Dennis Allen had every reason to be working uphill in Week 6, and Chicago’s defense still walked out of Atlanta with one of its sharpest performances of the season.
The Bears showed up without Montez Sweat, Dayo Odeyingbo, Tyrique Stevenson, and Coby Bryant, yet they managed to slow down a Falcons offense built around Bijan Robinson. Robinson, regarded as one of the NFL’s top three running backs, finished with a season-low 61 yards. Atlanta ran him just nine times, and outside of a 23-yard burst, Chicago kept him bottled up for most of the afternoon.
That was only part of the job. The Bears allowed 23 points, but they also limited Atlanta to 257 total yards and got after Michael Penix Jr. all game long. Chicago finished with 22 pressures and five sacks, a strong return for a front missing two of its top pass rushers.
Daniel Hardy was the surprise name headlining the effort up front. Usually known more for his work on special teams, Hardy made a real impact on defense with five pressures, three tackles, two quarterback hits, one pass deflection, one tackle for loss, and one sack.
Allen’s bigger trick, though, came from how he mixed and matched the rest of the defense to manufacture heat. Eight of the 22 pressures came from the secondary, and three came from the linebackers.
Kyler Gordon and Clark Phillips III, both of whom haven’t played much this season, combined for seven pressures. Gordon was everywhere, posting three sacks and two forced fumbles.
Rookie Dillon Thieneman added one quarterback pressure, one quarterback hit, and one sack of his own.
The back end held up in coverage, too. Chicago allowed just a 57.6% completion percentage, and the defense broke up six passes. Jaylon Johnson and rookie Malik Muhammad both turned in improved outings in that department.
The fourth quarter made the final score look a little rougher, but one of Atlanta’s touchdown drives came after a short field. Even with that, Chicago kept the Falcons from rolling up big yardage and forced three fumbles, including one on the final drive.
Getting Gordon back clearly mattered. So did the emergence of Hardy and Phillips in roles they don’t usually fill. But the broader story is that Allen pieced together a game plan that worked without four starters on the field, and he did it against a dangerous offense.
Chicago could have closed it out cleaner. Still, this was a masterful night from Allen, and the Bears will want that same edge again in Week 7 against the New England Patriots.
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