The defensive changes

Didn't McMillions get the nickel nod?

It's too early to be disappointed by Nick Perry, but if he isn't our #2 OLB opposite of Matthews by the end of the season, I will be.

I'll give him til next year. Same with Worthy and Sherrod.

Shields IN
Bush OUT

~cheers~

I can't believe the Pack gave up 47 yards in the first half... slackers.... malingerers ....

My question is why didn't they go with guys like Shields, Worthy, Moses, and McMillian more in week one?

Daniels, Heyward and MC had some good reps too.

Great to see them finally dump CJ Wilson from the active roster. He has never done anything.

As far as Perry goes...just let him be a guy in the rotation to keep fresh bodies attacking at full speed. He can learn and evolve from there.


In other good defensive news.....don't forget Neal and House will be back soon as well.

I think this could be start of something very very beautiful as far as the D goes. I think those young guys are super excited that they were able to not only contribute, but be effective. I think that they will now have a confidence about themselves and start to expect to play like that at all times.

100% agree I do not think one is worlds above another, I think the strength is in the depth and diversity of our 3 LOLB. Keep the fresh legs on the field and expose the tired OL. Hopefully this helps keep the D fresh all season long too, I don't want to have another situation like Raji and Walden's last year where they were pretty good at the beginning and useless by mid season.

YUP
Wilson wasn't dumped, he was injured. I think even he would have looked like a stud against that o-line.
Agreed. Ease him in
House will still be in a harness, he'll have to fight to get dime time IMO

No offense longtimefan but IMO your summary missed the most important changes and mischaracterized a couple of others:

The link mentioned that Wilson was inactive because of a groin injury not because he got demoted. Of course I’m rooting for Worthy but I would caution about evaluating his play vs. the Bears’ OL vs. evaluating Wilson’s against a much, much better OL, the 49ers. I’m not sure the staff agrees that Wilson is “out”.

Nick Perry got reduced snaps because of Walden’s return but also because he injured his wrist against the 9ers and was wearing a protector. Obviously his hands and wrists are extremely important to his game, particularly because strength is his the best part of his game (as opposed to coverage or finesse rush). Don’t get me wrong, Walden is the better pass rusher but IMO it’s incorrect to characterize Walden and Moses “in” and Perry “out”.

IMO the three most important changes were:

Shield’s play against the 49ers did indeed earn him the starting job as some of us posted (or hoped) after that game. While Williams and Burnett handled Marshall, Shields was mostly left one-on-one against Alshon Jeffery, the rookie WR the Bears are so excited about. Jeffery had one catch for 7 yards. Shield’s ascension is huge – his poor play in 2011 was due to his unwillingness to tackle and apparently his unfamiliarity with anything other than coverage (eg base defense). IOW he was a fantastic sub in ’10 because all he had to worry about was covering receivers. It took him a while but his off season talk about improving his tackling and willingness to do so has been turned into action. If he keeps this up this is fantastic news – along with Williams return to health they’ve significantly upgraded their starting CBs without making a personnel move. Their improved coverage will "improve" the rush of the DL and LBs.

The one of the four changes mentioned in the link you didn’t list was second most important IMO: McMillian taking over for MD Jennings is another significant upgrade. Unlike Worthy vs. Wilson, we saw McMillian outplay Jennings vs. the 49ers. McMillian brings a physical presence and displayed a nose for the ball. Again, we shouldn’t get too excited because it was the Bears’ offense but the experience McMillian is gaining should continue to pay dividends throughout the season.

The next most important change is also significant IMO. Casey Hayward took over for Bush as the sixth DB in sub packages. On many teams that wouldn’t be as big a deal but because the Packers will play nickel and dime a lot this season it is for the Packers. Beyond that, the more experience Hayward gets, the better. Bush is a great STs player – lets hope his playing time is restricted to STs going forward.

I’m concerned about how House’s shoulder brace will affect his play but at some point his shoulder will heal and when it does he’ll push for playing time. With Shields’ improved play, House’s return at some point, and Hayward getting experience, the young CBs look very promising for the future. And Tramon is only 29 years old.

This. This makes me feel smug. To think that so many were so incredibly worried about the CB position this offseason.