How Bears Are Trying to Bounce Back from Victory
If not for the jittery fingers of D'Andre Swift, the Bears would be playing in empty Soldier Field Sunday for the first time this season trying to bounce back from an 0-1 start.
Instead, they're trying to bounce back from a 1-0 start.
The entire week building for the Bears to their game against the rebuilding New York Giants (0-1) has been spent trying to make certain they give the kind of effort on both sides of the football shown in Detroit during the fourth quarter.
At least the offense closed. The defense seemed to, then really didn't.
Now, with pass rusher Robert Quinn hoping to play for the first time, they are feeling a surge.
"This is a get back on track for us, the mindset and just holding it down," said linebacker Danny Trevathan, who allowed Swift to get open. "We gave away a lot of leaky stuff, we were just trying to play ball.
"But right now we know it, that we have to trust in one another, and the guys we have in this room we're going to take accountability and hold one another responsible and we're going to push one another and we're going to do much better this week."
The Bears defense has rebounded in dramatic fashion in the past from rare poor performances.
They allowed the most yards given up under coordinator Chuck Pagano (426) against Detroit, and last year they struggled against the Saints in similar fashion (424) but came out with a strong effort in a loss to the Chargers.
They had a knack for such bounce backs even when Vic Fangio was defensive coordinator, and coach Matt Nagy said his own offense can actually attest to the strong desire by their defense to rebound.
"You felt it at practice," Nagy said. "There was a little bit of aggression going on at practice, which I like."
Stopping a healthy Saquon Barkley after he has gashed them in the past for a 125-yard game is not a desirable matchup, especially after allowing 93 yards to 35-year-old Adrian Peterson.
Pagano compared Barkley to Earl Campbell this week, which might be a stretch. They made Peterson look like Campbell, though.
"I don't think we have to discuss anything out of the normal, but it does help that we've gone against him, we know what type of back he is," cornerback Kyle Fuller said. "So we just have to do our job."
The job also includes containing wide receiver Darius Slayton, who had six catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns in the Giants' 26-16 opening loss to Pittsburgh.
Then again, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has only a year under his belt and the big problem the Giants faced in their loss wasn't their quarterback or running back but the guys who must prevent Bears defenders from beating on them. The New York offensive line let Jones get hit eight times and sacked three. They allowed Barkley to be hit for the first time per play an average of 0.7 yards behind the line of scrimmage. He had 6 yards.
Khalil Mack is going up against right tackle Cameron Fleming, a career sub who came to the Giants this year from Dallas. In his first Bears start, Quinn would be facing Giants rookie left tackle Andrew Thomas.
"You got Quinn and Mack on each side, you have to pick your poison," Trevathan said.
On a day last week when the Bears defense looked like they'd been poisoned, they had company.
Mitchell Trubisky stumbled through the first three quarters missing targets as they went 0-for-7 on third downs before finishing 2-for-11. There are only so many 17-point comebacks in fourth quarters available to teams, so obviously it can't happen again.
"We gotta get to a point where we just feel it," Trubisky said. "I don't think you want to go into the mindset that you attack the game like you're down 17 points, but it's gotta be somewhere in that realm where we're being aggressive but we're also taking care of the football and doing our job."
Trubisky called it a team-wide goal to start strong.
"Hopefully guys see that and continue to buy in so we're able to make more plays early on in the game," Trubisky said. "But most of it comes down to me and just overall execution with the guys on third down."
It usually does boil down to Trubisky, and this one might be no different whether they're fighting from behind or protecting a lead.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
