LAKE FOREST, Ill. (670 The Score) — Bears third-year safety Jaquan Brisker ran to the north end zone of Soldier Field late last Sunday afternoon, his arms stretched out wide with the football cusped in his left hand.
A few teammates chased Brisker from behind, and soon the rest of the Bears defense followed. As fans at Soldier Field cheered them along, the unit gathered together once more to celebrate.
Mere moments earlier, the Bears had huddled and stated their goal – to seal a victory with a takeaway. It took just one play for Brisker to intercept Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, securing a 24-18 win for the Bears, who improved to 2-2. The play didn’t simply happen by accident, not for a defense that has forged an identity in time.
Veteran pass rusher Darrell Taylor – whom the Bears identified as a fit and acquired in a trade with the Seahawks on Aug. 23 – and teammate DeMarcus Walker penetrated the Ram’s protection and pressured Stafford into a poor throw. Brisker leapt into the air with two hands and hauled in the interception.
It was a similar scene to the season opener at Soldier Field on Sept. 8. With the Bears trailing 17-16 with 7:45 remaining, Titans quarterback Will Levis was pressured by Walker, edge rusher Montez Sweat and cornerback Kyler Gordon and attempted to backhand toss the football out of bounds. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson raced to the football along the sideline and hauled it in, taking it back 43 yards for a game-changing, go-ahead pick-six in a 24-17 win.
Through four games, the Bears defense has continued the progress it showcased in the second half of the 2023 season and has established itself as one of the premier units in the NFL. But this is a hungry group that won’t settle for simply being good.
“It’s motivating,” Brisker said. “Especially just wanting to be No. 1, wanting to compete around the league and show our secondary is the best, our linebackers are the best, our D-line is the best and as a whole our defense is the best. We’re striving to compete against other guys and show every single Sunday we go out there that we’re the best. We just got to show it and act like it. It’s obviously going to be tough, but we got that type of team. We can be dominant.”
The Bears have a pair of Pro Bowl standouts in Sweat and star cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who are each coming off breakthrough years. They have accomplished veterans like linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and safety Kevin Byard, who each have long track records of success. They also have emerging talents like defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. and Stevenson, a pair of second-year players who keep improving.
Beyond that, the key for the Bears defense is for the unit to play as one. The vision is that anyone can be the star playmaker on any day.
Johnson leads the Bears with two interceptions in four games, while Brisker, Stevenson and Edmunds each have picks as well. Dexter leads the team with three sacks, and five others have recorded at least one sack as well. Three different players have recovered forced fumbles for Chicago.
"The best part of this defense is anybody on the defense can have a big game," Sweat said. "It’s kind of give-and-take who’s about to show out on Sunday."
Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington, who was hired in January, could sense the closeness of the unit throughout the offseason program. The 27-year-old Taylor, who spent his first three seasons with the Seahawks, felt the “brotherhood” immediately upon joining the Bears.
What the Bears needed to make it all click was the right leader in head coach Matt Eberflus and an understanding of how the scheme should operate.
The success is tied to the Bears’ pass rush generating pressure and creating chances for the secondary, which also has held its coverage long enough for the defensive front to get home.
"Both entities understand how valuable they are to each other,” Washington said. “We have to be able to generate pressure with our front four. We have to be able to execute our coverage concepts and put the quarterback in a position where we at least force him to hang onto the ball a little bit longer. So, both units, both entities understand how they have to work together.”
Hired by the Bears in January 2022, Eberflus initially insisted on delegating play-calling duties for the defense. He believed it was better to focus his time and energy on the team as a whole during the chaos of games, so he tabbed former defensive coordinator Alan Williams to call the plays.
But when Williams abruptly resigned in September 2023 due to inappropriate conduct, Eberflus assumed the play-calling role for his defense. Even with Washington installed as the new defensive coordinator, Eberflus has continued those duties.
Eberflus’ defensive identity is rooted in the cover-2 scheme, though he has evolved that over the years. In the first four games, the Bears have operated in cover-2 just 11% of the time. They've primarily worked in cover-3 (35%), cover-1 (21%) and cover-4 (18%) under Eberflus' watch.
With the Bears leading 24-15 with just more than 10 minutes remaining last Sunday, Eberflus could’ve instructed his unit to sit back in zone – bend but don’t break, as it’s often known. Instead, he sent Brisker with a disguised blitz off the edge to blindside Stafford for a sack.
“Just the aggressive style and keeping coordinators off balanced,” said Bears linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi, who worked with Eberflus previously for seven seasons in Dallas and Indianapolis. “He’ll mix in some different calls every now and then that keep the offense on their heels a little bit. It’s been great. Just the intensity guys play with, the passion and then just the unpredictability of what we’re going to call, it’s really shown.”
Late last season, the Bears saw their defensive identity come together as they had long envisioned. The addition of Sweat served as a catalyst for the entire unit, which recorded 19 takeaways in the final seven games. Chicago had nine takeaways in its first 10 contests in 2023.
The Bears have now registered takeaways in 10 of their last 11 games, including eight in four games this season. The Bears rank eighth in the NFL in scoring defense (18.8 points allowed per game) and 10th in total defense (295.5 yards allowed per game) this season. Both figures represent strong improvements from 2023.
The determination to be the best is what continues to drive this Bears defense forward. The goal is to be No. 1 across the board and showcase that consistently.
“We’re still trying to strive to get where we want to be, because we’re not where we want to be right now,” Brisker said. “Yeah, we’re creating turnovers, but we can create a lot more. Yeah, we’re getting off the field, but we can get off the field a lot more.
“We’re not far away. We’re right there, but we’re not where we want to be. We can always get better.”
Emma's prediction (3-1): Bears 27, Panthers 13
The Bears will hold a winning record in October for the first time in Matt Eberflus' tenure as head coach, an indication of organizational progress stamped with a victory over the lowly Panthers.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.