Heading into their wildcard matchup against the Green Bay Packers, the Chicago Bears were without defenders C.J. Gardner-Johnson, defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga, who were all ruled out with concussions.
Thankfully, the Bears were able to get by without three players, as they pulled off an incredible fourth comeback to win 31-27. Now, the Bears will face the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round, who have an MVP candidate in Matthew Stafford and are loaded at the skill positions, which will test this Chicago defense.
Luckily, the NFL schedule makers did the Bears a huge favor, which should hopefully help their injured players return to the field for this weekend’s game. After playing on Saturday night last weekend, the Bears and Rams will play at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday night, giving this injured trio an extra day to get right.
Bears Hoping to Get Reinforcements Back Ahead of Divisional Matchup vs. Rams
Among the three players who were ruled out ahead of last week, the Bears would love to get Gardner-Johnson back on the field.
Gardner-Johnson gives Chicago another defensive back option to throw at Stafford, and could allow defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to do different things on defense. The Bears got back starting slot cornerback Kyler Gordon last week, but struggled against the Packers, and CJGJ is another option at that spot.
Gordon allowed five completions (11 targets) for 84 yards and a touchdown, and had a 102.1 passer rating. Meanwhile, Gardner-Johnson has surprisingly not been terrible in pass coverage in his time with the Bears, which should make Allen even more comfortable playing him on Sunday night.
Gardner-Johnson has only allowed 10.3 receiving yards per reception, three touchdowns, and had an 89.3 pass rating. Again, this is all predicated on the veteran defender getting through the final stages of the league’s concussion protocol.
As for Ogbongbemiga, Chicago could use him not only on special teams but also on defense for depth purposes, as the Bears lost veteran linebacker T.J. Edwards to a season-ending injury in the wild-card win.
Lastly, Tryon-Shoyinka has been a non-factor throughout his short stint in the Windy City (0 sacks through eight games), but there’s nothing wrong with having another pass rush option if need be in a win-or-go-home situation.