled last week, much like Peters on the other side of the line. He committed a critical false start, a problem he had in Seattle often. Ifedi should remember Okwara well. It was Okwara who reached out in his pass rush over Ifedi and knocked the ball loose from Mitchell Trubisky last year for a strip sack that helped fuel the Detroit comeback for a 34-30 win at Soldier Field. Okwara is the 28th highest-graded edge rusher in the league, according to PFF. Strong and highly athletic, Okwara was more than a match last year when Ifedi was playing well. So far this year Ifedi has taken a step back.

Bears CB Duke Shelley vs. Lions WR Kalif Raymond

Raymond has been on and off practice squads with the Broncos, Giants, Jets and Titans before finding a solid role in Detroit. He is more of a slot receiver and has lined up both on the outside and in the slot after coming over from Tennessee with coach Dan Campbell. He is coming off his best Lions game, six receptions for 68 yards against the Ravens. Raymond's strength is speed and he also is an excellent punt returner. Shelley has not been at his best covering downfield. His coverage coming up on the shorter routes has been above average and those allow him to use his open-field tackling ability, but he's in trouble when asked to defend middle-range or deeper routes. Size-wise, Shelley usually has a problem matching up against receivers but Raymond is 5-8, 182 and the 5-9, 176-pound Shelley can compete here. He has just one missed tackle in three games, but in coverage he's been targeted nine times and allowed eight receptions for 88.9% and also a quarterback rating against when targeted of 103.2.

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