Dennis Allen has been a good defensive coordinator for a long time. He started the job in 2011 with the Denver Broncos, helping the famous Tim Tebow-led team make the playoffs and upset Pittsburgh in the wild-card round. Then after a mostly forgettable stint as head coach in Oakland, he had a long and fruitful run with the New Orleans Saints, piecing together some really good defenses in the late 2010s and early 2020s. However, even those best defenses all had the same issue as the others.
None of them had a truly dominating presence in the middle.
Sure, Allen has been privileged to coach some outstanding edge rushers like Von Miller, Khalil Mack, and Cam Jordan. They were big reasons for his success. Still, his defensive tackle options haven’t been overly inspiring in that same time frame.
- Robert Ayers
- Brodrick Bunkley
- Tommy Kelly
- Vance Walker
- Pat Sims
- Justin Ellis
- Antonio Smith
- John Jenkins
- Nick Fairley
- Tyeler Davidson
- Sheldon Rankins
- David Onyemata
- Malcom Brown
- Shy Tuttle
- Khalen Saunders
- Nathan Shepherd
- Bryan Bresee
- Gervon Dexter
He has coached some bigger names, to be sure, like Richard Seymour, Kevin Williams, and Grady Jarrett. Unfortunately, all were well past their primes. Seymour was 33, Williams was 35, and Jarrett is 33. Allen has coached some good players, but no true difference-makers.
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That’s probably why Dennis Allen was giddy when the Jeffery Simmons news hit.
Bears defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett was in his office a week ago Thursday morning, deep in his studies of the Seahawks offense, when he heard the knuckles rapping at his door. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen had come by with news that the Simmons trade was in motion.
“And I said, ‘But is it done?’” Garrett recalled.
Forgive the disbelief. That too-good-to-be-true skepticism was certainly natural but quickly replaced by a building-wide celebration at Halas Hall.
Allen, intense and grounded by nature, wore a huge grin as he brought Garrett that scoop, exhibiting the same excitement he showed a day later when he held his weekly news conference and proclaimed that Simmons’ arrival gave him the glee of a kid on Christmas morning.
Bears fans are witnessing something brand new.
Allen’s defenses, at their best, have always looked similar. They had one really good edge rusher surrounded by solid teammates in front of a good secondary. That is no longer the case in Chicago. For the first time, the defensive coordinator has a dominant interior pass rusher in Simmons, surrounded by a solid cast of teammates like Montez Sweat and Austin Booker. Then you add an array of linebackers and defensive backs that can both cover and blitz, and suddenly you’re looking at a level of diversity that is rare in NFL circles.
When you think about the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL history, who are the names that come up? Bud Carson of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers is one. Buddy Ryan of the 1980s Bears is another. Dick LeBeau of the 2000s Steelers and Steve Spanuolo of the 2020s Chiefs are others. While each of them was brilliant in their own right, all four had something in common.
They were fortunate to coach some all-time great defensive tackles.
Carson had “Mean” Joe Greene and Ernie Holmes. Ryan had Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael. LeBeau had Casey Hampton. Spagnuolo has Chris Jones. Dominant interior presences make calling defense so much easier. Dennis Allen finally has that button at his disposal.
You already got a taste of what that means in Seattle.
For most of the season, the Bears had been relying on a steady stream of blitzes to help the pass rush keep quarterbacks unsettled. It hovered around 40% per game, with a pressure rate of around 35%. Against the Seahawks, Allen dropped that number to 15%, with the pressure rate rising to 36%. He dropped the blitzing by more than half, and the pressure went up. The Bears were able to provide consistent heat on Sam Darnold with four guys. That is what having Simmons in the middle immediately did for them.
Allen has reached an incredibly precious stage of defense where he can call pretty much whatever he wants. He’s no longer hand-cuffed by the knowledge that his defensive line isn’t good enough to generate pressure on its own. Simmons, Sweat, and Booker are a strong enough trio to handle that job, allowing him to move the linebackers and secondary around however he sees fit. This makes life hell for opposing offenses. We might be getting ready to see something special.
