After the Bears allowed 37 points and 478 yards to the Panthers, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s response to the first question at his weekly news conference Thursday began with, “I’m not going to spend a lot of time talking about last week.”
Don’t you think we should? There’s plenty to discuss.
It’s rare for a team to score that many points and get blown out, as the Panthers did in their 59-37 loss to the Bears. Over the previous five seasons, teams that scored at least 37 went 223-18-2, and all the losses were by six or fewer points.
This might be tough to accept, but the Bears won’t put up 59 every week. It’ll be a battle just to get to 30 against the Vikings and defensive coordinator Brian Flores on Sunday.
The Panthers have an unproven quarterback in Bryce Young and were 27th in total offense last season. But almost every NFL quarterback, even backups, can play effectively if given time in the pocket. Between that luxury and the Bears’ lapses in the secondary, Young played one of the best games of his career with 361 yards, three touchdown passes and a 110.3 passer rating.
The performance was a portrait of every pessimistic hypothetical about this defense materializing — and then some.
Last season, the Bears were unsteady defensively. They often rescued themselves by forcing a league-high 33 turnovers, but weren’t good at two essentials for any good defense: stopping the run and pressuring the quarterback.
They demonstrated an exaggerated version of that formula against the Panthers. The Bears allowed 5.7 yards per rush and sacked Young twice. Their three takeaways, including one on special teams, might’ve been the only thing that kept the Panthers from scoring in the 50s themselves and taking the game down to the end.
On top of that, one of the few pieces the Bears believed they could count on was cornerback Jaylon Johnson, and he and Tyrique Stevenson both struggled.
All this talk about last week must be killing Allen.
But it’s relevant because of what comes next.
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell is one of the sharpest offensive minds in the game and has somehow posted a .638 winning percentage despite a carousel of quarterbacks. His team embarrassed the Packers last week with touchdowns on four consecutive drives to close the game and win 39-22.
That was with castoff Carson Wentz at quarterback since castoff Kyler Murray exited early with a concussion and soon-to-be castoff J.J. McCarthy is buried on the bench. O’Connell is just that good. Whoever starts out of Wentz and Murray is a threat to exceed what Young did.
The Vikings have a top-10 offensive line, an elite wide receiver in Justin Jefferson, an excellent No. 2 receiver in Jordan Addison, two-time Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson and four-time 1,000-yard rusher Aaron Jones.
Sweating yet?
“Week 1 is no indication of Week 2,” Allen said.
Sure, but here’s the issue: What’s going to change?
Johnson should play better, but otherwise, the answers aren’t obvious. Other than waiting on nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon to be activated next month, there’s no help on the way. That leaves it to Allen to problem solve the way coach Ben Johnson does on offense.
Because hoping for 59 points each week isn’t a plan.