The Jeffery Simmons effect has been noticeable for the Bears defense in the last two games, as their own four-man pressure amps up and yards per rush against them declines.

There is more rush making the coverage aspect of rush-and-cover easier.

"He presents a physical presence on the inside of our defense, run and pass, and that's a good feeling to have," defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said.

Still, before Simmons this never was a defense struggling to simply get by while being propped up by the Bears offense, as many suggested during the last few weeks prior to the Simmons trade. It's reflected in their defensive team statistics. The trend was already positive for this group before Simmons and it only figures to improve in the second half.

Last year takeaways saved the Bears defense when it lacked the ability to stop the run or defend the pass. This year they've improved at both and haven't needed takeaways to rescue them. This is where the critics of their offseason improvement failed to show any foresight whatsoever. They were saying the Bears couldn't repeat last year's "lucky" defense that took it away so much but they didn't see past the end of their noses to realize the defense was improved and wouldn't need to rely only on takeaways.

In fact, the Bears defense has been so good that they've been able to withstand an offense that has turned the ball over the third most times in the league (17).

Considering how much criticism Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson receiver, or their supposed lack of a pass rush prior to Simmons was cited, they are ninth overall at 310.9 yards allowed per game, up 20 spots from last year when they were 29th at 361.8 yards allowed per game. Also, they're better against the run by far, at 91.3 rushing yards allowed per game for sixth in the league, 43.2 yards per game better than last year when they were 27th.

While their run defense needs to be better than 22nd in yards allowed per carry at 4.4, they are greatly improved there from 29th last year at 5.0. And they're trending up here because they have allowed just 82.4 yards rushing over the last five games and 4.0 per rush in the last five, which is 14th in the league. With Simmons now added, it only figures to improve.

The end result of all of this has been a phenomenal improvement in third-down defense from 40.84% and 22nd in the NFL to No. 1 by a very wide margin. At 22.83%, the Bears are a whopping 7.75% better than Seattle, the next-best team. It makes up for fewer takeaways but more importantly fixes the league-high 17 turnovers their offense has committed.

Expect more of the same approach from Allen as the season goes on as in recent games. They'll continue to blitz, though not at the ninth-highest level in the league like they have (31.3%).

"I think in a perfect world scenario the more resources you can send back there in coverage and still be able to affect the quarterback, I think that's, you know, probably the greatest advantage and yet I think you have to have a combination and mixture of both," Allen said.

The defense is better because of better people. Beside Simmons, linebacker Devin Bush has gradually improved and finished the first half with three strong games.

"Our big guys are running out of the stack chasing after the ball; we have our little guys playing big and making tackless on the perimeter," coach Ben Johnson said Tuesday while making an appearance on Fox Sports' First Take with Danny Parkinson. "I think its really raising the level of play from our whole unit."

Besides better overall play and Allen's defensive scheming between pressure and no pressure, there could be an added factor that has helped the Bears defense rise to ninth overall at 310.9 yards a game. Johnson talked about it in his First Take appearance.

"You know, you talk about being the head coach and certainly as the offensive play caller I'm more inclined on that side, and yet trying to bring all three phases together to play a complete game, I think that's where certainly I've grown from Year 1 to Year 2," Johnson said. "But having great, strong leadership on the pther phases really makes my job easier, as well."

With effective direction and impactful coaching, the Bears' defense is heading in the direction it needs going into the second half five four tough NFC North games to come in their final eight.

And it doesn't hurt having someone doing what Simmons has shown, whether he's running upfield chasing a quarterback or chasing a ball carrier downfield as he did so effectively to prevent Tampa Bay receiver Emeka Egbuka from scoring on a screen pass on Sunday.