When the Bears signed Dennis Allen as defensive coordinator under coach Ben Johnson, it looked like a dream pairing along the lines of what the Minnesota Vikings did with getting Kevin O'Connell and then defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
In fact, on the surface it looked potentially better because Flores had gone from position coach to head coach and never had the defensive coordinator experience while Allen had years of both and was extremely successful as a coordinator.
Apparently there are limits to their dream pairing. Pro Football Network believes there are a dozen defensive coordinators better than Allen, as they have ranked him 13th.
What a ranking actually means isn't much, but if they're going to make the effort then logic would be nice.
Instead, PFN relies on a bunch of conveniently created analytics that mean absolutely nothing compared to the bottom line of a defense holding an offense without points, without yards and taking away the ball.
2 walk in the red zone. Dennis Allen #bears #dabears
Saints get a great jam on the tight end #3 wr. Play great cover 2 on both sides, 3 over 2 with great spacing. corners play great divider concepts. pic.twitter.com/1kfk8z93NP
— coachkou (@coachkou) June 8, 2025
Offense is a different matter with the various ways of scoring. Defense is truly simple.
When they put the list together, PFN somehow landed Green Bay defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley as the 10th best coordinator, well ahead of Allen and some other good coordinators.
Notable PFF secondary rankings heading into the 2025 season:
6. Lions
7. Bears
8. Eagles
13. Jaguars
19. Packers
27. Vikings
Is 7 too high or too low for the Bears? #DaBears #Bears #ChicagoBears
— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) July 8, 2025
Hafley had a decent 2024 with a defense sixth in scoring, fifth overall but in his first year was 17th in yards allowed. The two-year performance is only slightly better than what Joe Barry had done for the previous two years in Green Bay. He was fired.
Regardless, you can't put a defensive coordinator with two years of experience, one of them so-so and one good, and say he's better than one who had Allen's experience with a top 10 rankings in scoring six of the previous eight full years—especially when he's been both a head coach and coordinator for 14 years.
Agree it’s too low, but I think it’s fair considering the team change. However, also hypocritical of them to put Saleh at 6 at the same point
— Benjamin. (@bheadr75) July 8, 2025
Allen used to own Tom Brady when the GOAT was in Tampa Bay. The Saints defense eventually got old as Allen was head coach and they had the worst salary cap situation in the league for three straight years so they couldn't do much to resupply it. He was fired. But now he's a coordinator again, not a head coach with a bad cap situation hanging over his head. The Bears are the beneficiaries.
The same logic applicable to Hafley is true about Jesse Minter with the Chargers. He was effective for college at Michigan and had a good year last year. That's it in the NFL. Minter was somehow ranked No. 5 by PFN.
They jumped the gun a bit on Zach Orr with the Ravens. Sure, he had the 10th-ranked defense and they were ninth in scoring defense in his first year.
Dennis Allen has that DAWG in him. pic.twitter.com/jyEftrhuRD
— Bears History (@ChiBearsHistory) June 14, 2025
Orr was gift-wrapped one of the best defenses in the NFL by Mike Macdonald and actually, 10th ranked is kind of a disappointment when he was given a defense ranked first and third in scoring the previous two years and ninth and sixth in yards allowed.
Proving yourself still matters.
The guy at the top of the rankings shows this. Former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio obviously is No. 1, and Kansas City's second-ranked Steve Spagnuolo also paid is dues, just like Allen did.
#Bears should definitely be interested in Za'Darius Smith. EDGE depth that fits Dennis Allen's DL and would help Shemar Turner a lot, imo. https://t.co/KHaL7K7mEA
— Quinten Krzysko (@ButkusStats) July 6, 2025
Conversely, this is why Sharp Football Analytics ranking Ben Johnson 22nd is very fair. No experience as a head coach is a detriment. Then again, tying him with Raheem Morris is a real stretch.
Experience is good. Losing experience is not good.
And by the way, Matt Eberflus in those defensive coordinator rankings? 18th. You don't need to call timeouts as a defensive coordinator. The head coach does it.
Dennis Allen doesn’t need stars - just a whiteboard and a few dogs.
He turned the Saints D from dead last to top 5.
Now he’s in Chicago with nothing to worry about but ruining QBs.
The league’s most slept-on defensive mind is about to cook.
Here’s how ⬇️… pic.twitter.com/dUAXC2F5Fj
— Ficky (@itsfickybaby) May 31, 2025
X: BearsOnSI