Bears' defense rebuilding on the fly as Jeffery Simmons arrives, Kyler Gordon revs up, Montez Sweat returns

Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen usually seems annoyed by having to do a weekly news conference, but coming off the trade for star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, talking to the media didn’t bother him at all.

Normally ultra-serious, Allen bordered on wacky as he cartoonishly looked side to side when two reporters asked him a question at the same time and he flashed a big smile as he said he felt like he was in the middle of a ping-pong match.

Simmons was quite a mood lifter for a defense that already was feeling better and better about itself heading toward the Bears’ visit to the defending champion Seahawks on Monday.

Allen’s job just became more fun. Defensive line has been a weak spot for years — imagine how Matt Eberflus must’ve reacted to general manager Ryan Poles acquiring an All-Pro defensive tackle — and Allen has constantly had to scheme around that and other deficiencies over his first season and a half.

That won’t be quite as necessary anymore.

“You get a guy like this and it frees up a lot of things,” coach Ben Johnson said. “It takes a lot of shortcomings and can mask those to a degree. When you’ve got a defensive player that’s as dominant as this guy is, it just takes him making a play to cover up some things across the board.

“He’s going to elevate everybody around him. Just having him out there is going to do wonders.”

The Bears got livewire nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon back from an injury two weeks ago. Then they added Simmons. Defensive end Montez Sweat returns Monday from a two-game suspension. Pieces are clicking into place, and the defense is being rebuilt on the fly.

It’s good timing as they go up against the Seahawks.

As hot as quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense have been, it’s brutally tough to score on these guys. Patrick Mahomes walked out of Lumen Field last week with three points.

They led the NFL in fewest points allowed last season at 17.2 per game and are fourth this season at 17.9.

To give themselves a chance, the Bears must contain a Seahawks offense stocked with dangerous pieces.

Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is chasing the first 2,000-yard season in league history. At running back, Zach Charbonnet was integral to their championship run, and rookie Jadarian Price is a first-round pick. Sam Darnold has struggled, but made the Pro Bowl the last two seasons and can’t be counted out.

But the upside for the Bears is they’ll need less smoke and mirrors to deal with all that. Simmons’ arrival should lead to more one-on-one matchups for everyone else on the defensive line, and the faster that group pushes into the backfield, the easier gets for everyone behind it.

And suddenly the Bears’ defense would look closer to what’s required to take a shot at the Super Bowl.

“We’re adding people and we’re getting there,” Gordon said. “It is nice to feel complete and complement each other in the ways that we all want to. We’re going to do a lot of great things.”