Bears should put full trust in Dennis Allen’s vision after seeing the two defenses dominate in Super Bowl LX
The Chicago Bears need to give Dennis Allen exactly what he wants this offseason.
The Chicago Bears had a clear plan going into the first offseason under head coach Ben Johnson this time last year and that plan involved creating a strong culture and overhauling the offense.
Culture-wise, Johnson created a five-star staff to help carry out the message to the entire team and then added highly-respected veterans in Joe Thuney, Grady Jarrett, and Case Keenum. To overhaul the offense, Johnson then went out to acquire players such as Drew Dalman and Jonah Jackson while drafting impact rookies in Colston Loveland, Luther Burden III, and Kyle Monangai.
The results spoke for itself with the Bears winning the NFC North and finishing the regular season with an 11-6 record. But, it still wasn’t enough to be a true Super Bowl contender and the next plan this offseason needs to be giving defensive coordinator Dennis Allen the wheel this time around.
Super Bowl LX showed that defenses still win championships in this league
The Super Bowl LX matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots was a defensive slug-fest between two of the league’s top units. Yeah, both teams needed the offense to reach that point, but Sunday’s game was very clearly a defensive affair and showed how critical it is to have a top caliber defensive unit.
Chicago’s unit wasn’t at that level, but it’s not that far off either after what Allen was able to do with that unit this past season. Based on Seattle and New England’s rosters, it’s clear that the Bears need to continue investing in the trenches.
Between the regular season and the playoffs, Seattle had six players with 40+ pressures while New England had four players with 50+ pressures. Chicago, for context, had just two players with 40+ pressures in Montez Sweat (64) and Gervon Dexter Sr. (44).
Waves of pass rushers is what Allen is currently missing in Chicago and something that needs to be a primary focus for this team going into the offseason, both in free agency and in the draft. That’s especially the case in the interior after watching Byron Murphy and Milton Williams causing havoc.
Another area that played a big role for both defenses on Sunday was the use of dime packages and designed blitzes using the defensive backs, something Allen’s scheme is known for as well.
Seattle cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safety Nick Emmanwori combined for four pressures with one sack by Witherspoon. New England safety Jaylinn Hawkins and cornerback Marcus Jones combined for three pressures.
It’s the same style of defense we saw from the Bears this season using defensive backs such as Kyler Gordon, Jaquan Brisker, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. But, the designed blitzes and use of defensive backs as pass rushers only be dangerous when the front four can establish pressure without the added help. Which brings us back to the main issue in Chicago.
Schematically, Allen can bring this kind of unit to Chicago’s defense once he gets the pieces he needs to actually run his system and hopefully a healthier season from the returning players.
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