Much-Maligned Chicago Bears Free Agent Frustrated the Packers

The Chicago Bears free agent class of 2019 can hardly be called the splash-tastic sort of group that characterized last year. That said, in typical Ryan Pace fashion the moves were calculated and well-conceived. At least in theory. Knowing they'd be losing Bryce Callahan to free agency, the team wanted to make sure they found somebody who could step in at slot cornerback. Somebody with a little more durability. Their solution certainly elicited a response.

Buster Skrine was a veteran of the NFL for several years, playing first for the Cleveland Browns and then the New York Jets. While he rarely missed time and was known for his grit, a lot of people immediate panned the signing. Skrine to them was a laughable step down from Callahan. Why? For one he was a penalty machine. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, the cornerback was flagged 22 times for various infractions.

He also had a bad tendency to get beat for touchdowns. His final two years in Cleveland, quarterbacks fired 17 scores at his expense. Was this really the Bears' best solution in the slot? They certainly believed so. Despite the detractors, coaches like Matt Nagy and Chuck Pagano felt Skrine was underappreciated. One of the reasons he struggled with the penalties and TDs wasn't his lack of talent. It was from having to play extended coverage constantly because of bad pass rushes. Things would be different in Chicago.

Turns out? They may be right.

"He’s one of the better nickels in this league, if not the best. I mean, he’s good. He’s a good nickel in there."

Chicago Bears free agent Skrine frustrated the Packers in opener

Going against Aaron Rodgers in his first game as a Bear was not exactly the tutorial before starting the game. It was basically pushing the difficulty to "Insane" then going full speed ahead. Turns out Skrine didn't shrink in the face of the mighty Green Bay Packers quarterback. He had an excellent game in coverage. It's not like he had the benefit of being ignored either. Rodgers threw in his direction six times over the course of the game. Only three of the passes were completed for a total of six yards.

That is impressive work and welcome sign that he seems to have stepped right into the Bears' system without any issue. If this is what they can expect the rest of the season, then Pace and the coaches deserve an apology from the myriad of critics. Nobody expects Skrine to be a star. This defense already has plenty. He just has to do his job. He did that against one of the best quarterbacks in existence. A team can't ask for much more out of a 30-year old free agent.