Chicago Bears (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Halfway through the week and essentially on to Week 2, the Chicago Bears now prepare to take on the Cincinnati Bengals for their home opener this weekend.
Week 1 was a rough night in prime time for the Bears, who were embarrassed on national television in a blowout loss to the LA Rams, 34-14. Matthew Stafford’s debut couldn’t have gone any better for the Rams, as he threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns.
On the Bears’ side, there were plenty of question marks. Stafford and company exposed an area which every Bears fan was concerned about going into this season, and only became more apparently weak once the game was underway.
Chicago’s cornerback room is potentially their biggest weakness, and the Rams made it look easy putting them on skates all night long. A pair of 50-plus-yard touchdown passes by Stafford shone the light on the entire Bears secondary as a glaring pain point.
If the Chicago Bears are going to fix their secondary, they must make a move immediately.
Whether it was the safety play or ineffectiveness at corner, the Bears looked atrocious against the pass on Sunday night. Eddie Jackson might have been the worst player on the field for the Bears, but there are clearly more issues than just Jackson’s play.
After training camp and the final cuts, most were worried about the cornerback room as the team’s most needy position group — and they were right.
Jaylon Johnson can’t cover the entire field by himself, and the decision to cut Kyle Fuller several months back is now looking just as foolish as it did the moment it happened. General manager Ryan Pace has put this team in a bind.
Fortunately, it’s early in the season. The Bears have options to correct their mistakes and fill in the gaps. There is a wide variety of options at cornerback, but these five seem as logical as any.