Historic performances by Caleb Williams and Kyler Gordon led the Bears to an impressive win over the Falcons Sunday in Atlanta. But with a Thursday night game looming, the team's focus has already shifted to the Patriots.
"This week in particular, you've got to turn the page extremely quickly," said coach Ben Johnson. "We enjoyed the plane ride home and when we came back in yesterday, we turned the page really quick, didn't really touch a whole lot on the [Falcons] game. We know how big it is to string good performances back-to-back-to-back in this league. That's what the good teams do, and that's what we're looking to do here this week."
When the Bears host New England Thursday night, they will play without starting defensive ends Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo for the second time in five days. Last week, the NFL suspended Sweat for two games and Odeyingbo was placed on injured reserve with a quadriceps issue.
Despite missing four defensive starters — linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (hip) also sat out with injuries — the Bears held the Falcons to 257 yards and 13 first downs and limited NFL leading rusher Bijan Robinson to 61 yards, his lowest output of the season.
Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was praised for his game plan, which was highlighted by a season-high 56.4% blitz rate. In his season debut, Gordon made the most of his opportunities to blitz, becoming only the second NFL defensive back and first in 41 years to record 3.0 sacks and two forced fumbles in a game.
"[Allen] has always been known to have a great pressure package," Johnson said, "primarily on third down there, so that's kind of been the thing over the last year-and-a-half, how often can we get in those third-and-longer opportunities and get guys off schedule on first and second down to get more of those reps.
"I think our guys understand what we're trying to do at a higher level this year than what we have been. They take a lot of pride in making sure they're doing their job the right way. You don't know who is going to be the guy that pops free on a lot of these things, but when you're doing it and you're hitting the right landmarks, I think it's very challenging for an offense to [contend with], particularly on a short week like this."
With Allen in his second season, players are more familiar with his system, allowing them to react without thinking as much.
"You see them playing faster," Johnson said. "You see us tighter in coverage on the back end, and certainly I think there's less space for the quarterback to step up into or evade and get out of the pocket because of that. So, you would expect that Year 2 of the same system, and through six games, I think we've seen more of that."
Johnson recalled that when he first began discussing the position with Allen in January 2025, he spoke about installing an aggressive, attacking, physical defense.
"One of the first things he said to me when we started talking and just gauging interest in whether it'd be a good fit for him to come here was like, 'Man, we're going to get these guys to play hard in our style of football,'" Johnson said. "He was less concerned about necessarily the talent on the roster; he was more excited about the opportunity to come to this building and the history and legacy that comes with being a Chicago Bear.
"I think you always knew that every defense you've looked at on tape [of] his is that they play with their hair on fire. It doesn't happen overnight. It's a gradual process. I think we saw glimpses of it throughout the year last year. I think we're seeing more of it this year, and last week was a great indicator of the style of football that we want to play as a team, but certainly on that side of the ball, and he's a big factor."
