The Chicago Bears' defense has been walking a tightrope all season - juggling injuries, plugging gaps, and still managing to create chaos for opposing offenses. Credit where it’s due: defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and his staff have kept the unit competitive despite the revolving door of absences.
The result? A league-leading 31 takeaways, a stat that’s been doing a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to masking the yards they’ve surrendered.
But lately, things have started to stabilize - and just in time. With key players trickling back into the lineup, the Bears have held four of their last six opponents to 17 points or fewer.
That’s not just a stat - that’s a defense finding its identity again. It may not always be pretty, and “bend but don’t break” isn’t a badge most coordinators want to wear proudly, but when you’re keeping points off the board, you’re giving your team a shot.
And now, after a gritty Week 16 win over the Packers - helped out by Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers - the Bears are playoff-bound, with their defense trending in the right direction.
On Monday, defensive assistant Ben Johnson gave a status check on the unit’s health, and the news is mostly encouraging.
“We’re getting healthier and healthier,” Johnson said. “It was good to get Tremaine (Edmunds) back against the Packers - he was shaking off some rust, but it’s great to have him out there.
Jaylon (Johnson) keeps improving every week. Grady (Jarrett) has been playing some really good football lately.
You can feel the momentum building. And if we can get Kyler (Gordon) back for the postseason?
That’d be huge.”
That last part - Gordon’s potential return - is still up in the air. Johnson didn’t commit either way, but the tone was cautiously optimistic.
“We’ll see where it’s going,” he said. “He’ll be down for four weeks, and we’ll assess it as we go. We’re always hopeful.”
Gordon’s season has been a frustrating one, to say the least. He missed a chunk of training camp and the first four games of the year with a hamstring issue, then battled calf and groin injuries around Week 8, which landed him on injured reserve. After making it back for Week 13 against the Eagles, he suffered another groin injury during warmups ahead of the Week 14 rematch with the Packers - and back to IR he went.
He’s eligible to return in time for the Bears’ opening playoff game, but with the string of soft tissue injuries he’s dealt with this season, it’s hard to bank on anything. Still, the Bears would welcome him back with open arms. When healthy, Gordon’s a dynamic presence in the secondary - a physical, instinctive player who can make an impact in both coverage and run support.
So while the Bears won’t be counting on Gordon just yet, the door is open. And if he can get back - and stay back - he could give this surging defense another gear at exactly the right time.