When Bears safety Eddie Jackson watched Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland set an NFL record with his fifth interception return for a touchdown against the Commanders on Thanksgiving Day, it brought back some fond memories. And perhaps a little regret.
“Man, that’s special,” Jackson said. “We were watching the game [Thursday] night — it’s special what he’s doing. People don’t understand how hard that is and how special that is.”
Jackson, of course, knows just how special it is. He made his mark in the NFL in his first two seasons with five defensive touchdowns. As a rookie in 2017, he returned an interception 76 yards and a fumble 75 yards for touchdowns — the first player in NFL history to return a fumble and interception for 75 yards or more for a touchdown in the same game. In 2018, he returned two interceptions and one fumble for a touchdown — three of the Bears’ six defensive touchdowns in Vic Fangio’s peak season as defensive coordinator.
Remember that? “Most definitely,” Jackson said. “That’s what we were talking about — we’ve got to get it back again. I miss it … I got two, three [touchdowns] for me in one year. So it sucks. But, man, to watch him do that, it’s special.”
A week after a fourth-quarter collapse spoiled its performance this season in a 31-26 loss to the Lions at Ford Field, the Bears’ defense has a chance to make another statement in response to that debacle, when they face Joshua Dobbs and the Vikings on Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium.
With linebacker Tremaine Edmunds back from an injury and defensive end Montez Sweat in his fourth game since being acquired in a trade with the Commanders, the Bears’ defense is as strong man-for-man as its been in Matt Eberflus’ two seasons as head coach.
Three interceptions of Lions quarterback Jared Goff — who had thrown just five in the Lions’ first 10 games — were a sign of progress. But it’s time for playmakers, stoppers, closers — whatever you want to call them — to emerge. It’s time for Sweat to be the multiplier he’s being paid to be — and create opportunities for others to be playmakers.
“Everybody’s like, [when] we play together, this is what it looked like for 56 minutes,” safety Jaquan Brisker said, referring to the Lions game. “Now we’ve got to go 100 times harder, and that’s what I told the team — we have to keep locking in and trusting each other.
“We’ve got to make more plays, especially the leaders of the team. We’ve got to be able to make plays for this team. The stars got to be stars when the moments are just like that.”
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson had that opportunity against the Lions, but missed two interceptions, both of which could have been returned for touchdowns. That’s how close the Bears were against the Lions.
“Just missed opportunities,” Johnson said. “It’s easy to get caught up in, ‘Oh, you dropped the pick or didn’t make the play.’ I feel like I played a solid game. It just could have been an A-plus-plus game. But I still did some good things. Still can find a way to build from it. But it happened.”
Perhaps that’s a missing element. Maybe a player like Johnson — who has a stated goal of being All-Pro this season — needs to make A-plus-plus the standard and not some kind of gravy.
Whether it is or not, the Bears’ defense needs to develop a mental toughness that allows it to impose its will on the offense instead of the other way around.
“Finishing is definitely mental — 90% mental, 10% talent,” Brisker said. “Just get it mentally, make sure you finish out the game and execute based on the call. But it starts mentally.”
