The Bears ran off the Raymond James Stadium field Sunday like they owned the place, their smiles large and their confidence even more difficult to quantify.
Not even Matt Bryant’s 29-yard missed field-goal attempt with
2 minutes 47 seconds remaining seemed to surprise or faze them, the cherry to top of the sundae of a hard-fought 13-10 victory.
This team is to the point where it not only expects to make plays, but it also expects other teams not to.
“We know we’re going to get it done,” quarterback Kyle Orton said. “That missed field goal even … it seems like when you’re a good football team and you keep pressing on people, you press them into mistakes. That’s what we’re doing. We’re wearing on people.”
The Bears’ seven-game winning streak, the franchise’s first since 1986, now includes three road victories and back-to-back triumphs over elite NFC teams. They may continue to open eyes and minds around the league, but forgive the Bears if they’re more focused than freaking out.
“We’re a good football team,” safety Mike Brown said. “We’ve been saying that since training camp.”
In fact, the Bears are in danger of having their “no respect” angle expire, such has been the stinginess of its top-ranked defense that held a seventh opponent to 10 points or fewer and carried the load on a day when the offense managed just 239 yards.
The defense started with Alex Brown forcing a fumble that led to a one-play,
1-yard scoring drive and ended with Adewale Ogunleye sacking Chris Simms as the final seconds ticked away.
In between was one blemish–the Bears’ first allowed touchdown in 36 possessions over 11 quarters–but enough big plays to keep alive comparisons to the Super Bowl-era Bears of which this team wants no part.
“To me, that’s the greatest team of all time, so you can’t compare us,” Mike Brown said. “We’re just regular old guys who come to work. We love playing defense, especially in this system. We have a belief in our group as a whole. We have high expectations. And that’s it.”
Mike Alstott’s 2-yard touchdown run snapped the defense’s no-touchdown streak and made it 13-10 with seven minutes remaining. Still, this Bears defense is on pace to allow a franchise-record-low 175 points and is experiencing a lot of success.
“How far can it carry us?” coach Lovie Smith repeated when asked about his defense. “Hopefully all the way. If you don’t let a team score, you have a heck of a chance of winning. I know that’s simple, but that’s how it is.”
“We play good defense, we run the ball and try not to make a lot of mistakes. That’s a pretty good formula for success.”
Countdown to the Packers
With the Bears facing the Green Bay Packers next Sunday, RedEye will look at the great moments between these two storied rivals all week with our top five moments in Friday’s newspaper.
1963 After lopsided losses to the two-time world champion Packers in 1962, Bears coach George Halas spent one day a week at training camp practicing for the Packers on opening day. The Bears won it 10-3, and Halas called it “the greatest team effort in the history of the Bears.” Later on the Bears beat the Packers 26-7 in Wrigley Field on the way to winning Chicago’s first NFL title since 1946. [ tribune ]
