Dennis Allen’s vision for the Bears defense is finally coming to fruition and it can give Chicago a real advantage against Matthew Stafford

The Chicago Bears defense is getting healthy at the ideal time ahead of matchup with the Los Angeles Rams.

Kole Noble — Chicago Bears News Writer
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Dec 20, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (35) and cornerback Jaylon Johnson (1) acknowledge the crowd against the Green Bay Packers during the first quarter at Soldier Field.
Chicago Bears safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (35) and cornerback Jaylon Johnson (1) acknowledge the crowd against the Green Bay Packers during the first quarter at Soldier Field. Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

The Chicago Bears had a comeback for the ages last week against the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the NFC playoffs, erasing a 21-3 deficit to ultimately win the game and advance to the NFC Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams.

It took all 60 minutes and some encouraging halftime words to get the Bears back on track after a disastrous first-half. Schematically, the Bears didn’t change much in the second-half to fuel the comeback and instead relied on players executing better.

Defensively, the Bears did change things up a bit by playing with a more aggressive mindset and changing up the personnel with linebacker D’Marco Jackson replacing an injured T.J. Edwards while mixing in Tyrique Stevenson and Kyler Gordon more in the secondary.

The results spoke for itself. Chicago’s defense flipped the script against the Packers offense and did just enough to come out on top. Looking ahead to Sunday’s game against the Rams, Allen’s true vision for can finally start coming to fruition this week.

Bears defense is set to be fully loaded against the Rams on Sunday night

Injuries have been a constant story for this unit well before the season began and Allen deserves some credit for the way he’s managed through multiple significant losses at all three levels. On Sunday, this will be the healthiest unit Allen has had to work with all season, outside of the players that have suffered season-ending injuries.

That’s especially true in the secondary. Last week, Gordon returned off his second stint on the injured reserve this season and was able to shake the rust off and make some key plays as the game went on. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson also has been looking more and more like himself the more reps he’s able to get under his belt coming off a significant groin injury, and having him at his best will be key in matching up against the Rams dangerous wide receiver duo of Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.

This week, the Bears will also be getting C.J. Gardner-Johnson back, who missed last week’s game with a concussion but returned to practice this week as a full participant. Gardner-Johnson’s return can be the true wildcard for the Bears in this game now that him and Gordon are both healthy.

Kyler Gordon and C.J. Gardner-Johnson will play major roles for the Bears defense

“Both of them will have a role,” Allen said on Thursday. “We’ll see how the game plays out, but we’ve got a plan in place for both those players to have a role in all down and distance situations.”

Going up against a veteran quarterback in Matthew Stafford, Allen is going to have to get creative with his coverage looks and blitz packages to knock the MVP-candidate off his game. Having three Swiss-army knifes in safety Jaquan Brisker, Gordon, and Gardner-Johnson can help accomplish that.

All three players have the ability to blitz the quarterback and play coverage. Having to ID three different players and diagnose what they’re doing on any given drop back will be a challenge for any quarterback and something the Bears have hardly been able to showcase this season.

The only game this season that Allen had that trio of defensive backs in his arsenal was in Week 13 against the Philadelphia Eagles. In that game, Gordon and Gardner-Johnson combined for 17 pass rush snaps, and against the blitz, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was 5-15 passing for 50 yards and one interception.

Stafford, in all fairness, has been stellar against the blitz this season. So, just sending extra rushers in his face isn’t going to be enough. But, Allen is a defensive mastermind and finally has all of his chess pieces back on the board in the secondary. If anyone can put their players in the best possible position to succeed against a dangerous passing offense and throw Stafford off his game, it’s Allen.

It’s time for the team’s defensive coordinator to prove what he’s capable of achieving with this unit.

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