One thing we’ve always known about Jaylon Johnson is he’s not afraid to speak his mind. The Chicago Bears cornerback doesn’t set out to be malicious with his comments, but they can hit when he speaks the truth. Tyrique Stevenson found that out the hard way 24 hours after the Bears’ heartbreaking loss in Washington. Everybody knows the story by now. Chicago had a 15-12 lead with six seconds left. Stevenson was spotted chirping at fans with his back to the action while the play was in progress. He lost his primary man to cover, receiver Noah Brown and instead tried to swat Jayden Daniel’s pass down. Fittingly, he tipped it right to Brown.
Game over.
Johnson appeared on Spiegel & Holmes for 670 The Score on Monday where he was inevitably asked about the play. At first, the cornerback was reluctant to say anything.
“I’ll be beating a dead horse. At this point, that horse is very, very much so dead.”
However, things changed when pressed. Johnson couldn’t help but admit what everybody else was thinking after watching the replays. If Stevenson had done his job, the Bears would’ve won that game.
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“In that moment, knowing if he would’ve been locked in, I think there would’ve been a 0% chance of them getting that (touchdown). For me, there’s nothing to say. I mean, it hurts him, it hurts us, it hurts the team.
That can get heavy mentally. At the end of the day, we still need him to be the best defense we can be. That starts with another opportunity on Sunday.”
Jaylon Johnson knows how big that game was.
Never mind the stuff about Daniels and Caleb Williams. The true stakes of that contest were potential wild card implications for the playoffs. If the Bears had won, they would own the tiebreaker if the two teams were to finish with the same record. Instead, Washington now owns that. If Chicago does win enough games to compete for a postseason spot, they have to hope the Commanders end up with a worse record or win the NFC East title. Nobody in their right mind thinks the Bears can win the NFC North with Green Bay and Detroit surging. That game was vital, and Stevenson ruined what should’ve been a signature moment of the season. Jaylon Johnson has every right to be upset. Losing a game because the opponent is better is one thing. Losing it because of dumb mistakes is another.
Stevenson too often is giving up big plays on 3rd and long or TDs. Poles should get a better #2 DB to pair with JJ.
Tred, JM, BD, good to see a discussion not sniping and incoherent rants!
I hear ya Tred, and appreciate the conversation. The Tampa II is a bend don’t break scheme. I would like better route recognition from Brisker, as I’ve said before, otherwise I wouldn’t extend him either. I do think our secondary is stable, and really a weapon for what they are asked to do, especially when we can establish a lead. Again, I would trade Stevenson by the end of today. The OL and secondary are the 2 groups that are affected by injuries every year for us. Our priorities in the draft should focus on maintaining depth along those 2… Read more »
@BearDownTX – We’ve had repeated injuries with Brisker and Gordon. In Brisker’s case, that’s now three concussions. We’ve seen repeated discipline issues with Stevenson, and they don’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Byard is 31. He’s our highest rated healthy DB. We hardly ever play Owens, or Smith. Blackwell is clearly a reserve. So is Hicks. I’m not at all certain that the Bears won’t be looking for secondary help. In fact, I’d be surprised if they don’t. I’m not saying I want that to happen. I’d prefer to invest in the lines. I just don’t think the… Read more »
@Tred – I wholeheartedly disagree with your statement. We are solid on the back end, name another defense that has what we have in our secondary? Our back ups like Smith and Hicks could start for other teams, Owens started for GB last year. It’s probably the deepest position group on the entire team. Is it strained when there are 2 injuries? Absolutely! But whose team wouldn’t be strained with 2 starters out? And then could they hold a high-powered offense like the Commanders to 12 points? Ours did! That’s pretty damn strong!