Why Bears' defense might be a total disaster for 2026 NFL season

The Chicago Bears won the NFC North in 2025, and the first year of Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams together went incredibly well. Dennis Allen's defense was also great, as they secured the most turnovers in the NFL with 22 on the year, five more than 2nd place.

While Williams and Johnson should continue to progress on offense in 2026, there is some real concern about the defensive side of the ball. Regression to the mean is likely coming after such a high-turnover season. But it might be worse than that.

ESPN's Courtney Cronin called out the injuries to the Bears secondary this summer as the "biggest concern" as the 2026 season begins. That is a huge concern; however, there are a lot of other issues that could make this 2026 Bears defense a total disaster.

Bears could have a terrible defense during 2026 season

Defensive backfield injury and turnover questions

"Biggest concern: Injuries in the secondary were the story of training camp," Cronin writes. "Safety Coby Bryant is out four to six months, and nickel corner Kyler Gordon will miss at least the first four games on reserve/PUP."

Coby Bryant is going to miss most of the season, and Kyle Gordon will be out for the first month or so, depending on his recovery. Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson are also coming into the year banged up, though their issues are not as serious.

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Cam Lewis, Dillon Thieneman, Malik Muhammad, Stevenson, Clark Phillips III, Johnson, Josh Blackwell, and others will make up the Chicago secondary in 2026.

It's going to be very hard for this group to even come close to replicating what Nahshon Wright, Kevin Byard, and Jaquan Brisker did in 2025 for this Bears defense.

Defensive front pass rush problems

Unfortunately, that's only scratching the surface of the issues with this defense. As Cronin highlighted in the wake of the secondary issues, "With so many questions there, Chicago needs its pass rush to hold its own and generate more pressure."

This Bears defense has a very questionable secondary, and to make up for it, they need their defensive front to generate pressure to allow the defensive backs to have an easier time in coverage.

Montez Sweat is a good starter, and there might be some promise with Dayo Odeyingbo in 2026, but Austin Booker, Daniel Hardy, and Jamree Kromah don't exactly make up an exciting group.

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The interior isn't much better, especially after trading Gervon Dexter to the Atlanta Falcons. Grady Jarrett, Kentavius Street, Jordan van den Berg, Neville Gallimore, James Lynch, and Jayden Loving round out the interior defensive line, with Shemar Turner out.

Both the edge rusher and defensive tackle rooms are questionable. It would not be a surprise if this defensive front was not close to being elite.

There might be some decent players along the defensive front, but this defense really does need another good pass rusher or two for there to be optimism about this defense.

Bears could have a disastrous defense

This Bears secondary is likely to suffer natural regression, which will be compounded by the injury issues they're dealing with. It seems clear this secondary will be a real problem, at least to start the season.

Combined with a questionable defensive front, especially when it comes to generating pressure, this setup could be a recipe for disaster for the Bears.

Even though the linebacker room is in good shape with T.J. Edwards, Devin Bush, and D'Marco Jackson, the questions about the secondary and the defensive line are too important to ignore.

Unless the secondary plays better than expected, or the defensive line has a few players break out, this 2026 Bears defense could wind up being a complete disaster.

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