Dennis Allen made an adjustment at halftime.

The Chicago Bears defensive coordinator blitzed just five times on 16 passing plays in the first half against the Green Bay Packers. In the third quarter, Allen sent an extra rusher on five of eight passing plays. The Packers punted on all three of their third-quarter possessions.

The defensive adjustment helped turn the tide for the Bears in the second half as they engineered a comeback from an 18-point deficit. In all, the Bears blitzed on 35.4% of passing plays, outpacing their regular-season blitz rate of 28.7%, per NFL Pro.

The Bears defensive front has been largely ineffective, statistically speaking. They ranked 27th among 32 teams in the regular season with a 31.6% quarterback pressure rate. Their sack rate (5.8%) ranked 21st.

The Bears have struggled to get home when rushing only four defenders. Only three defensive linemen had more than two sacks this season: Montez Sweat with 10, Gervon Dexter Sr. with six and Austin Booker with 4½.

In certain matchups, Allen has been forced to rely on the blitz to create pressure. That, of course, is a double-edged sword because it means fewer defenders in pass coverage.

On Saturday night against the Packers, it worked. This week against quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams, it might not

Matthew Stafford’s staggering numbers vs. the blitz

Stafford, who has a finger injury, had an MVP-caliber season. He threw a career-high and league-leading 46 touchdown passes while also leading the NFL in passing yards (4,707). The Rams had the No. 1 offense in both points (30.5) and total yards (394.6) per game.

Obviously a season like that means a quarterback is doing a lot of things right.

“His numbers versus everything’s pretty good this year,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “He’s playing at an MVP level, and that’s going to be our challenge.”

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford throws a pass against the Panthers during an NFC wild-card-round game Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Stafford’s numbers are great no matter how you look at them, but he has been at his best when teams are blitzing. In the regular season, opponents blitzed Stafford at the highest rate since at least 2018 (which is as far back as NFL Pro’s data goes) at 32.9%.

He made them pay for it.

Stafford had a 125.4 passer rating with 32 touchdowns and one interception when teams sent an extra rusher at him. Yes, that’s 32 of his 46 touchdown passes that came against the blitz. He threw seven of his eight interceptions when teams didn’t blitz, and his passer rating dropped to 94.

Blitzing him usually just means he’s getting rid of the ball faster. Stafford ranked 12th-fastest among 33 qualified quarterbacks with a 2.8-second time to throw metric. Against the blitz, he got the ball out in 2.6 seconds on average.

“We have to have guys step up here this week, both up front and on the back end, to make things as difficult as we possibly can for them,” Johnson said. “And so whether that’s bring pressure, whether that’s play coverage and depend on our front four to get after him, it’s one of those things where it’s going to take everybody.”

With a pass rush that has struggled when rushing only four, the Bears are between a rock and a hard place against a savvy veteran like Stafford. Can they afford to risk giving him clean pockets if they don’t blitz?

Or is it a gamble worth taking to send the blitz? The numbers suggest that’s playing with fire.

A comeback for the ages

Receiver DJ Moore runs to the locker room after the Bears defeated the Packers 31-27 in an NFC wild-card game Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, at Soldier Field. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Saturday’s win over the Packers was the largest playoff comeback in Bears history. It was the fourth-largest comeback in franchise history, period, regular season or postseason. Here are the top four:

20 points: at Arizona Cardinals, Oct. 16, 2006
20: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oct. 25, 1987
19: vs. San Francisco 49ers, Oct. 28, 2001
18: vs. Packers, Jan. 10, 2026

The Bears have had five 17-point comebacks, including Caleb Williams’ NFL debut against the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 8, 2024.

Per the Bears, only four teams have rallied from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to win a postseason game. The last was the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, a famous comeback from a 28-3 deficit against the Atlanta Falcons.

Odds and ends, including some playoff records

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams throws a pass in the fourth quarter of an NFC wild-card game against the Packers on Jan. 10, 2026, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Caleb Williams’ 361 passing yards set a Bears playoff record.

Williams’ six fourth-quarter comebacks in the regular season also was a franchise record (Pro Football Reference tracks as far back as 1950). Before this season no Bears quarterback had more than four. Jay Cutler twice had four in a season (2010 and 2015).

With seven now, including the postseason, Williams is one fourth-quarter comeback shy of tying the all-time single-season record (including playoff games). Stafford (2016) and Kirk Cousins (2022) both had eight, all coming in the regular season.

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For his career, Williams has eight regular-season fourth-quarter comebacks, plus one in the playoffs. If you count the playoff comeback, he now has more total fourth-quarter comebacks in his career than Joe Burrow, Brock Purdy, Jordan Love, Sam Darnold and Bryce Young, and he’s tied with Trevor Lawrence. All of those quarterbacks have been in the league longer than Williams.

Kicker Cairo Santos made a 51-yard field goal against the Packers, a franchise postseason record.

Tight end Colston Loveland’s 137 receiving yards were the second-most by an NFL rookie tight end in a playoff game. He became the first rookie tight end with eight receptions and more than 100 receiving yards in a playoff game. He finished just shy of Allen Robinson’s franchise-record 143 receiving yards against the Philadelphia Eagles in the double-doink game in January 2019.

Coach Ben Johnson became the first Bears coach to win a playoff game in his first season. His 12 wins, including the postseason, ties a record for the most by a Bears coach in his first season.

The Bears’ 25 fourth-quarter points were the most by any team in a playoff game since the Eagles scored 26 in January 1993.

Saturday’s win marked the first time (regular season or postseason) that the Bears had no punts in a game since Sept. 28, 2014. They have had three such games since 1972.

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