Reversal of Fortunes For Roquan Smith

Roquan Smith's fortunes seem to be running directly opposite of the Bears' overall season.

Early the defense looked strong but Smith had some inconsistency in his play, and then had to deal with a personal issue. Now the Bears are 4-6 and well outside the playoff picture looking in, while Smith has made a resurgence of sorts and has taken over the team lead in tackles with 78.

Smith might be coming off his best game of the season in a Bears 17-7 loss to the Rams Sunday night. He made 11 tackles and had his first interception of the season.

"Well I wouldn't say necessarily my best game but I felt like I played pretty solid, but still not the standard," Smith said. "Did not get a win so that's the thing. That's what we're graded on around here.

"That was not the standard. We've just got to find a way to get better."

At least Smith acknowledged it's more fun than when he had a personal issue in Week 4 and missed the 16-6 win over the Vikings.

"I'm definitely having fun, living a dream you know," Smith said. "I know a lot of people would kill to be in the position that I'm in, as well as my peers.

"So just thinking about that and it just gives you some perspective. Yeah, you love it and the game has done a lot for me so I can't help but be grateful for it."

Smith's interception was his first since he had one in the playoffs against the Eagles, and first in a regular-season game since he also picked off Jared Goff in the Bears' 15-6 win at Soldier Field last year over the Rams.

"Pretty much a bad throw by the quarterback and it was just a crossing route," Smith said. "I seen it and luckily I caught it. So it was just a routine play."

Routine, except teammate Kyle Fuller delivered a hard shot while also going after the pick.

"Yeah, I go back to my receiver days in high school or something, catching in traffic a little bit," Smith said. "But yeah, so I held onto it."

Smith's interception was one of two turnovers in the first quarter by the Bears Sunday but they came away without a point on both. Eventually the defense got burned in the fourth quarter trying to make a big play, but held its ground most of the rest of the game.

"I'm going to always continue to make it very clear that I think our defense is playing really, really well," coach Matt Nagy said. "What has happened is we're not scoring points.

"When you score seven points you don't win a lot of football games."

There was something Nagy would have liked to see better from his defense.

"Now you get to the end of the game, I'd say if there's one place that we can get better it's probably some of those third downs at the end of the game, being able to get off the field," Nagy said. "But I'll never, ever question our guys' effort."

It would be difficult to look at the Bears defense any other way. Despite the lack of help from their offense, they're fourth in points allowed at 17.4 per game. They're actually giving up 0.3 points less than they did last year when they led the league in scoring defense.

"What we've been going through, I just really appreciate how they handle things," Nagy said. "I have a lot of respect and love for our defense."

Without injured Danny Trevathan last week, the Bears relied on Smith more in a leadership role. He stayed on the field 95 percent of the snaps. They played a 6-1 formation at times with linebacker Nick Kwiatkowski leaving the field.

It's a scheme designed to stop the run and keep the quarterback guessing. It worked to some extent.

"Again, it's the 'is the juice worth the squeeze?' type of mentality," defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano said of the 6-1. "It's a change-up."

When offenses use more power formations, Pagano said it lets his defense stay competitive.

"Again our guys are, all they want to do is win," Pagano said. "So whatever package we come up with to face and play certain situations or personnel groups, they are all good."

This Sunday the Bears could be in it again. They're facing another dangerous running game with the Giants' Saquon Barkley, a back who gashed them for 125 yards on 24 carries last year in a 30-27 Giants win that eventually kept the Bears from winning a first-round playoff bye.

Barkley is going through a rough second season, rushing-wise, with 402 yards in seven games played. He does have 33 receptions.

"He's definitely a premier back, he's a great back," Smith said. "I think we all know that. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the guy and the things he's accomplished throughout his short career. I know it'll be a great challenge for our defense and I'm very excited for it. It'll be a good chance to go against one of the best backs in the league."

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