Windy City Gridiron
Well, we’ve counted down from 10, and we’ve reached number one on our list of the ten Chicago Bears with the most to prove, and I’m guessing number one is going to surprise some people.
Before we dive into it, let’s look back at the list.
10. Tory Taylor
9. Braxton Jones
8. Rome Odunze
7. TJ Edwards
6. Jaylon Johnson
5. Gervon Dexter
4. Grady Jarrett
3. Dayo Odeyingbo
2. Tyrique Stevenson
Number one on the list? Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen.
Now I think a lot of you might be saying, Dennis Allen? We love Dennis Allen. Dennis Allen did great with a hot pile of garbage last year. I agree. A lot of that is true, and I am a big fan of the Dennis Allen hire. I still think the potential partnership of Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen could give the Bears an excellent coaching duo at the top of the staff and give them stability that great teams desperately need to stay relevant year over year.
Let’s wind the clock back about 6 weeks to when Ben Johnson addressed the media after the NFL Draft. Johnson said one thing that turned some heads. He called out the coaching staff. He said the coaching staff needs to coach better. It needs to teach fundamentals better. He basically said that in certain aspects, the coaching staff let the players down.
Dennis Allen responded to those comments and said, “There is nothing that is said in here [in the press room] that Ben and I have not already talked about. I don’t think we were as fundamentally sound defensively as we need to be.”
Ben Johnson called out all the coaches, and some people talked about the performance of the wide receivers under Antwan Randle El, but the understanding was that Ben was definitely talking about the defensive coaching staff.
Whether you want to blame the players or the coaches, the bottom line is that the Chicago Bears defense was not nearly as good as it needed to be in 2025. Yes, they created a lot of turnovers, and those turnovers certainly helped cover up some of the other warts, but they couldn’t cover up all of them.
The Bears defense was 23rd in the NFL in points allowed, 29th in yards allowed, 24th in first downs allowed, 28th in passing touchdowns allowed, 28th in net yards per attempt, 29th in rushing yards per attempt, 24th in defensive DVOA, and 19th in EPA. Their EPA was padded significantly by their turnovers; in non-turnover situations, the defense ranked 30th.
Those are the numbers, not just of a bottom 10 defense, but of a bottom 5 defense.
The defense needs to be better, and it needs to be better this year.
I will be the first to say that Dennis Allen is not a miracle worker. There is not a lot of high-end talent on this defense. But this is two offseasons where Dennis Allen has been putting players that he...
