Dennis Allen Blamed Himself For The Bears’ Pass Rush Woes And The Hard Truth Behind It

The Chicago Bears‘ pass rush was not good enough last season. Its 145 total pressures were 29th in the NFL, and it showed on the field. Opposing quarterbacks often had way too much time to sit in the pocket and find openings against an often injury-depleted secondary. So you can understand why Bears fans were so frustrated that the team didn’t invest many resources into fixing the problem. They added three veteran defensive tackles in free agency and a 6th round pick in the draft. Pretty much the same starting lineup from last season remains intact. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was asked about it.

People wondered whether he might be a little upset that the team didn’t try a little harder to get him some help. You can imagine their surprise when Allen admitted that part of the problem last year was his overall coaching of the pass rush. He and his staff were so focused on installing the new scheme as quickly as possible that they didn’t do a good enough job of staying on top of players’ fundamentals. That problem will be addressed extensively this summer.

“We had a lot of discussions this offseason about a lot of different things, and one of the things we identified was me. We focused so much on installing all the scheme last year because it was brand new, and we do have a high volume of things we carry in the defense. We focused so much on that that we lost sight of some of the fundamentals and techniques that it takes to function, to do those things. I don’t think we were as fundamentally sound defensively as we need to be. So how do we have to coach it better? Well, let’s minimize how much we’re focused on the scheme, OK, and let’s focus on not what we’re gonna do but how we’re gonna do it. I think that’s how we’re gonna improve.”

Dennis Allen taking accountability is a great thing.

Plenty of coaches would’ve just sidestepped the question and offered a bland response about having to improve. Instead, he willingly admitted that he wasn’t on top of the details enough in his mad dash to get his system in place. It is a perfectly fair explanation. Schemes are difficult to digest these days, given the sheer volume of information they carry. Coaches only have so much time in a day. Priorities must be established. Unfortunately, strict adherence to fundamentals fell by the wayside.

In truth, this entire situation isn’t entirely new to Allen. If you look at his long history as a defensive coordinator and play-calling head coach, the pass rush has been a problem for considerable sections of it. Since 2011, Allen’s defense has finished 26th or worse in total team pressures on the quarterback nine times. That includes last season by the Bears. The times that were different came when he had true studs in the lineup like Von Miller, Cameron Jordan, and Trey Hendrickson. When he didn’t have Pro Bowl-caliber horses, he didn’t have the ability to manufacture pressure.

Allen is not a miracle worker.

The hard truth is that most coaches can’t create pressure out of thin air. At least not without recklessly blitzing. You need good players to make anything in this league work. Right now, the Bears don’t really have any centerpiece guys on their defensive line. Montez Sweat remains a quality part of the rotation, but he’s not on the same level as the top talents in the league. Austin Booker showed considerable improvement down the stretch last season, but he must stay healthy. Gervon Dexter was too inconsistent. Grady Jarrett isn’t as explosive as he used to be. Dayo Odeyingbo tore his Achilles and wasn’t playing well even before that.

Yes, Dennis Allen is correct. The fundamentals got away from players at times last season. He isn’t wrong in that regard. Cleaning that up, along with some better luck on the health front, should at least improve the Bears’ pass rush floor. Unfortunately, their ceiling remains limited. Until they find a true stud, it feels like this will be a constant issue for the team moving forward.