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The 1985 Chicago Bears defense is the most well-known in franchise history, but it should also be noted that the 2005, 2006, 2010, and 2012 Bears defenses were at least top 4 in the NFL in points allowed, and the 2005 defense ranked first.
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Linebacker Lance Briggs was an integral part of all of those defenses.
A third-round pick out of Arizona in 2003, Briggs teamed with Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher to form the NFL’s most formidable linebacker duo for a good long time, but Briggs would have been great on any team, no matter the surrounding cast. He’s a seven-time Pro Bowler and one-time First-Team All-Pro who totaled 944 solo tackles, 97 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, 16 interceptions for 256 yards and five touchdowns, and 84 passes defensed.
From his rookie season through 2014 when he retired, Briggs was as much a prototype of the modern linebacker as anybody in the NFL, which makes him especially qualified to talk about modern defenses, and how things have changed in the league.
Recently, Briggs spoke with Athlon Sports about his work with Salute to Service, all those great Bears defenses, how things have changed in the years since, and what he thinks of the 2026 Bears’ chances. We caught up with him as he was putting veterans through their paces at a combine-style workout in the Bears’ facility.
Doug Farrar: Lance, to start with, you’re working with USAA in their salute to service boot camp for the Chicago Bears. How is that going? And what does Salute to Service mean to you?
Lance Briggs: It’s going great. It’s going great out here.
You know, we had an NFL-style combine in the Walter Payton Center. You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve been inside there, where we had all these practices and prepping for teams. So we have all this sound, you know, that’s just echoing off every wall. You can barely hear anybody just trying to prepare for what to expect when we go up to play.
Salute to Service has always meant a lot to me. I think it should mean a lot to every American, because the comforts that we have to be able to go into the grocery store and have this this huge selection of meats and cheeses, and your favorite wines, and have your farm-to-table. And you have your nice little restaurant outings and brunches and all that stuff.
We don’t have that without the military protecting our lives and keeping us safe. So it’s the gratitude, and it starts in here.
DF: Absolutely. I wanted to ask you about the differences between modern defenses and the defense you were in when you were in the league, because in a lot of ways, you were kind of a prototype of the linebackers of today You could blow up run fits and pressure the quarterback and get TFLs and forced fumbles as a forward-moving player, but you had 16 picks for 256 yards and five touchdowns. You had 84 passes defensed in your career. You could walk into one of those heavy nickel/dime defenses like the Seahawks or the Texans and fit right in.
When you watch defenses today, what are your thoughts about that? Like, “What kind of linebacker would I be if I came into the NFL right now?” As great as you were, it’s almost like the NFL is now even more attuned to the kind of player you were.
LB: Yeah. You know, I think my size when I was playing [6-foot-1 , 244 pounds] probably would be more of the the exception to the rule.
Now, you know, the Fred Warners of the world, you know, they’re 228 [pounds], right around that range, maybe 230. A lot of those a lot of the linebackers have lightened up. In doing so, you want guys that can run, which is good. You always want guys that can run. But now, you start to get this trend where offenses start to bring in more more tight ends. More of these large tight ends who can not only block; they’re hybrids, because they can catch. They can do it all. Which means, you’ve got to bring an extra linebacker into into the box.
So, they’re trying to create mismatches by bringing in these guys, and they were trying to do this back when I was playing. It’s just that the tight ends that they were bringing in [when he was playing] – they couldn’t handle the physical nature of going against these linebackers from back then.
Now they can. So, it creates a field where, what do we do? Are we going to keep these linebackers who get pushed around? We also have these two tight ends, which means there are less DBs on the field. So that can create more one-on-one matches we want with our top receivers.
So, it’s interesting how the league trends, where it goes, in what direction, and how [teams] study to see how they can take advantage. Because when you get to the highest level, the goal is, who can we take advantage of? You know, you’re taking advantage of the individual, rather than just the system. That’s who you’re picking on, trying to find the weakest link.
But, you know, kudos to these guys nowadays. Like, I love watching Fred Warner fly sideline-to-sideline and make plays. I think you’re going to continue to get more and more larger-sized running backs who are going to run into these linebackers, and they’re going to fall forward for three, four yards every time until the linebackers start to get bigger and can push back, which is also going to change the trend.
It’s an ongoing trend that’s always going to go up and down and up and down [for teams] to outmatch each other.
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Talked with legendary @ChicagoBears linebacker @LanceBriggs about how defenses have changed in the NFL since he played.
Briggs had a LOT to say about that. pic.twitter.com/oG0Dx9lvQ5
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) August 11, 2026
DF: You also had a ton of great teammates on those amazing defenses. I’m in Seattle, so I think of the Legion of Boom or the modern Seahawks defense.You had Brian Urlacher, you had Peanut Tillman, you had Adewale Ogunleye, you had Tommie Harris, who, my God, Tommie Harris was so underrated. That guy was insane.
LB: Absolutely.
DF: What do you remember about the feeling of being on a defense where it wasn’t just you playing well, it was everyone around you, and how that just amplifies everybody’s efforts?
LB: Well, what it did is, it allowed me to see what what what elite play looks like at those positions. Now, obviously, we could turn on the tape, and we can see one or two or three [players] on each team around the league. But to look around and be in a huddle with with this amount of talent, you know, from Urlacher to Tillman to Tommy Harris and Mike Brown, Julius Peppers and Adewale Ogunleye.
DF: And like Nathan Vasher; guys who just popped up out of nowhere.
LB: Nathan Vasher, Tim Jennings. There were so many guys that I was surrounded by. And I was wowed. I’m like, man, this is this is what it feels like to be amongst the best of the best.
Asked Lance Briggs about all those great Bears defenses he was on, and what it felt like to be on teams where you can’t turn your head without seeing 5-6 Pro Bowlers. pic.twitter.com/IQ4UPoaZ8A
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) August 11, 2026
DF: You mentioned Fred Warner, but does anyone remind you of you in the NFL today where you think, man, that guy’s got it all on lock. That’s the way a linebacker should play.
LB: I don’t know. You see spurts. You see spurts here and there from players. You know, even when Roquan [Smith] was playing for the Bears, I think from a playmaking standpoint, all day. But I don’t think our styles were the same. A lot of times I’d see him when he tackles, he spins his body around the ballcarrier. That wasn’t my style. My style was to hit you. You go backwards and you go to the ground, you know. And so, you’ll see spurts here and there from from linebackers.
But the Junior Seaus, the Jeremiah Trotters, the Lance Briggses as we were, the Ray Lewises, we were bang bang guys. So, it’s it’s it’s hard. It’s hard to it’s hard to pick out the guy that does it on a play-by-play basis.
DF: Sure. Because as we’ve talked about, the game is so different now.
Lance Briggs was one of the prototypes for the modern do-it-all linebacker, so I asked him which ‘backers today remind him of him.
His answer? The game is very different now. pic.twitter.com/GrZArSwH1A
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) August 11, 2026
So, the 2026 Bears – I know you do some Bears analysis. They went 11-6 last season, won the NFC North, and made it to the divisional round of the playoffs. They seem to have erased their 75-year quarterback curse with Caleb Williams.
How do you see the 2026 Bears faring? How far do you think they can go with Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen in charge?
LB: High expectations. And it’s exciting to have expectations like that. They haven’t been this high in a long time. Chicago had to be the funnest city to be in for football last year. It was exciting. I think a lot of I think a lot of fans, you know, they don’t want to go through that kind of heart shock, you know, on a lot of those [close] games.
But I think the Bears, they find ways to win more than 11 games this year. They should. That’s the expectation. You never know how things are going to go. You have the naysayers who say that after that year, they’re going to regress. But I think it’s all within them. I think they’re in control of their own destiny.
DF: Well, Lance Briggs, great to talk to you, man. Appreciate it. Best of luck with your your analytical future. And thanks for taking the time with me and with USAA.
LB: You got it, Doug. Take care, brother.
What does Lance Briggs think of the 2026 Bears’ chances? The expectations are high, and they should be. pic.twitter.com/b7pdbk3lFw
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— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) August 11, 2026
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This story was originally published August 12, 2026 at 4:45 AM.