Bears Defense Continues An Alarming Trend Dating Back to 2025 Season

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's defense will have to man up when rewatching the game film from the Chicago Bears' 31-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. 

The defense allowed Packers quarterback Jordan Love to complete 25 of 31 passes for 367 yards and two touchdowns. Green Bay's vertical passing game completely destroyed Chicago's defense. 

According to Next Gen Stats, Love completed six of eight deep passes (20+ air yards) for a career-high 258 yards and two touchdowns. Love also joined Ben Roethlisberger as the only player with five completion of 30+ air yards in a single game since ESPN started tracking the stat in 2006. 

With the Packers facing a third-and-22 after the Packers committed an offensive pass inference that negated a touchdown, Love still connected with wide receiver Christian Watson for a 53-yard touchdown. Watson finished the game with six receptions for 143 yards and two scores. 

"It’s one of those things where that’s their M.O., they do a nice job of being aggressive there on third and long, and you know Love, when he’s got a little bit of time, he’s got a lot of trust in those pass catchers, and so (WR Watson) had some space out there and we must have just taken a little bad angle there," head coach Ben Johnson said. 

Allen's defense allowed the fifth-most passing plays of 20 yards or more (60) last season. Through the first five games in 2026, the Bears' defense is tied for the ninth-most in the league with 16 of those explosive plays given up.

But there is also another alarming statistic that dates back to last year. The Bears' defense has given up 68 points in their road games against the Carolina Panthers (37) and Packers (31). At Soldier Field, the Bears have allowed just 28 points. 

Johnathan Wood from Windy City Gridiron highlighted the drastically alarming difference in the Bears' defense at Soldier Field and on the road. Last season, Chicago allowed 18.1 point per game (including the playoffs) at home, but gave up 29.7 PPG on the road. 

Here is a look at the Bears' road games last season

Outside of the Week 11 and 13 games against the Vikings and Eagles, Allen's defense has allowed at least 24 points or more in all of the team's road matchups. 

The Bears will go on the road to face the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6. With quarterback Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta's offense has scored 80 points in the last two weeks, including 35 against the Packers at Lambeau Field. Atlanta will wrap up Sunday's slate of games with a matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. 

The Bears' defense needs to make plenty of corrections before next week's matchup and will have to do so quickly to get back on track to avoid a two-game losing streak.