In an ideal world, the Chicago Bears would rush four guys and drop the remaining eight. Those four would be able to apply pressure on the quarterback, raising the odds of forcing a turnover or punt because of the minimal throwing lanes. All the best defenses in NFL history played this way. Dennis Allen wants to play that way, too. Unfortunately, the current construction of the Bears’ defensive line has made that idea dicey at best. Aside from Montez Sweat, they don’t really have anyone who can apply consistent pressure.
Austin Booker and Dayo Odeyingbo are solid players when healthy, but not dynamic in any way. Their interior is deeper than last year, but it faces the same issue. Not enough difference-makers. After what happened last season, it looks like Allen decided to take matters into his own hands. In 2025, the Bears were tied for 11th in the NFL with a 25.8 blitz percentage. Right around average. So far in 2026, Allen has bumped that up to 38.8%. That is currently the 5th-most in the league.
Dennis Allen is venturing into uncharted waters.
Looking back over his career as a defensive play-caller, he has hovered in the high 20s to low 30s for blitz percentage. His highest ever recorded came in 2020 when it settled at 33.3%. If this current trend holds for the Bears this season, it would be a massive spike from Allen’s perspective. Considerably out of character.
| Year | Blitz Percentage (Bltz%) | Defensive Coordinator / Head Coach |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 32.5% | Dennis Allen |
| 2022 | 31.3% | Dennis Allen |
| 2021 | 23.5% | Dennis Allen (under Sean Payton) |
| 2020 | 33.3% | Dennis Allen (under Sean Payton) |
| 2019 | 28.6% | Dennis Allen (under Sean Payton) |
| 2018 | 27.6% | Dennis Allen (under Sean Payton) |
So why would Dennis Allen do this? Part of it is what I mentioned above. The pass rush just isn’t strong enough to do it on its own. However, it’s also likely the Bears’ defensive coordinator is seizing on a growing NFL trend. Last season, you’ll have noticed that the top 3 defenses in the league also finished in the top 10 in blitz rate. New Orleans and Kansas City also finished in the top 10 in both categories. There seems to be a growing sense that most current quarterbacks struggle to handle extra pressure.
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It seems the Bears finally accepted reality.
They said all summer that they had the utmost confidence that the pass rush would be fine once everybody was healthy. There was no need to make a notable move to upgrade the area. In reality, they didn’t really have the resources to do so. They had to hope that what they had was enough. Allen must’ve realized at some point in training camp, or even that ugly first half against Carolina, that this was suicidal thinking. If the players couldn’t do the job alone, it falls on him to pick up the slack. So he amped up the blitzes.
You should expect that to continue on Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Quarterback Jalen Hurts has traditionally been average against the blitz in his career. This season hasn’t been much different. He’s completing 63% of his passes against it and ranks 3rd among all quarterbacks with 4 sacks taken. The strategy can work if you manage to stop the Eagles’ ground attack. You can bet that is the strategy for Allen in this one.
