The Bears’ defense was highly suspect in their 33-27 win over the Vikings, but it wasn’t all bad. Here are three bright spots on that side of the ball:
Quinn, finally. Outside linebacker Robert Quinn, the second-priciest free agent in the NFL last offseason, delivered a strip-sack on his first snap of the season. Then he went about 450 snaps without touching a quarterback. He ended that drought by smacking the ball loose from Kirk Cousins early in the second quarter.
Nichols keeps going. Defensive tackle Bilal Nichols is becoming an essential for the Bears. He had seven tackles, including a sack, and is second on the team with five sacks this season. And he’s costing the Bears just $824,870 against the salary cap.
Fourth-down stops. The Vikings went for it on fourth-and-one in their end of the field twice, and the Bears stopped them and cashed in with field goals both times. Nichols and fellow d-tackle John Jenkins stopped Dalvin Cook up the middle in the second quarter, and Brent Urban’s pass rush with two minutes left forced Cousins into an incomplete pass.
