CHICAGO (670 The Score) – Shortly after sending a loud message on the field Sunday, Bears defensive end Montez Sweat delivered another one worthy of an exclamation point.
"It's just not the same old Bears,” Sweat said in the interview room after his team's 31-28 victory over the Steelers.
Oh, no, these most certainly aren’t the same old Bears.
The same old Bears never could've dreamed of being 8-3 overall and quickly earning a reputation as a smart, well-coached team after going 6-1 in one-score games.
The same old Bears that Sweat referenced would've found a way to lose this game to the Steelers instead of inventing yet another method to win it under first-year head coach Ben Johnson, this time by using a resourceful defense.
The same old Bears would've fallen apart in the fourth quarter instead of coming together in crunch time. The same old Bears spent Thanksgiving weekend last year firing their head coach, whereas the new regime under Johnson will face Philadelphia on Black Friday in a game likely to impact NFC playoff seeding.
"We're an 8-3 team in the National Football League, we don't feel like we're the same old Bears,” quarterback Caleb Williams echoed. "We pull through for each other when it matters most.”
You know the Bears have begun ascending when their quarterback completes 19 of 35 passes for 239 yards, three touchdowns and a 104.3 passer rating and yet the consensus around town is he could've been more accurate. Even Williams sounded like he agreed with the scrutiny, his body language at the podium screaming dissatisfaction. You know the standards have been raised by Johnson when the Bears offense scores 31 points but nothing specifically about a solid overall effort qualifies as spectacular.
"You don't apologize for any wins in this league, and that's a historic organization over there,” Williams said. "But you understand where you can be as a team. That's the frustrating part. And it starts with me.”
The concerns started to mount on the second play of the second quarter, when Williams committed a cardinal sin for any quarterback. He got too cute in his own end zone. After Steelers pass rusher T.J. Watt beat right tackle Darnell Wright, Williams tried buying time instead of throwing it out of bounds and Watt dislodged the ball for a sack-strip-fumble that Nick Herbig recovered for a touchdown.
As everybody watching at home or in the Soldier Field crowd on an ideal day on the lakefront probably uttered at the same time, Williams can't let that happen. He can't make a mistake like that at that spot on the field at this stage of his growth. He can't, in his role as “Houdini,” make every bad situation disappear, so he needs to simply unload the ball and live to see another down.
"What I'm supposed to do is throw the ball away in that situation,” said Williams, who found receiver DJ Moore twice for touchdowns and tight end Colston Loveland once for a score. "It's nice when you get to learn from wins.”
This week, the Bears taught us most about their defensive depth and resolve. Forget the Steelers, the Bears' toughest opponent Sunday was attrition.
On any given defensive snap in the second half at Soldier Field, you could've counted six players who began the season in backup roles for the Bears – or other teams. All three starting linebackers were ruled out Friday. The secondary already was missing two starters. And the defensive line has been depleted for weeks without edge rusher Dayo Odeyingbo, the team’s most expensive addition in free agency last offseason.
Heck, combine the average annual salaries of Odeyingbo and fellow missing starters in cornerback Jaylon Johnson, nickelback Kyler Gordon, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and linebacker T.J. Edwards, and it adds up to $76.3 million worth of defense.
So when Carl Jones Jr. – who's listed on the flip card in the press box as a member of the Bears practice squad -- replaced the injured Amen Ogbongbemiga midway through the fourth quarter, even the most rabid Bears fan could be forgiven for wondering aloud, “Who are these guys?" Or a more appropriate response would've been, “Oh, no.”
Yet, Ogbongbemiga quickly made himself an indispensable piece of the Bears' makeshift, cobbled-together defense by making 14 tackles. That didn't lead the team because D'Marco Jackson, a reserve limited to 32 defensive snaps before making his first NFL start Sunday, made 15. Jackson, who called the defenses for coordinator Dennis Allen, received a game ball.
"Can't say enough about the linebackers,” Johnson said.
The secondary required its own ingenuity. By now, the unit is used to playing without Johnson and Gordon. Nahshon Wright replaced Johnson and has met the standard of being a Pro Bowl cornerback in Johnson's role, recording his NFL-leading fifth interception Sunday. But the depth again was challenged when cornerback Tyrique Stevenson missed the second half with a groin injury, forcing Nick McCloud into a more prominent role. And on the final drive as the Steelers desperately sought a scoring drive, little-used Elijah Hicks lined up deep in the six-defensive back dime coverage.
"I knew we were decimated in certain areas, and the easy thing to say is woe is me,” Johnson said. "But that's the kind of guys we have.”
Back in his role as “The Multiplier,” Sweat made up for who wasn't there with his most dominant game of the season. He had two sacks, three tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a recovery, continuing his midseason surge with a performance that earned him a game ball.
"I'm just taking advantage of my opportunities,” Sweat said.
Just as the Bears took advantage of whom the Steelers were missing, the No. 1 nemesis in Chicago sports for the past two decades.
Suffice to say that Mason Rudolph walking into the Steelers huddle down three points with 1:29 left made every Bears fan feel a little easier than had it been The Other Guy, the one with a 25-5 lifetime record against the Bears who put his name on the Soldier Field lease the last time he was on the lakefront. But Aaron Rodgers, after a week of will-he or won't-he, didn't play due to a left wrist fracture. Rodgers surely enjoyed the drama he created up until he was officially declared inactive 90 minutes before kickoff, only after the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer flipped off cameras recording his arrival to the stadium in a classless display, according to ESPN.
None of it matters now. You could make a strong argument that the Steelers might've pulled out a one-score game if Rodgers had played, and his absence outweighed all the Bears defensive players missing with their own injuries. Rudolph getting late passes batted away by defensive tackle Grady Jarrett – "Pretty good, since he's only 5 feet,” Sweat kidded postgame – and safety Jaquan Brisker, whose deflection came on the game-clinching fourth-down play, were throws a more polished passer might've avoided.
But it's all entirely moot now, none of it mattering to a Bears team that survived another dramatic finish. The Steelers became the first opponent the Bears beat with a winning record yet. Outside of Halas Hall, skeptics still will wonder how good this Bears team really is.
It's a fair question. They're all fair questions about the strength of schedule and aesthetic value of victory for a Bears team whose history deprives them the benefit of every doubt. But, it's just as fair to wonder if a team that responds to adversity like the Bears do deserves the respect that comes with being a playoff contender.
Because Sweat had a point as obvious as the difference he made in this game.
These clearly aren’t the same old Bears.
David Haugh is the co-host of the Mully & Haugh Show from 5-10 a.m. weekdays on 670 The Score. Click here to listen. Follow him on X @DavidHaugh.