Dennis Allen aims for QB disruption with his Bears defense

The plan for coordinator Dennis Allen's Bears defense is being more aggressive, and it starts with bulking up their pass rush.
Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen on talent level.mp4
Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen on talent level.mp4 /
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Dennis Allen’s assessment of Bears defensive talent he has inherited ran right along the lines of what coach Ben Johnson saw.

Allen thinks they have been left with a wealth of talent but they can definitely get better during the draft and free agency as they try to fit into a scheme traditionally a bit more aggressive than the one the Bears played under Matt Eberflus.

"So, I think the foundation is there defensively,” Allen said in a Thursday press conference. “And I think, look, when Ben asked me if I would be interested, there were a couple of places that I felt like had the pieces in place to potentially be a really good football team, and Chicago was obviously one of them."

The pieces he finds interesting especially include players in the secondary like Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson and slot cornerback Kyler Gordon.

"In particular, I think there's some things that we have in the secondary that I like, I think there are some pieces at linebacker that I’m encouraged by," Allen. "I think there’s a couple of spots up front where we got some players. “

Allen’s defenses hadn’t played much press man-to-man coverage in 2023 and 2022 but increased their percentages last year after Allen left. They were 29th and 28th in the league in press coverage percentage the previous two years under Allen, according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference. That was similar to the percentage of man-to-man the Bears used under Matt Eberflus. Last year they upped it to eighth as the defense was struggling and going with more blitzing.

The Bears actually blitzed more than the Saints last year, ranking 19th in percentage as opposed to 25th by the Saints via Stathead/PFR.

What Allen appreciates about the talent is it has potential to morph.

"We’ve got some size and length at the corner position," Allen added. "I like the fact they have some man coverage ability. I think we’ve got some versatility at the safety position.

"I see the fit. (Cornerback) Kyler Gordon, I think, is an outstanding nickel player. I have a vision for how we can utilize him.”

How they’ll use players and the aggressiveness are far in the future.

“I think we want to be an attacking aggressive style of defense," Allen said. "We want to take the fight to the offense and not let the offense dictate the tempo to us. We're going to be aggressive; we're going to challenge everything. We're going to play the game the right way.

"We're going to play a tough physical brand of football, and I think the brand of football that you come to expect at the Chicago Bears.”

First comes talent acquisition and learning his scheme. However, he does feel the need to bulk up the pass rush.

“I think that all remains to be seen,” Allen said. “We’ll get all the guys in here. We’ll figure out what we need to do. But I think Ben in his press conference made a great point, that this has become a quarterback-driven league.

"I mean that’s what this league is, so I think everything that we do is going to be based on how do we affect the quarterback, and you affect the quarterback through rush and coverage, and that’s the pinnacle of what team defense is all about.

“So we can be as great as we want to be covering everybody, but if we can’t rush the passer it’s not going to matter and vice versa. If we can get to the passer quickly but we can’t disrupt routes and be competitive on the line of scrimmage, then we’re going to give up completions, so I think those two things have to be able to work together.”

They appear to have the cover part covered.

The rush needs to be where GM Ryan Poles goes to work, after their top five defensive ends accounted for only 16 1/2 sacks and no one had more than Montez Sweat's 5 1/2.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.