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Dennis Allen's Saints Blueprint Could Delay a Bears Defensive Breakthrough

The Bears defensive coordinator had a similar situation on defense in New Orleans and it provides insight whether run stoppers or pass rushers develop first.
Gene Chamberlain|
Dennis Allen surveys the young and potential Bears during rookie minicamp.
Dennis Allen surveys the young and potential Bears during rookie minicamp. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

The inability of last year's Bears defense to stop opponents on key drives came to a head in the playoff game against the Rams.

It's often forgotten by fans and those analyzing last year's team how Caleb Williams' interception on a miscommunication with DJ Moore did not end the Bears' season in and of itself. It merely got Matthew Stafford the football, and the Rams had it in difficult field position at their own 22-yard line. The Bears' defense allowed the season-ending drive.

It was an example of what everyone fears for the Bears defense this year, allowing drives for points when they can't take away the football the way they had done so often last year in leading the league in takeaways.

Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has had a full offseason to better tailor the talent to scheme, although it's obvious there are questions about a few spots. Prominent among them are defensive tackle and end. The Bears' pass rush struggled and they couldn't stop the run. A group of injured defensive backs did what they could by creating turnovers.

Fundamentals this year and not individual rushers

Whether they even have the defensive ends to rush off the edge after starters Montez Sweat and Austin Booker isn't the biggest problem eating at Allen. He's expecting basic defensive line fundamentals to be the key to players like Dayo Odeyingbo, Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter and Shemar Turner reversing last year's fortunes, when the Bears were 27th against the run and tied for 22nd in sacks with 35.

"I think if we do a better job of the fundamentals and the techniques of doing those things that we're going to ask them to do that we'll get better at that," Allen noted in front of assembled media. "I think we'll see our pass rush improve in terms of just our guys rushing as one unit. Because it's hard. There were a lot of times where we had a really good rush, but we weren't quite as good over here on this side. It allowed the quarterback to step up into a lane.

"That's an area that we can improve on and I think our guys, when they did it right, it was pretty impressive.”

Allen has seen it all come together before, and is hoping it can happen in a similar way. His defense struggled in New Orleans at first. He had a partial season first after taking over during the 2015 season. In 2016, they had one offseason to help fortify his first defense for a full season but didn't get the job done.

Building that Saints defense became a piecemeal, long-term battle. It was not a situation where they blossomed overnight. Any Bears fans hoping to see a sudden transformation now could be disappointed to hear how long it took Allen to forge a formidable Saints front.

The Saints in his first full season were 27th in yards allowed on defense, 31st in points allowed, 27th in interceptions, 14th against the run and they made only 30 sacks.

It all improved by his second full season in 2017, when they were 14th in scoring and yards, 13th in takeaways, but struggled defending the pass. They were 29th here. However, the first sign of their defensive line coming together happened in this season. They finished 16th stopping the run and made 42 sacks, a big leap forward. Improvement of this type by the defense in Ben Johnson's second year would be welcome. A defense in the middle of the pack supporting an offense as explosive as the Bears have would be a huge asset.

Which comes first, run or pass rush defense?

The answer to whether the run defense or the pass rush will come first for the Bears can be found here in the Saints' third year and second full one for Allen. They happened in conjunction, not independent of each other. The pass rush stepped forward to 49 sacks and tied for fifth in the league at the same time the defense rose to second in the league against the run.

The fact it took until 2018 and two offseasons for Allen's defense to break through is the difficult part for the Bears if they're following this example. It could mean another offseason before they're capable of taking over games on that side of the ball.

Once this did happen in New Orleans, the defense was dominant through 2022. They finished fourth against the run four straight years and were eighth or better in sacks five straight years.

The situations are not completely the same. The Bears have no Cameron Jordan, but Sweat is a viable force. They have a budding second pass rusher already in Booker and the Saints lacked a stable second rusher until Trey Hendrickson developed in 2020. The Bears have defensive tackles more entrenched than New Orleans had when Allen took over.

This can mean a faster development, or at least coaches and fans have to hope this is the case. Either way, it's not a case of the run or the pass rush defense coming together but the need for both to do it.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

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.

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