Only three Bears defensive linemen were on the field when the Eagles lined up to go for it on fourth-and-five with 27 seconds left in the third quarter Monday night. Linebackers T.J. Edwards and Devin Bush were bunched over the center, threatening to blitz. Behind them were a whopping six defensive backs.
The exotic look was vintage Dennis Allen. The Bears’ defensive coordinator had schemed all week to find ways to slow down the Eagles, who were one of the NFL’s best teams at converting on third down.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts changed the play at the line of scrimmage. Edwards tried to listen in but joked he didn’t understand any verbiage left over from 2019-22, when he played for the Eagles. Hurts dropped back, threw left and was intercepted by Edwards, who had sunk into the left flat. It was the last of the Bears’ three takeaways in a 27-7 stunner.
‘‘Every week, [Allen] has got some wrinkles in there that are going to try to show someone a different look,’’ said Edwards, who dropped an interception earlier on a similar drop coverage. ‘‘It’s for us to get to third-and-longer, so we can get to those things. We weren’t able to do that till we got to the second half.’’
The Eagles were 2-for-4 on third-down conversions in the first half and 0-for-5 in the second. They turned the ball over on downs on both their fourth-down plays in the second half, too.
Quarterback Case Keenum’s performance was the story of the game, but there was no more encouraging development than the play of the Bears’ defense. After giving up 37 points in Week 1, the Bears now have allowed a combined 16 in the last two weeks.
They got an assist from a rainstorm and an opposing backup quarterback in Week 2, but Monday was impressive. The Eagles went three-and-out on their first three drives of the second half, then threw the pick to Edwards, then turned it over on downs with about two minutes to play. They totaled 52 yards on 20 plays.
‘‘It should have been a shutout,’’ said defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo, who had one of the Bears’ two sacks.
They were a split-second away. The Eagles’ only points came on a one-yard quarterback sneak right before the game clock went to zeros at the end of the first half.
Coach Ben Johnson gave Allen a game ball in the locker room.
‘‘Putting us in position to make plays,’’ cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. ‘‘We had a good idea of what they liked to do and what defensive groups, what defensive plays would get us in the best position to make plays, based on what they like to do.’’
It looked different than it usually does. Allen went deep into his depth chart. Rookie Malik Muhammad started at outside cornerback for Tyrique Stevenson and never left the field. Five defensive backs played 70% of the time, including first-round rookie Dillon Thieneman, who had his first career interception. Safety Elijah Hicks played 22% of the time and Stevenson 8%.
‘‘A couple of unique things in there this week that they really took to heart and did a great job with,’’ Ben Johnson said.
When the Bears led the NFL in takeaways last season, defensive backs coach Al Harris would pick a number before every game and challenge them to match it. On Monday, he wanted four.
He undoubtedly was thrilled with three. That matched their seasonlong total. With six — three interceptions and three fumble recoveries — the Bears trail only the Raiders and Panthers.
‘‘The defense the last two weeks, they’ve played outstanding football for us,’’ Ben Johnson said. ‘‘They continue to trend the right way. It’s great to see the takeaways.’’