Bears Defense Turns in Fitting Performance on Night of Brian Urlacher's Ring Ceremony

The Bears D flashed shades of linebacker legend Brian Urlacher, who was honored at halftime in his return to Soldier Field.

Before Brian Urlacher walked out onto the field to be honored at halftime of the Bears game, Chicago’s defense had already sacked Russell Wilson five times.

On the night of Urlacher’s ring ceremony at Soldier Field, the Bears defense put on a performance worthy of the Hall of Famer middle linebacker’s presence.

“For the linebackers, we didn't really speak on it, but we knew what was going on,” linebacker Danny Trevathan said. “That's one of the greats of Chicago and we went out there to get a win, not only for him, but for ourselves.”

In the postgame locker room, Trevathan proudly wore a chain with a baseball-sized diamond-encrusted Bear head, its teeth bared in a sparkling roar. He says that Chicago has won the game each time he’s worn his Bears bling. But on Monday Night Football, these Bears didn’t need any superstitions or lucky charms to beat the injured and rebuilding Seahawks. All they needed was a strong defense and a good enough offensive performance.

Chicago’s linebacking corps made plays all night. Outside linebacker Khalil Mack, in his first game at Soldier Field, had a sack and a forced fumble. Trevathan had two sacks and a forced fumble and outside linebacker Aaron Lynch had a sack. Rookie Roquan Smith saw more action than his NFL debut and finished with seven tackles and one pass defended.

“People don't show us enough respect,” Trevathan said. “This could be one of the special groups of linebackers, like Urlacher, but we have to believe in it and keep stacking games up like this.”

On second-and-six in the fourth quarter, with Seattle trailing 24-10, Trevathan saw Wilson step up in the pocket, looking like he was unsure whether he would run or pass. Trevathan sensed the uncertainty and preyed. He cut across the field and Tomahawk-chopped the ball out of Wilson’s hand as he ran forward. Bears outside linebacker Leonard Floyd recovered the fumble.

“Our whole mentality is every play is a takeaway, so I was thinking that the whole time, get that ball off of him,” Trevathan said. “You never know with him because he is always looking to throw or make another play so I wanted to go ahead and make my play on him when I got a chance. I saw his hand swinging, and I've been working that drill forever, finally got it.”

On the previous Seahawks drive, Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara snagged his first interception since 2015 and took it to the end zone for a defensive score.

Seattle’s offensive line struggled to protect Wilson, and the offense failed to score after Seattle cornerback Shaquill Griffin picked off Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky on two consecutive drives in the second quarter. Trubisky had his first multi-touchdown game, and the Bears offense had a more consistent game than last week’s second-half collapse, but the unit clearly lagged behind the standout defensive effort. After two games, this Bears defense looks like a legitimate, playmaking force to be reckoned with. And Trevathan doesn’t mind if it’s on the defense to win games. “We put it on our shoulders, and we like it that way,” he said.

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There were 19 missed kicks on Sunday. Two of those troubled kickers lost their jobs today. Minnesota cut Daniel Carlson, who missed three field goals in a tie with Green Bay and signed ex-Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey. Cleveland cut Zane Gonzalez, who missed a game-tying field goal against New Orleans, and signed rookie Greg Joseph.

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