Windy City Gridiron
The NFL season is an evolving state of affairs, and week 12 finds your Chicago Bears at 7-3 and alone in first place in the NFC North. The simple fact that those words could be true as December nears is indicative of the massive impact Ben Johnson and his coaching staff have made at Soldier Field. But can the Bears keep it going this week against the current AFC North Pittsburgh Steelers?
In this weekly series, I’ll be featuring one player from each team on each side of the ball who I believe to be integral to their respective team’s success. It’s not always about the quarterback or superstar defensive players like Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt. Importance is all relative, and while the “star” players are obviously important each week, this series will also highlight some of the other guys.
Because let’s face it, often, the unsung players are just as critical to the team’s success.
Here are the players that I will be keyed in on in this one.
Going against the grain here with this selection, I just have a feeling about DJ this week. His rugged play style reminds me of former Steeler all-time great Hines Ward. He also has the lowest yards per route run of Chicago’s top three WRs, meaning Ben Johnson likes to get him the ball quick on short passes near the line of scrimmage. Considering the Steelers have one of the top Edge rusher trios in the league (18 sacks combined between Watt, Herbig, and Highsmith), I am anticipating a heavy dose of the quick game when we pass to complement our run game this week.
Yes, I do believe play action will be key and guys like Loveland and Burden III will get some big plays, but this feels like a game where DJ gets the most targets and his YAC game ignites the team. If DJ can do just that, I expect the pass rush of Pittsburgh to be mitigated and the offense to put up points. If not, hopefully the run game is clicking because this figures to be as physical a game as we have seen all year.
Continuing with the theme of ‘physicality’ this week, Brisker gets the nod on Defense, largely because Chicago will be without their top 3 LBs and Brisker plays the Safety position more like a LB sometimes and will likely be leaned on to do just that in week 12. I hope Brisker is ready for this physical battle as he likely won’t get many plays off. Pittsburgh runs more 12 and 13 personnel than almost any team, meaning they deploy 2 and 3 TEs on offense more than most teams.
On run plays, that means 6’5”, 260lb Pat Freiermuth, 6’3”, 250lb Jonnu Smith and 6’7”, 310lb (!) Darnell Washington barrelling down on the safety to open up lanes for RBs Jaylen Warren...
