When Ben Johnson arrived as the head coach of the Chicago Bears ahead of the 2025 season, one of the first hires he made was former head coach Dennis Allen as his defensive coordinator. The results thus far have very much been a reflection of the man in charge of that side of the ball.
In discussing his initial hiring process of Allen as defensive coordinator, Johnson shared the following:
“One of the first things he said to me when we started talking and just gauging interest in whether it’d be a good fit for him to come here was like, ’Man, we’re going to get these guys to play hard in our style of football,’” Johnson said. “He was less concerned about necessarily the talent on the roster; he was more excited about the opportunity to come to this building and the history and legacy that comes with being a Chicago Bear."
That feels like an important note considering that this is a unit that features a handful of different shortcomings scattered throughout the defense. Questions about the defensive front have persisted throughout these first two years and injuries have continually arisen in the secondary. But Allen has been able to extract plenty out of his collective unit while being able to deploy players such as Kyler Gordon in specific roles.
Through six weeks, this year's Bears defense sits just outside of the top 10 in total yardage allowed (1,814) but at the bottom of the league in yards per play (6.0). Those numbers are a bit skewed by a pair of games in which the defense was barely on the field, especially given that they rank ninth in turnovers created (9) and seventh in points allowed (119). While they have been prone, on occasion, to giving up long, sustained drives, we've also seen what it looks like when the unit is able to gain confidence early in games. When that happens, the team is close to the type of defensive performance that each of Johnson and Allen envision.
“I think you always knew that every defense you’ve looked at on tape [of] his is that they play with their hair on fire," Allen said. "It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a gradual process. I think we saw glimpses of it throughout the year last year. I think we’re seeing more of it this year, and last week was a great indicator of the style of football that we want to play as a team, but certainly on that side of the ball, and he’s a big factor.”
The Bears defense has an unquantifiable trait to their collective performance wherein a quick start coupled with sustained possession by their own offense allows them to gain confidence. From there, the defense appears to become quicker and more aggressive, yielding turnovers and key stops as the other side of the ball continues to ply their trade. While the unit still features those same shortcomings and injury issues that have been present since the jump, it's hard to argue against the idea that we've seen far more of the defense Allen wants his unit to play rather than one he's merely hoping for.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Ben Johnson explains what drew him to hiring Bears DC Dennis Allen