The Chicago Bears were riding high defensively before Sunday's 31-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Coordinator Dennis Allen had his unit playing at an incredibly high level giving up only 19 combined points over the last eight quarters. This all fell apart against the Packers after two early touchdowns from Green Bay opened the floodgates and it was clear by the final two quarters that the Bears had let go of the rope due to an offense that put them into consistently horrible positions.
With this in mind, there isn't any reason to panic with the larger recent sample size suggesting that this remains a capable unit. One that was thrust into a hostile stadium and asked to do the impossible by keeping a Green Bay attack at bay while their own offense consistently turn the ball over and failed to mount anything close to consistently capable drives.
This is going to be a story that happens yet again if the Bears offense is unable to stay on the field and turns the ball over at the same level. Putting it simply, you cannot give any capable coordinator and quarterback repeated chances to take advantage of your mistakes in the way that Chicago did and expect anything close to positive results.
For the Bears, this game was somewhat playing with house money as you had managed two previous wins with Caleb Williams sitting on the bench. Simply treading water and finding a way to stay at .500 or above while the star quarterback is out is more than acceptable and something fans would've gladly signed up for three weeks ago.
Bears defensive collapse isn't a sign of things to come, but an outlier in what will be a great 2026 season
Allen has previously shown himself capable of getting elite results from this roster when given something close to a capable offensive effort. The only outlier thus far is Week 1 against Carolina when the defensive shuffle left the coaching staff with a need to figure out exactly what combination would prove to be a winning one.
Sunday's defensive collapse is the outlier in every meaningful way and shouldn't cause any serious level of panic for a fanbase closing in on the return of their franchise star. Once Williams is back in the lineup the defense can yet again be expected to return to capability, with the Chicago offense consistently sustaining long drives and taking pressure off a unit that while not star-studded remains incredibly capable.
It will be interesting to watch how Allen responds and what changes are made as the Bears turn their attention to the Atlanta Falcons. A team coming of a late-game collapse and presenting a clear chance for Allen's defense to prove this past week was an outlier putting the season back on track.
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