The Chicago Bears suffered a devastating defeat to their traditional and divisional rivals the Green Bay Packers on Sunday when quarterback Caleb Williams threw an interception with just 22 seconds left in the game with the Bears down by seven. The potential game-tying pass was picked off in the end zone by Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon, quashing the Bears’ hopes.
But the defeat was devastating not only for its suddenness, or for how easily it could have been avoided. In the tightly packed NFC playoff race, the one loss dumped the Bears all the way from the top seed in the conference to the seventh and final seed, a mere one game ahead of the Detroit Lions with four left to play.
In other words, just like that, the Bears, who had been enjoying a resurgent season under new head coach Ben Johnson, now find their playoff chances on life support.
Turn to Former Chiefs Draft Pick For Reinforcements
As a result, the Bears are looking wherever they can for reinforcements, and on Tuesday their quest took them to a 2023 Kansas City Chiefs defensive line draft pick. Picked in the sixth round by Kansas City, former Texas Longhorns defensive tackle Keondre Coburn received a $4 million rookie contract from the then-reigning Super Bowl champions.
But things didn’t work out between Coburn and the Chiefs, who waived the 6-foot-2, 322-pounder just six weeks into his debut season, re-signing him to their practice squad at a greatly reduced salary.
Coburn has bounced around since then, spending time with the Denver Broncos, Tennessee Titans — who signed him to a $1 million contract only to waive him in July this year — and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Coburn also did not catch on in Las Vegas, making him a free agent. But that may soon change after his tryout with the Bears. Chicago also worked out six other players on Tuesday, but as of 24 hours later have not announced whether Coburn or any others will be signed.
Coburn Profiles as Run-Stuffer
The Bears may be looking at Coburn because they definitely need help slowing opposing ball-carriers. Chicago has allowed 1,723 yards on the ground through 13 games, ranking the Bears run defense 27th out of the 32 NFL teams — not good enough for a team that at least until this week harbored serious aspirations for a deep playoff run, or better.
According to Heavy.com reporter Beth Mishler-Elmore, Coburn “profiles as more of a space-eating run stuffer as opposed to a pass-rushing threat, as he had 14 tackles-for-loss and 5 1/2 sacks in his five seasons with the Longhorns.”
But in an NFL career that has seen him limited to being on the field for only 233 defensive snaps in four seasons, he has been given little opportunity to display his skills.
In his pro career, Coburn has recorded just one tackle-for-loss in the 22 tackles on his résumé. Of those tackles, 10 were of the solo variety, while the now-25-year-old was credited with an assist on 12 others.
Most of those tackles came during his stint with the Titans. As a Chief, Coburn managed just two tackles, one solo and one assisted.
Bears Move for $4 Million Ex-Chiefs DT After Crushing Blow to Playoff Hopes