Why The Biggest Problem With The Chicago Bears Defense Isn’t The Pass Rush

Make no mistake. The pass rush is absolutely a concern for the Chicago Bears‘ defense. When you can’t consistently harass the opposing quarterback, you’re going to pay a price. Their decision to maintain the status quo personnel-wise carries a significant risk. That said, it might be time to finally acknowledge the truth. As concerning as the pass rush remains, it was not the Bears’ biggest problem last season. It was something far more fundamental and, at least for modern-day fans, boring.

The Bears couldn’t stop the run.

Any coach who says the essence of football is running the ball and stopping the run would be accused of being outdated these days. Yet the fundamental rule has never changed. Stopping the run is directly tied to rushing the passer. If you can’t do the former, then doing the latter will be much more difficult. The Bears were bad across the board in this regard. Their 134.5 yards per game allowed was 7th-worst in the NFL. They were 22nd in yards after contact allowed and 31st in yards before contact allowed. In other words, they were constantly blown off the ball and didn’t tackle well.

Worst of all, this was happening despite ranking 10th in the most stacked (8+ defenders) boxes in the league.

The Chicago Bears defense had discipline problems.

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen admitted earlier this month that he and his staff didn’t do a good enough job coaching up players on fundamentals. This was because they were so focused on installing his system that they left things uncorrected too often. He was talking about the pass rush at the time, but it was also true of their run defense. One of the more interesting stats was rush percentage. This measured how often opposing teams attacked you inside or outside the tackles.

No unit in the NFL was run against outside the tackle more in 2025 than the Chicago Bears defense at 57.8%. This means their defensive ends were not good at setting the edge on run plays, and their linebackers were equally bad at corralling running backs. Look at the video above. Tremaine Edmunds does a poor job of reading where the ball is going and gets caught up in traffic. Dayo Odeyingbo is blown off the ball too far out of the play, allowing Las Vegas to double-team Andrew Billings, springing Raheem Mostert for a 29-yard gain.

It’s much the same with the play below. Dominique Robinson gets caught trying to sneak inside rather than sticking to his responsibility of holding the edge. This allowed Green Bay’s right tackle to pick off C.J. Gardner-Johnson from making a play, leading to a relatively easy 14-yard gain.

Seeing this makes it easier to understand the Bears’ investments.

They put money into three new defensive tackles in Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street, and James Lynch while adding linebackers Devin Bush and Jack Sanborn. Lynch had 12 run stops last season in 152 snaps. Street had 11 in 106. Bush had an excellent run defense grade of 87.3 with 44 run stops. Sanborn has been a solid run defender for years. Pass rush was not the focus for the Bears when they made those additions. They wanted guys who could crowd the line of scrimmage and stop the run.

It was much the same in the draft. First round pick Dillon Thieneman, while an all-around player, was known best for his instinctive and physical presence in run defense. Their 5th round pick, Keyshaun Elliott, displayed a great mix of diagnostic and tackling prowess as a run defender for Arizona State. Even 6th round defensive tackle Jordan Van Den Berg showed the strength and leverage to hold his ground on the interior while having the speed to chase down ball carriers.

This offseason approach was telegraphed a decade ago.

When Allen arrived as the New Orleans Saints’ new defensive coordinator in 2015, he took over one of the worst defenses in NFL history. Most would assume he focused on bolstering the pass rush before anything else, right? Nope. Through those first two offseasons with the team, you’ll notice that the primary investments on defense were oriented more towards run defense. It started with inside linebacker Stephone Anthony in the 1st round in 2015, then defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins in the 1st round the next year, with strong safety Vonn Bell in the 2nd. Allen knew he couldn’t do anything defensively until they could slow the run down.

He was proven correct. They went from 31st to 14th against the run in his second season. By year three, they were the 10th-best scoring defense in the NFL. People always talk about how great the 2018 Chicago Bears defense was at rushing the passer with 50 sacks. They forget the team was also #1 in the NFL against the run. They are two halves of the same coin. There is no question that this team’s pass rush needs help, but one way to do so is to stop the bleeding on the ground.