The bright spot in the Bears’ heartbreaking season-opening loss to the Packers was the defense. They already looked to be in midseason form.
The Chuck Pagano-led unit that returned 10 starters held Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense to just 10 points.
They also kept their own offense in the game until the final seconds, maintaining a one-score deficit throughout.
All of those things don’t mean anything if you don’t come away with the win.
“You can’t take a whole lot away from it because we still didn’t come away with the victory,” said defensive tackle Akiem Hicks. “So you look for every play you could’ve done just a little better. You look for every play you maybe missed your assignment that you’ve got to shore up your technique and play better. We’re not interested in moral victories here. We’re interested in playing good football.”
The Bears defense does deserve credit for its performance, which included some big-time plays by some of the guys that don’t normally get credit.
Among them, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, who led the Bears with two sacks and flashed his freakish athleticism as he mowed down Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari.
“He’s anxious to get better,” Hicks said of Floyd. “He wants to go out there and be recognized as one of the best outside linebackers in the league. He puts that type of effort forward every day.”
While much was made about a concern of regression on the defense with Pagano taking over for Vic Fangio, the Bears silenced those critics by showing that they’re still here and hungrier than ever.
“I think our defense is and can be even more dominant,” Hicks said. “We just have to prove it.”
If you had to critique one area of the defense’s performance, it was a stat that got lost in the pain of the loss: turnovers. The Bears defense, who led the NFL in turnovers last year, didn’t manage a single one.
They’ll be looking for that first turnover when they take on Fangio’s Broncos on Sunday.
