Chicago Bears: Why Ha Ha Clinton-Dix is better than Adrian Amos

Weakness is just an attitude

I am constantly hearing how bad Ha Ha Clinton-Dix is from Packers fans and analysts. Funny how they did not feel that way until last season. Like all players though, Clinton-Dix has areas where he struggles.

The most glaring weaknesses for Clinton-Dix shows up when he tries to freelance too much. This is when he is caught out of position and will miss a read or make a bad angle on a tackle. The thing is, he makes up for it far too often in other ways. He also has the closing speed to recover on most plays.

This is probably the biggest playing difference between Clinton-Dix and Adrian Amos. Amos does not freelance. He is extremely good at being in position. This is the main reason he does not make bad mistakes often. However, it is also the same reason he hardly makes a big a play.

Clinton-Dix has looked bad on plays when it comes to his tackling too. He is tall, but lanky and does not always make the big hit. This is where most of the complaints about his performance come up. Bigger players will bounce off of him or run him over at times, leading to missed tackles.

This is deceiving though. Clinton-Dix had eight missed tackles in 2018. Adrian Amos had nine missed tackles. That is right. The reliable, in-the-box type safety had one more missed tackles than the safety people (mostly Packers fans) keep saying is horrible at tackling.

This misperception about Clinton-Dix is due to a few really bad plays again caused by him trying to do too much and being out of position. What fans (on both sides of the Illinois and Wisconsin border) need to realize, is that both safeties are good. One (Amos) is not a true playmaker but is less likely to be exposed. The other, more talented safety (Clinton-Dix) might be exposed at times, but will also make more game-changing plays.

With the Bears defensive talent and Chuck Pagano as Defensive Coordinator, give me the more talented playmaker.