Higher Hurdle for Bears
Falcons weren’t toughest foe for Allen, defensive line, whose challenge increases this week
Jared Allen and the Bears’ defensive line will face a tougher challenge Sunday when Miami visits.
As excitable as he is on and off the field, Jared Allen never seems to get too caught up in the moment.
The Bears played their best defensivegameof the season in a 2713 victory over the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome last week — their best in a long time, actually. It was the fewest points allowed by a Bears defense in 22 games under Marc Trestman and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. And they did it without five opening- game starters, including Pro Bowler players Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs.
But truth be told, the Bears had the wind at their back. With their fortified defensive line at full strength for the first time since Week 1, they were playing on turf against a Falcons offensive line missing three starters. Allen seemed to tacitly acknowledge the advantage the Bears had.
‘‘ We didn’t have the zone read to worry about,’’ Allen said. ‘‘ We knew Matt [ Ryan] was going to sit in the pocket and throw the ball downfield. That allowed us to play aggressive, and vertical in our rush — no real restrictions. You’re not too worried about pocket contain with Matt. Obviously, he’s dangerous outside, but you know he likes to stay in the pocket.’’
So when Allen was asked about the momentum that’s building on the defensive line, he focused on harder task at hand. Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill is no Matt Ryan throwing the ball, but his mobility will be a test of just how well the Bears have learned previous lessons. His 40- yard run against the Green Bay Packers last week is the second- longest run by an NFL quarterback this season.
‘‘ This week’ll be a big test for us — another zone- read- type offense,” Allen said. ‘‘ This is a much better front than we faced last week, so it’s going to be a new challenge. They’ve got the zone- read where Tannehill used to be a receiver. So he’s got receiver- like speed, but he can sit in the pocket and throw the ball where he wants. So it’s not like one of those [ situations] where if you just take the zone- read out of the game, we’ve got it made.’’
No matter who starts at linebacker for the Bears, the momentum of Allen, Willie Young and the defensive line will continue to carry this defense, which is ranked 16th in the NFL in total yards and 22nd in yards per play.
It’s difficult to quantify the impact of a defensive line. But even if you’re skeptical about the numbers Pro Football Focus puts on individual performance, there was one aspect of Sunday’s grades that seemed to be a legitimate indicator of performance: All seven Bears linemen had positive grades.
That’s a rarity for any team — the Seattle Seahawks have yet to do it this season, for what it’s worth. And whatever the numbers mean ( the Bears’ line was a combined plus- 6.5 against the Falcons; it was a plus- 3.8 against the Carolina Panthers), the fact that every player was in the black seems to indicate the cohesion of a line that is rounding into midseason form.
‘‘ Having everybody healthy helps,’’ Allen said. ‘‘ It’s definitely situational, but I think guys are understanding each other better. Having ‘ Rat’ [ Jeremiah Ratliff] back helps tremendously. And what Stephen’s [ Stephen Paea] been doing in the middle from a rush standpoint has been awesome — even [ against] the run.
‘‘ The biggest thing for us is the [ improvement] in our run defense. Our run defense the last three weeks has been where we try to keep teams, and that’s something to build off of. When you’re solid in the run game, you get more rush opportunities. Each week I feel like we get more and more comfortable with each other. It is midseason, so we better be at midseason form, right?”