{"id":634300,"date":"2026-05-10T07:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T07:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/634300\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T07:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T07:02:14","slug":"dennis-allen-blamed-himself-for-the-bears-pass-rush-woes-and-the-hard-truth-behind-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/634300\/","title":{"rendered":"Dennis Allen Blamed Himself For The Bears’ Pass Rush Woes And The Hard Truth Behind It"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bears<\/a>\u2018 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

People wondered whether he might be a little upset that the team didn\u2019t 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\u2019t do a good enough job of staying on top of players\u2019 fundamentals. That problem will be addressed extensively this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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\u2019t think we were as fundamentally sound defensively as we need to be. So how do we have to coach it better? Well, let\u2019s minimize how much we\u2019re focused on the scheme, OK, and let\u2019s focus on not what we\u2019re gonna do but how we\u2019re gonna do it. I think that\u2019s how we\u2019re gonna improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennis Allen taking accountability is a great thing.<\/p>\n

Plenty of coaches would\u2019ve just sidestepped the question and offered a bland response about having to improve. Instead, he willingly admitted that he wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

In truth, this entire situation isn\u2019t 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\u2019s 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\u2019t have Pro Bowl-caliber horses, he didn\u2019t have the ability to manufacture pressure.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd25 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel<\/a> to hear Chicago legends tell stories you\u2019ve never seen in headlines \u2014 real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.<\/p>\n

YearRoleTeamTotal PressuresNFL RankTop Individual2025DCChicago14529thMontez Sweat2024HCNew Orleans12931stBryan Bresee2023HCNew Orleans12431stCarl Granderson2022HCNew Orleans138T-26thCameron Jordan2021DCNew Orleans16214thMarcus Davenport2020DCNew Orleans1715thTrey Hendrickson2019DCNew Orleans15811thCameron Jordan2018DCNew Orleans14916thCameron Jordan2017DCNew Orleans15510thCameron Jordan2016DCNew Orleans13229thCameron Jordan2015DC*New Orleans12831stCameron Jordan2014HCOakland8832ndKhalil Mack2013HCOakland13428thLamarr Houston2012HCOakland11831stLamarr Houston2011DCDenver1844thVon Miller<\/p>\n

*Interim DC for final 7 games of 2015. 2011-2016 data based on retroactive charting of hurries, hits, and sacks.<\/p>\n

Allen is not a miracle worker.<\/p>\n

The hard truth is that most coaches can\u2019t 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\u2019t really have any centerpiece guys on their defensive line. Montez Sweat remains a quality part of the rotation, but he\u2019s 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\u2019t as explosive as he used to be. Dayo Odeyingbo tore his Achilles and wasn\u2019t playing well even before that.<\/p>\n

Yes, Dennis Allen is correct. The fundamentals got away from players at times last season. He isn\u2019t wrong in that regard. Cleaning that up, along with some better luck on the health front, should at least improve the Bears\u2019 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bears\u2018 pass rush was not good enough last season. Its 145 total pressures were 29th in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-634300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}