After focusing this week on plugging leaks in the run game, the Bears\u2019 defense quickly sprung another one Sunday. On the Panthers\u2019 eighth play from scrimmage, running back Chuba Hubbard broke free for a 38-yard touchdown. It was already the third touchdown run of 25 yards or more against the Bears this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a make-or-break moment,\u201d defensive tackle Andrew Billings said. \u201cWe could have folded. Or we could have persevered, and that\u2019s what we did. It\u2019s all about gap control \u2014 being where you\u2019re supposed to be. We got that [right] in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no grumbling on the sideline after that gaffe, but there was definitely some stern talk, with linebacker Tremaine Edmunds among those speaking up.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got \u2018Maine reminding everybody, \u2018Stay in your gap. Stay in your gap,\u2019\u201d Billings said. \u201cHe let us know where we needed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
With welcome help from the offense, the defense snapped back into form as the Bears coasted to a 36-10 victory at Soldier Field. The Bears held the Panthers to one field goal on their next eight possessions, just 4.2 yards per play. And by the time Hubbard broke free again \u2014 a 14-yard run on the final play of the third quarter \u2014 the Bears had a commanding 30-10 lead.<\/p>\n
The response typified the theme of this defense \u2014 virtually every player had a hand in it. With the Bears leading 14-7 in the second quarter, defensive tackle Gervon Dexter and cornerback Kyler Gordon sacked Andy Dalton. On the next play, safety Jaquan Brisker forced a fumble with a big \u2014 and scary \u2014 hit on tight end Tommy Tremble, with Dexter recovering at the Panthers\u2019 44.<\/p>\n
Safety Kevin Byard had a tackle for loss and an interception. Billings had a sack for a 10-yard loss. Dexter added four quarterback hits, including one on fourth-and-three that forced an incompletion for a turnover. And Edmunds forced a fumble that Gordon recovered early in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
In fact, Montez Sweat, the biggest star on the defense, did not make the stat sheet \u2014 no tackles, sacks, quarterback hits or other impact plays \u2014 and still affected the game. That\u2019s been another theme of a defense that has started this season strong but still seems like it has a lot to give \u2014 containing Sweat comes at a cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like it,\u201d Sweat said. \u201cI love it when the whole room is happy. Everybody\u2019s eating. Everybody\u2019s getting stats. And we\u2019re winning. So I\u2019m loving it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brisker\u2019s hit that forced Tremble\u2019s fumble was the key play. It was a helmet-to-helmet collision \u2014 with each player lowering his head before contact. Both players were woozy after that one. Tremble was on the ground for several minutes and left the game with a concussion.<\/p>\n
Brisker called it maybe the biggest hit of his career \u2014 \u201cdefinitely in the top three.\u201d But the third-year safety, who missed two games with a concussion last season, paid a price as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was definitely feeling it, I\u2019m not gonna lie,\u201d said Brisker, who said he was fine. \u201cI felt that one for sure. It felt like the one last year. Just had to get back to myself. But it was a big-time hit.\u201d<\/p>\n
But this time it wasn\u2019t a case of the defense saving the day. The offense scored four touchdowns in five drives following Hubbard\u2019s touchdown run.<\/p>\n
The defense made its mark in this one by reverting to form quickly without any drama. Asked what impressed him most about the defense\u2019s performance, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson didn\u2019t point to a play or a player.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow we snapped [back] after that touchdown,\u201d Stevenson said. \u201cWe could have come back to the sideline and pointed fingers or we could have come back and hoo-rah, hoo-rah. But we came back and reminded us who we are, and locked in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bears\u2019 defense responded well after springing another leak against the Panthers. Despite giving up a 38-yard touchdown run, the defense bounced back to hold the Panthers to one field goal on their next eight possessions and ultimately helped the Bears cruise to a 36-10 victory.<\/p>\n
Q: What was the biggest plays of the game for the Bears\u2019 defense?<\/strong> Q: Who were the standout players for the Bears\u2019 defense?<\/strong> Q: What was the impact of Jaquan Brisker\u2019s hit that forced Tommy Tremble\u2019s fumble?<\/strong> Bears’ Defense Responds After Sprung Another Leak Rocky Start to Remedy After focusing this week on plugging leaks in the run game, the Bears\u2019 defense quickly sprung another one Sunday. On the Panthers\u2019 eighth play from scrimmage, running back Chuba Hubbard broke free for a 38-yard touchdown. It was already the third touchdown run of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/25a0879\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6734x3844+0+323\/resize\/1461x834!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F95%2F31%2F7f2d2c854531b3eaebfdea729fa6%2Fchuba-hubbard.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2334"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2334"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2336,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2334\/revisions\/2336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA: The response typified the theme of this defense \u2014 virtually every player had a hand in it. With the Bears leading 14-7 in the second quarter, defensive tackle Gervon Dexter and cornerback Kyler Gordon sacked Andy Dalton.<\/p>\n
\nA: Safety Kevin Byard had a tackle for loss and an interception. Defensive tackle Andrew Billings had a sack for a 10-yard loss. Montez Sweat was the biggest star on the defense, despite not making the stat sheet.<\/p>\n
\nA: Brisker\u2019s hit was a big-time play that forced the fumble and gave the Bears the ball back in a key situation. Brisker was woozy after the hit and felt the effects of the big hit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"