As much as Clay Matthews coming back boosted the defense on Sunday, and as much as the expected return of Charles Woodson will add another dimension, the re-emergence of Sam Shields has been just as important.

When Shields is playing well, he is able to utilize his exceptional ball skills and team best speed to impact the game. Shields serves as a very competent cornerback when matched up against the opponent’s No. 2 wide receiver.

Shields had an amazing statistical line on Sunday against the Bears and I’m not quite sure how to summarize it. Shields was placed in man-to-man coverage against Alshon Jeffrey, the Bears second-round pick out of South Carolina throughout the game.

Jeffrey was targeted four times by quarterback Jay Cutler which resulted in zero catches and three offensive pass interference calls. Since we don’t have hockey yet this year, I’ll go with a plus-30 as my stat line.

When Shields is playing well and able to neutralize his wide receiver assignment without safety help, it frees up other defenders to focus on the tight ends, running backs and rushing attack. With Tramon Williams playing particularly well as of late, this means that Dom Capers can have confidence to leave Shields and Williams in one-on-one matchups with wide receivers and be more aggressive on defense.