Big, bad Bears:
The addition of Khalil Mack has helped make Chicago’s already tough defense ferocious as the team molds into a playoff threat.
CHICAGO – The Bears defense needs some work.
Khalil Mack thought they were supposed to be a choir. No one could tell Akiem Hicks was playing the flute. Eddie Jackson had conducting honors, only to see Danny Trevathan was trying to direct the music, too.
What, you thought I was talking about their performance on the field?
Aside from that unorganized celebration after Jackson’s pick-six, the Bears defense was pitch perfect Nov. 18 in the first Sunday night game at Soldier Field in six years. The 25-20 victory over the Vikings, which wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated, gave the Bears their first four-game winning streak since 2012 and command of the NFC North with a 7-3 record.
It also put the Vikings and everyone else on notice that the Bears are a team to be reckoned with. Now, and likely in January.
“We’re trying to show the league we’re contenders,” Jackson said. “We’re just trying to show the league that we’re for real.”
Whatever doubts there were about the Bears were centered around second-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, not the defense. Chicago had the 10th-best defense in the NFL last season, and it wasn’t likely to take a step back when Vic Fangio agreed to return under new coach Matt Nagy.
Then the Bears got Mack the weekend before the season started in what will go down as one of the biggest swindles in NFL history.
“We knew we were going to take it to next level,” cornerback Prince Amukamara said.
Yes, but no one expected Chicago to be this good.
While Mack sets the tone, the entire defense feeds off one another. You could feel the energy crackling from the entire unit after Hicks and Kyle Fuller stuffed Latavius Murray on 3rd-and-1 on the opening drive, forcing the Vikings to punt.
Sparks were practically flying by the end of the night.
Mack had a forced fumble and a sack. He also tossed Riley Reiff, Minnesota’s 305pound left tackle, to the ground like a rag doll.
Using only one hand.
Hicks also had a sack, finishing with five tackles for loss. Adrian Amos and Jackson intercepted Kirk Cousins.
Together, the defense shut the Vikings out in the first half and limited them to 22 yards rushing for the entire game. Cousins, Minnesota’s big free agency pickup, finished the game with a 76.5 rating after going 30 of 46 for 262 yards.
“They have a great defense,” Cousins said. “They’re well-coached and they have good players. And I thought they did a really, really good job against us all night long.”
While Trubisky has made incredible strides this season, beyond what probably anyone outside the Bears organization expected, he’s still a work in progress. His two interceptions were throws he had no business making, and he got away with a couple of other reckless passes.
But those growing pains are far more tolerable with a defense like Chicago’s. The Bears lead the NFL with 95 points off takeaways. They also have an NFL-best 18 interceptions and are tied for fourth with 32 sacks.
Making those numbers even more impressive is that it’s not just one or two guys making plays. Ten players have interceptions, 14 have gotten credit for a sack.
“Who do you block?” Hicks said. “Who do you block, that’s the question? Do you block Leonard Floyd? Do you block Eddie Goldman? Do you block Akiem? Do you block Khalil? Who you going to block? That’s the question we want every offense to have to figure out.”
If this formula of having a wrecking ball of a defense carry the load for an average to above-average offense sounds familiar, it should. The Vikings parlayed it into a spot in the NFC title game last season. Jacksonville did the same in the AFC.
The NFL is very much a quarterbacks league, but the old adage that defense wins championships still holds true. Chicago gets that.
More important, the Bears see the big picture. Mack is the undisputed star, but there’s a role for everyone to play.
“We know how we fit in our defense,” Hicks said. “We play to our strengths because it puts us in position to (win).”
The Bears are in perfect harmony right now. Everywhere, except those touchdown celebrations.