Defense Swallows Its Pride, Digs in for Lions Rematch
Somehow Bears defensive players must keep their hurt feelings from the Green Bay loss and aftermath under wraps Sunday long enough to deal with the Detroit Lions.
They say the loss only provides more motivation, as if being on the outside of the playoff picture looking in following a 5-1 start wasn't enough.
The beating the defense absorbed against the Packers in a 41-25 loss embarrassed them but it will be much worse if they continue taking punishment from Matthew Stafford, 35-year-old Adrian Peterson and the 4-7 Lions because it could pretty much ensure their season will end without a playoff game.
"You've got to saddle up and put all that crap behind you and move on and watch the tape and practice and stick to the process and keep swinging and keep fighting," Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano said. "I told the guys, it's a privilege to play and coach in the National Football League. We're playing and coaching a kids game.
"You can turn the TV off and look around and there's a lot of crap that's going on that's a hell of a lot worse than what we went through Sunday or are ever going to go through in a football game—real-life stuff."
Getting Akiem Hicks back at practice on Thursday can help. Without their defensive end playing last week the Bears gave up 182 yards rushing to basically a two-headed Packers running game, the most rushing yards they've allowed under Pagano and most overall since Dec. 24, 2016.
"You know what the rivalry means, so for us to go out there and we feel like we got embarrassed on national TV, especially a prime-time game," safety Eddie Jackson said. "So we just want to keep working.
"Right now we've got that as fuel to our fire. We just can't wait until Sunday, get this taste out of our mouth. That's all we’ve been focused on is Detroit, how we've got to bounce back and what we need to do and correct the little things."
Adding to their insult is the single game knocked them out of the league lead in both third-down percentage on defense and in red-zone defense. They are now second in both after leading most of the season.
Since Peterson hit them with 93 yards on 14 carries in the opener, and because Lions interim coach Darrell Bevell has a long tie to Peterson dating back to 2006 in Minnesota, it's likely the Bears will face a healthy dose of runs or play-action passes. Green Bay did this to them and kept them off balance all night.
"TFor us to go out there and lay an egg, I think that it was embarrassing for us on many different levels," safety Tashaun Gipson said. "So I think that the bounce back is so real and I think that's the beautiful thing about football, man. You get to erase the mistakes that you made seven days ago, a week later to go out there and reinvent yourself and get that taste out your mouth. And you have five games left, which is a lot of football left."
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
