(670 The Score) The entire Bears defense appears to be in agreement that head coach Matt Eberflus’ aggressive blitz call on a key third-and-15 play late in a loss to the Browns on Sunday was a poor decision and one that set them up for failure.
After defensive lineman Justin Jones, pass rusher DeMarcus Walker and safety Eddie Jackson expressed their confusion about the call by Eberflus in comments to the Chicago Tribune after the game Sunday, star cornerback Jaylon Johnson did the same in his weekly appearance on the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Monday evening.
With the game tied 17-17 with 56 seconds left and the Browns facing a third-and-15 from their own 47-yard line, veteran quarterback Joe Flacco found tight end David Njoku for a 34-yard gain that set up the game-winning field goal a few plays later. The Bears sent six rushers after Flacco on the play but bizarrely dropped the slower-footed Jones into coverage underneath. Njoku used his speed advantage to find space and make the crucial play.
Earlier Monday, Eberflus explained that the thought process was to force a quick throw by Flacco and then tackle a Browns receiver well short of the first-down marker. When pressed about why Jones was in coverage, Eberflus didn’t give a direct answer.
For his part, Johnson didn't like the “type of pressure” that was sent.
“I don’t want to say it was the pressure call,” Johnson said. “I think it was just that type of pressure. And I think it was just like, for me, personally I didn’t feel like we were that pressed have to pressure. I feel like our front was doing a heckuva job all game pressuring. And I think we did a pretty good job covering. So I just felt like there were maybe some different options that could’ve worked better or been more simple for us. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but I feel like definitely in the moment, it was something that we could’ve had some different calls that could’ve given us a better chance to get off the field.”
Bears defensive players often share their thoughts with coaches on what calls and schemes they feel will and won’t work, Johnson said. But they don’t have time to do that upon getting a play call with the game on the line. The players typically do that in settings outside of games.
“We are definitely open about certain things that we like and certain things that we don’t like,” Johnson said.
“At the end of the day, in the same way (players) don’t make every play, he’s not going to make the right call every time. Just for us and just the standard that we have, I think we just always want to be at our best when our best is needed … We’re not perfect.”