CHICAGO _ A cloud followed the Bears defense into its morning meeting at Halas Hall on Oct. 23. An error-filled overtime track meet against the Dolphins and a surgical dissection by the Patriots had blocked the sun.
The Bears entered that Week 6 Dolphins game ranked third in the NFL in yards allowed per play. Nine days later, they were 17th. The stabilizing force in the team's 3-1 start had begun to wobble.
As coordinator Vic Fangio led the video postmortem 40 hours after the loss to the Patriots, he thought of their predicament in baseball terms. For the lifelong Phillies fan, it's his second language.
Fangio's analogical math was simple and powerful. One loss for a football team equals 10 straight defeats in baseball.
"Lose two in a row," Fangio explained Thursday, "you've now felt like _ if you're a Cubs player or fan _ you've lost 20 in a row. You can't let that infect you with negative thoughts. We can win the next one and feel like we're on a 10-game winning streak."
So Fangio encouraged his players that day not to lose the confidence they inspired during a dominant September. Regardless of Khalil Mack's status with his injured right ankle, they were the same group that returned nine of 11 starters from last year's 10th-ranked defense. The one that spent the offseason and preseason promising a higher ascent.
Five days later, as the defense huddled without Mack before its first snap against the Jets, it was clear Fangio's message had sunk in. There on Soldier Field, those 11 prideful men made it theirs.
"We said: 'We're going to do it right now. This is what we start right now,' " safety Eddie Jackson recalled.
They proceeded to play the second-best game, statistically, of the post-Lovie Smith era. In a 24-10 win, they allowed only 207 yards and 3.8 yards per play.
The run defense was a wall. The Jets' 2.4 yards per carry was the Bears' best average since Oct. 6, 2013.
So what if the Jets were down their top two receivers, their starting center and their second running back? Put an asterisk by the performance if you want. Just know that no one inside Halas Hall did.
Because, regardless of the opponent, the Bears did everything they challenged themselves to do.
"We were aggressive," Jackson said. "We played fast. Everyone was on top of their keys. We just cleaned up the little things we had wrong, and one of the biggest things was tackling. We cleaned up that and saw everyone flying around, playing with energy. Everyone was happy. When you see that, when that swag gets to building, it's hard to stop."
Eight of the Jets' 10 full possessions ended in punts. There were no takeaways and only one sack, but the Jets crossed midfield only twice. Only 12 of their 54 plays were in Bears territory.
That confidence was back.
Now, the Bears better build on it. Sunday's challenge, with or without Mack, is to keep the Bills' lifeless offense from finding a spark.
The Bills are starting second-year quarterback Nathan Peterman, notorious for his 10 interceptions in only 84 career attempts. No team has scored fewer points. No offense averages fewer yards per play. None has allowed more sacks per pass attempt.
And there's even more importance as the Bears hit the season's midway point. Sunday's game is a prelude to three NFC North matchups in a 12-day span beginning Nov. 11.
So as the Bears' climb approaches divergent paths, the defense is determined to guide them further up. No more slips. No more dips. No looking back.
"We've seen ourselves do it," defensive lineman Akiem Hicks said. "Now, can we bring that out _ that same intensity, that same passion, that same I-want-to-hit-everything-moving mentality? How do you keep a team high every week?"
