Bears head coach Ben Johnson spent the last four years coaching Lions quarterback Jared Goff, and in preparing to coach against him last week, Johnson emphasized the importance of pressuring him. But Johnson’s defense didn’t get that done.
Johnson said after reviewing the tape of Sunday’s 52-21 loss that the Bears let Goff get far too comfortable in the pocket.
“We did not have any sacks, we didn’t get any quarterback hits or pressures, not to the amount we wanted to,” Johnson said. “Step No. 1 for us going into this game was tryhing to affect the quarterback. We came up short in that regard. We know with that particular player, when his pocket is clean, he plays at a very high level.”
Asked about getting more production from defensive end Montez Sweat, whom the Bears traded a second-round draft pick for and gave a four-year, $98 million contract extension in 2023, Johnson said he wants to see the whole defensive front do more.
“Its not just Montez, our entire unit right now, we didn’t affect the quarterback as a whole,” Johnson said. “We’ll certainly look at where we can help him so he can succeed a little bit more in terms of getting that done. I think Dial on the other side, when he gets the one-on-ones, we need to see more production there, and I’d like to see from our defensive tackles a little more interior push in the pocket.”
That push in the pocket was lacking for the Bears on Sunday, and the result was Goff throwing for 334 yards and five touchdowns.
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