In January, Ben Johnson faced an important decision shortly after the Bears hired him to be their new head coach.
Not only did Johnson had to find a defensive coordinator who could help Bears’ defense to reach his full potential after a disappointing season. But he also needed to find someone who would support him as a chief coach for the first time.
Dennis Allen filled all these qualities. Many in the NFL recognized Allen as one of its best defensive coordinators. He had also been a head coach with the Oakland Raiders and New Orleans.
But it quickly became clear that the two shared a characteristic when Allen met the journalists for the first time after being hired in January. They are both very aggressive.
“I think we want to be an offensive aggressive defense style,” said Allen in January. “We want to fight for the offense and not let the offense dictate the pace. We are going to be aggressive; We will challenge everything. “
This state of mind corresponded to Johnson’s offensively. It is also a Johnson and Allen thought would help bring out the best of the defense of the Bears.
The Defense of the Bears showed signs of regression last season after a promising end in the 2023 season. After limiting the opponents to 17 points per game in their first seven games last year, the opponents scored an average of 25.1 points in their last 10 games. The Bears abandoned an average of 26 points per match in the six games after the former head coach Matt Eberflus was dismissed.
Many of these difficulties came from the incoherent pressure of the defensive line. The Bears had the fifth largest defense of the league, granting 136.6 yards on the ground per match. They also had a hard time going to the quarter-Arrière, ending the year with 40 bags, which was equal to the 16th row.
These are figures that Allen will try to switch to his aggressive game. During her last season as a defensive coordinator of the saints in 2021, the saints granted the yards to the fourth most rushing per game and dismissed the quarter 46 times, the eighth more of the league.
“If we stop the race, then everything opens for the defense,” Kevin Byard said in terms of security. “These guys can pin their ears, recover the quarter-arre, then you start to play. Once you get a good before four that can stop the race and also pass after the quarter and everyone will sit in the area, make games, get interceptions. We will attack, and that will start with these guys in advance.”
The Director General of Bears, Ryan Polon, reflected the urgency of addressing the defensive line with his intersection acquisitions. He signed the defensive platform Grady Jarrett and Edge Dayo Odeyingbo in a free agency and wrote the Shemar Turner platform in the second round.
Poles, Johnson and Allen will use organized team activities next month and July mini-camp and the July training camp to see if they have enough to create this pressure. The Bears believe that the attack in the middle waves will open things on the edge, something that teams like the champion of the Super Bowl Philadelphia Eagles mastered.
With Jarrett and Turner in the middle in Tackle, the Bears should rely on rotations of their starters. Andrew Billings, who missed the last nine games of last year due to a pectoral tear, was a great presence in the defense of the race when he played. The Bears also wait for Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens from 2023 to take a big step.
“I think we want to be an aggressive attacker’s style of defense. We want to fight for the offensive and not let the offense dictate the tempo. We are going to be aggressive; We will contest everything. “
– Dennis Allen, defensive coordinator of Chicago bears
If the middle can put pressure, Allen expects it to facilitate things on the sweating of the defensive mounting. The Bears will also need Odeyingbo and the choice of fifth round of last year, Austin Booker to continue their developments to take advantage of the attention that sweat will draw from offensive coaches.
Allen reinforced the idea of being aggressive during the first two phases of the offseason. Just as Allen equaled Johnson’s aggressive style, the players said that he also corresponded to the aggressive style of the head coach to responsibility.
“What is refreshing is to work with a coach who has such a high standard for what he expects, and details, with work to save him, the curriculum vitae to support him and to be able to learn from a great defensive spirit, I really appreciate,” said Jarrett. “This is something that I definitely withdraw from this experience, and I can’t wait to see where it takes us.”
Allen hopes that it will lead the defense to enjoy its talented secondary. The Bears will play more men’s coverage to man in the defense of Allen and Byard believed that the starting corner half Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson had the speed to follow any receiver in the league.
If the line can start, Byard expects the secondary to repeat its success from 2023 when the Bears have equaled to most NFL interceptions with 22.
“I really like the addition of [Allen]The defense and the different things we are going to do, be able to mix it, “said Byard.” Not only play man, but be able to have a lot of different things that we are going to do in terms of package. I think it’s going to be fun. It has been fun so far.
