The franchise that prides itself on defense above all else, so much so that it left a permanent mark on the NFL on that side of the ball with its legendary 1985 team, just got worked by the Lions for more than 50 points and 500 yards Sunday.
That leaves the Bears in a full-blown identity crisis.
Fans are used to their revolving door at quarterback, but watching the defense implode was jarring.
“It was just terrible,” linebacker Otis Wilson, who was with the Bears from 1980 through ’87, told the Sun-Times. “Defense couldn’t hold up. … They’ve got to fix it real quick.
“Everybody in that locker room has to look at themselves and be determined. They’re going backwards.”
First the defense crumbled in the fourth quarter against the Vikings, allowing an 11-point lead to become a 10-point deficit in a span of about 10 minutes. Then it gave up double-digit points each quarter to the Lions in a 52-21 loss.
The historic ’85 team never gave up 52 points over back-to-back games, let alone in one day.
“I was on too many Bears teams where you know at a certain point in the game you’re not going to win the game, but you say, ‘Let’s at least have fun back here and do what we love to do,” said former safety Gary Fencik, who played for them from 1976 through ‘87. “We may not win this game, but they’re going to know they played the Chicago Bears.
“It was a pride thing. And I didn’t see pride there.”
The Bears’ defense is the biggest problem after two games, which is really saying something considering how frustrating the offense has been.
And now that defense is bracing for a prolonged absence by arguably its best player after cornerback Jaylon Johnson suffered a groin injury Sunday. Bears coach Ben Johnson didn’t have a timetable for him Monday as the team began preparing to host the Cowboys next.
The most difficult part of this defensive disaster to digest is that Bears general manager Ryan Poles has poured premium resources into that side of the ball.
On the defensive line, end Montez Sweat is the highest-paid player on the team. Fellow pass rusher Dayo Odeyingbo and tackle Grady Jarrett got the 11th- and 18th-largest contracts, respectively, in free agency. The fourth guy on the line is tackle Gervon Dexter, a second-round pick.
At linebacker, Tremaine Edmunds carries the Bears’ third-biggest salary-cap hit this season, and T.J. Edwards just got a two-year, $20 million extension.
It’s impossible to square those investments with the Bears getting no sacks with only four quarterback hits on Lions quarterback Jared Goff and allowing 5.9 yards per rush.
“It all starts with the pass rush, and their front four aren’t making any impact on the defense whatsoever,” Fencik said. “And then your secondary’s banged up and making mental errors and missing coverages, and it’s quite embarrassing.”
Jarrett, the most senior member of the defense, called the performance “inexcusable” on Monday and vowed that the Bears will turn it around in “a defining moment.”
In the secondary, where the Bears have second-round picks Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson playing front of safeties Jaquan Brisker (second-rounder) and Kevin Byard (pricy free-agent pickup), the Lions had wide receivers running wide open all game.
“Anytime you see guys running wide open, it’s usually either a miscommunication or breakdown in coverage,” Byard said. “We just didn’t play well at all in any phase. Embarrassing loss. … We’ve got a long way to go and a lot of work to do.”
As if the Bears needed one more reminder of that, they got one if they flipped on Sunday Night Football when they got home from Detroit.
One week after the Bears allowed Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy to play so well in his debut that he won NFC Offensive Player of the Week, the Falcons made it look easy to shut him down. McCarthy completed just 11 of 21 passes for 158 yards with two interceptions for a 37.5 passer rating.
And now the Bears have their former coach, Matt Eberflus, coming to town Sunday as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. His brief tenure was a failure, but he prioritized the defensive identity the organization loves.
The defense improved from worst in the league his first season, to 20th in 2023 and 13th last season.
Eberflus could never figure out the offense, though, and Johnson is faced with a similar challenge as an offensive-minded coach with a shaky defense. He seems to defer to veteran defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, but a head coach’s job is to run to wherever the problem is.
“I’ve been pretty involved throughout my tenure here,” Johnson said Monday. “I sat in quite a few defensive meetings both with the staff and the players in the springtime and tried to do the same throughout training camp. I know what the calls are, I know how we should align, I know how technique is being taught right now.
“We brought in Dennis Allen for a reason. … I’ve got a lot of faith and confidence that the experience we have on that side of the ball is going to shine through for us, and we’ll get this thing back cranking the way we want.”
It’s a long journey, though, from giving up 52 points to meeting the franchise’s longstanding standards.
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