Bears vs. Falcons: How Kyler Gordon Unlocks Dennis Allen's Defense

Kyler Gordon needed just 17 snaps to make his impact felt in the Chicago Bears' 31-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. 

He put himself in the Bears' history books, finishing with three sacks, two forced fumbles and four total tackles. Gordon is the first defensive back in the last 40 seasons to record three plus sacks and multiple forced fumbles in the same game, according to Novig. 

Bears head coach Ben Johnson spoke to Gordon on Saturday morning and shared some details of that conversation.

"I think we want to activate ya, are you ready to go?" Johnson said. "He said, 'Absolutely.' And he sure enough was, so huge spark there for us on defense. I thought DA [Dennis Allen] put him in some good spots, but he's so twitchy. He's very hard to block as a blitzer. Um, tight in coverage also, so we got to make sure that we keep him on that right track, trying to limit his role a little bit. Just making sure he was in good football shape, but those snaps that he had were huge ones for us today."

Before Sunday, the Bears' nickel cornerback last played on Jan. 18 in the Divisional Round loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Soldier Field. A right calf injury sidelined him for the entire 2026 offseason, and he was placed on the physically unable to perform list (PUP) before training camp, missing the entire summer. Gordon then went to reserve/PUP, meaning he would miss at least the first four games of this season. 

But Gordon is back, and he changes the way defensive coordinator Dennis Allen can call his defense. 

Gordon played his first defensive snap of the game on a third-and-4 in the second quarter. He lined up to the defense's right side and is initially three yards off the line of scrimmage. As the play clock is winding down, Gordon moves inside and blitzes through the C-gap (between the left tackle and tight end). He gets in the Falcons' backfield after fighting through the tight end's block and helps make a 1-yard tackle for loss on running back Brian Robinson Jr. Atlanta went for it on fourth down and turned the ball over on downs.

Gordon registered all three of his sacks in the second half of the game, starting on the Falcons' first drive of the third quarter. On second-and-9 at Chicago's 34-yard line, Allen has seven players lined up on the line of scrimmage. Gordon is outside of defense end Daniel Hardy to the defense's left. Linebackers Devin Bush and D'Marco Jackson start by going towards the Falcons' O-line, which forces running back Bijan Robinson to move forward, but the Bears' linebackers dropped into zone coverage. Now Robinson is out of position and can't recover to protect the right edge from Gordon, who finished the play with a sack on quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

Later in the third quarter, Allen runs a similar concept that allowed Gordon to get his first sack. Bears have seven defenders lined up on the line of scrimmage. Bush and Jackson take their initial steps forward before dropping in coverage. This time the Falcons have a tight end to Gordon's side, but he's too slow to pick up the Bears' nickel cornerback who gets home and causes a sack fumble on third-and-6. The Falcons recovered and were forced to punt. 

What Gordon did as a blitzer illustrates just how creative Allen can get with him back in the Bears' defense. Gordon did finish with six coverage snaps and didn't allow any receptions. On the Falcons' final offensive possession of the game in the closing minutes of the fourth, he is lined up in the slot on wide receiver Drake London -- who entered the game with the fourth-most receiving yards in the NFL. 

Gordon got one hand on London and turned and ran with the receiver. When you watch the slowed down version of the replay in the video below, you can see Gordon also turns his head back to see if the football is coming his way. It wasn't and the Bears force an incomplete pass on second-and-6. 

Gordon caused a holding penalty on Bijan Robinson on the next play, negating a 9-yard pickup on third down. That was big play because the Bears went three-and-out on offense and there was momentum on Atlanta's side.

After the penalty, Gordon ended the game with a sack fumble on third-and-16. Bush recovered the ball and Chicago ran out the clock. 

Although Gordon has been missed a lot of time because of injuries, he played with elite timing against the Falcons. That's what stood out on each of his pass rushing snaps. He perfectly timed Penix's cadence, winning his reps from the start of the snap. 

That should tell everyone about the dedication and time Gordon has been putting in behind the scenes so that he can perform the way he did against the Falcons. 

So when Gordon was asked after the game if there was ever any doubt he could come back and make sure a massive impact, he answered in a single, definitive word:

"Never."