Dennis Allen on losing Jaylon Johnson again, facing Dak Prescott

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 2 hours ago

CHICAGO - There cannot be anything more embarrassing than a defensive coordinator watching your defense give up 52 points.

At this point, all the defensive coordinator Dennis Allen can do after Chicago’s loss against the Detroit Lions is focus on their upcoming game on Sun. Sept. 21 versus the Dallas Cowboys (3:25 p.m. / FOX).

“If you’re in this league long enough, you’ve been in one of those types of games and so, make the corrections that you need to make and you come back in and go back to work and that’s what you do. You get right back up on the horse and let’s go ride again and so, that’s what our guys are going,” Allen said. “When you don’t perform well and you lose a game like that, there’s a lot of issues that went on and so, there’s a lot of dirty hands in that. We all accept responsibility, coaches (and) players alike and we’re focused on trying to make the corrections and get ready for Dallas.”

The game against Detroit was the first game of the season for cornerback Jaylon Johnson. Unfortunately, he was only able to play one quarter before suffering an injury that will keep him out against Dallas and possibly for some time after that.

While losing an All-Pro cornerback like Johnson is difficult, Allen is accustomed to preparing for Johnson's absence from the game, as he also missed most of the preseason.

“We’ve been working without him for most of training camp. We didn’t have him in the first game. Obviously, you lose of a player of that caliber, it’s a big hindrance to your football team,” Allen said. “So, you got to readjust how you operate, calls you make and each and every week is going to be different.”

One thing that would help the Chicago defense would be if edge rusher Montez Sweat could get things going. Through the first two games, Sweat only has six total tackles and one quarterback hit.

Given that he is one of Chicago’s defensive leaders, the Bears need him to step up to have a chance against the Cowboys.

“We got to do some things to try to create some more one-on-one situations. When you’re in these games that are either you’re chasing points or they’re close games, it doesn’t get into one of these games where it’s a throw the ball every time and I think that’s where you’re really able to get after the quarterback a little bit,” Allen said. “So, I think it’s just really about trying to create some more opportunities for him and then just being consistent in terms of his technique and his fundamentals and his pass rush.”

Even if Sweat is not the one to step up this Sunday, Chicago needs someone to. The Bears will be facing quarterback Dak Prescott who just put up 361 passing yards and 73.1 percent completion.

Given what Jared Goff was able to do to the Bears last week, Chicago’s defense must get pressure in the backfield if they are going to keep Prescott contained.

“Like most quarterbacks, it’s trying to get him off the spot. I think he’s an outstanding player. I think he’s playing at a really high level, certainly had total command of their offense and so, we’re going to have to try to do some things (to) get him uncomfortable in the pocket. Hopefully we’ll have some looks that have him hold the ball a couple of extra counts and try to affect him that way,” Allen said. “The most important way and the quickest way to affect the offense is to be able to affect the quarterback and being able to do that through rushing coverage and so, there’s a lot of different ways that you can do that. Maybe there’s some ways that we can create a little bit more time for the rush to get there and I think getting teams into obvious passing down situations is a big deal too. When you’re facing teams and they’re maxing up the protection with seven and eight man protections, it’s not easy to get to the quarterback in those situations. So, I think some of it is playing better on early downs, getting teams into longer distances, obvious passing down situations and that allows you to do a little bit more to get after the passer.”