To quote legendary football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, “Defense wins championships.” For the Chicago Bears and their defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen, however, their defense cost them a critical divisional matchup against the Detroit Lions.
Failure to Meet the Moment
Even though this was just Week 2 of an 18-week NFL season, this already felt like a crucial game for the Bears. After a heartbreaking home-opener loss to the Minnesota Vikings the prior week, Chicago was looking to bounce back on the road against Detroit, another NFC North rival.
Instead, the Bears fell flat on their faces, losing by a score of 52-21. They were outscored 31-7 for the final 30 minutes, sending Chicago to 0-2 — not just overall, but also in the division.
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An All-Time Bad Performance
A 31-point loss is, by many standards, a beatdown. However, when looking in-depth at some of the statistics, this was truly a record-breaking defeat — particularly for the defense. Here are just a few of them:
The Lions set a franchise record (95 years!) of 8.8 yards per play, and it was actually 9.2 yards per play before a three-and-out with the starters pulled out of the game. The 8.8 mark is the most yards per play Chicago has allowed in a game since at least 1977.
Detroit compiled 511 total yards of offense. This is only the second time since 2013 that Chicago has allowed over 500 yards in a non-overtime game (coincidentally, also against the Lions on the road).
This is the first time since 2014 that the Bears have allowed 50 points in a game.
Chicago’s defensive EPA (expected points added) per play was -0.42, the second-worst in team history dating back to 2000.
For a franchise that is historically known for its strong defenses, this was a new low. And there are numerous reasons why.
Dennis Allen’s Defensive Scheme
Dennis Allen was brought in this season as Ben Johnson’s choice of for defensive coordinator. Allen has had little success as a head coach with the (formerly) Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints, but he is a defensive guru with a lot of respect around the league.
In particular, Allen employs a 4-3 base defense, which emphasizes man coverage and “requires athleticism from off-the-ball linebackers and pressure required often from a four-man front.” In other words, it’s a high-risk, high-reward defense that aims to generate a lot of sacks and takeaways, with the chance of giving up a big play to the opponent.
This is the same defense Matt Eberflus, the last Bears head coach, used when he was also the defensive play caller during his stint. And although Chicago was not great during his tenure, Eberflus’ defenses were always ranking in the top half of the NFL. So what changed?
Injury Concerns
The Bears have been bitten by the injury bug early in the season defensively.
Cornerback Kyler Gordon missed the first two games due to a hamstring injury, and linebacker T.J. Edwards missed the Week 1 matchup against the Vikings before aggravating the injury against the Lions and missing the remainder of the game.
And somehow, the situation worsened. All-Pro cornerback Jaylon Johnson missed Week 1 against the Vikings due to a groin injury, but returned in Week 2 against Detroit, similar to Edwards. However, like Edwards, Johnson reaggravated his injury and is now out indefinitely, with season-ending groin surgery as a potential option.
Poor Roster Construction
The reality, however, is that many of the recent defensive players that general manager Ryan Poles has signed are unfit to play in Allen’s 4-3 scheme.
If the goal is to get to the quarterback, that is not happening, as only three teams have fewer sacks than the Bears. Furthermore, Chicago only has one takeaway on the season — a pick six Week 1.
“We did not have any sacks,” Ben Johnson noted. “We didn’t get any quarterback hits or pressures, not to the amount that we wanted to. Step No. 1 for us going into this game was trying to affect the quarterback; we came up short in that regard.'”
The “high-risk, high-reward” defense, due to the roster construction, has been “all-risk, no-reward” thus far. And while the injuries have obviously been devastating, Poles’ lack of depth is shining through right now.
Onward and Upward
Despite the 0-2 start, the Bears are adamant that they can turn this around.
“It’s not demoralizing at all. We gotta play better,” said Johnson after the loss against the Lions.
He also defended his coordinator, stating, “‘We brought in Dennis Allen for a reason — he does a phenomenal job coaching it to not only the coaches but the players. I got a lot of faith and confidence that the experience we have on that side of the ball is gonna shine through for us, and we’ll get this thing back cranking the way we want it to go.'”
Defensive tackle and 11-year veteran Grady Jarrett (in his first year with Chicago) echoed Johnson’s thoughts, claiming, “A lot of the things are fixable, if not everything. It really wasn’t that difficult to find out what the problem was. We just have to execute at a high level and fix it.”
Yes, the loss against Detroit was “em-bear-assing.” But the season is young, and if the players and coaches remain hopeful, all of Chicago should, too.
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