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Bears prepare to take on the Vikings this week
Bears will have the Monday night game.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. - The Chicago Bears did not have a good defensive showing on Sunday in Santa Clara, Calif.
Much was made about the offense putting up a net total of four yards before halftime. The defense didn't fair much better, allowing 319 total yards and 24 points in the first half of a game that turned into a rout.
To add insult to injury, the 49ers scored on five of their six red zone trips against a highly rated Bears red zone defense.
Defensive coordinator Eric Washington took responsibility for the outing on Friday in a stern press conference at the Halas Hall podium.
"We fell short, and that can't be," Washington said. "We've got to move forward and clearly come out ready to play."
This week offers no reprieve. The Bears play the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football in Minneapolis. This includes the resurgent Sam Darnold throwing to the duo of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
"We always say that we’re the best duo in the entire league," Jefferson said after Minnesota's 42-21 victory over Atlanta where he and Addison combined for 265 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 15 receptions.
This is why the onus is on the Bears to make Minnesota one-dimensional this week.
The likes of Addison and Jefferson are hitting a late-season stride that's hard to slow, let alone stop. Taking away the threat of a running game would limit the effect of a play-action passing game and allow the Bears' safeties to focus on their assignments instead of the two-pronged assignment of defending the pass and the run.
There's no secret code to defending the likes of Addison and Jefferson, either. The Bears just have to know where Addison and Jefferson are on every Minnesota offensive play and trust their players.
"You just gotta do a good job always knowing where 18 is 'cause he can wreck your game; three's proven he can do his fair share of damage," Bears defensive backs coach Jon Hoke said. "You got to kind of spread it around and pick your spots on how you buy different coverages, roll in your coverages and those type of things."
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 24: Kyler Gordon #6 of the Chicago Bears celebrates during an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field on November 24, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
The Bears know how dangerous the two are. In seven games against the Bears, Jefferson has gone over 100 yards receiving in four of them.
Chicago may have held Jefferson to 27 yards on just two receptions, but Addison tore into the Bears for 162 yards and a score on eight catches. What makes Addison difficult to guard is because the two separate from defensive backs in a very similar manner.
"He's almost a clone of Jefferson," Washington said of Addison.
The Bears do have a talented secondary, however. In a lost season, it's important to remember they have an All-Pro defensive back in Jaylon Johnson, a talented nickleback in Kyler Gordon and two young defenders in Terell Smith and Tyrique Stevenson.
The Bears might be without starting safety Jaquan Brisker, but Elijah Hicks could be back which adds a depth piece to the defensive secondary.
It's not all up to the secondary. The pass rush needs to harass Darnold. The offense needs to score points to put the pressure on Minnesota to keep up offensively, too.
But, the secondary is a strength of the defense. The secondary is loud, too. There's an edge players like Johnson and Gordon have as they know they're better players in the NFL.
Bears nickleback coach David Overstreet wants to see more of that edge materializing in vocal leadership.
"A loud defense is a good defense and we got to be louder," Overstreet said. "We'll be louder, and we'll get guys lined up in their positions and stuff as well, but also it shows the pride that these guys have and the confidence that they created in themselves."
However, talking the talk is step one. Step two is walking the walk.
The Bears know what they need to do: make Minnesota one-dimensional and keep Minnesota's passing game in check. Execution was an issue in San Francisco last weekend.
If that's the case on Monday Night Football, the Bears could be in for a long night.
"We have to execute, we have to do better," Washington said. "There's no trepidation. There's nothing that's gray."