Bears know they have room to improve despite matching their longest winning streak since 2018

Audio By Carbonatix

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Bears are on their best run in seven seasons with four straight wins. They're just not pounding their chests too hard.

The Bears (4-2) know they have room to improve coming off a 26-14 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

While the defense and run game dominated, quarterback Caleb Williams struggled. Penalties again were a big issue, and the Bears struggled to convert on third down and in the red zone.

“It’s insane to think that we’re 4-2, about how much growth we have left, myself included,” Williams said.

Even so, the Bears matched their longest winning streak since the 2018 NFC North champions won the final four regular-season games. And they're in a position that would have been difficult to envision after starting the season with losses to Minnesota and Detroit.

At 4-2, they're also in a familiar spot. They had the same record last year, only to go into a 10-game tailspin starting with the “Fail Mary” loss at Washington. Along the way, former coach Matt Eberflus became the first head coach in franchise history to be fired midseason.

The Bears insist the record is where the similarities end. They say they have a belief in one another and in coach Ben Johnson and his staff that didn't exist last season.

“They have confidence and you can tell the way they talk that they believe in us, that we’re gonna win, that it doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t have to be clean," safety Jaquan Brisker said Monday. "It can be ugly. We just have to find a way to win. As long as we stay together, as long as we keep doing our jobs and things like that, we’ll have a chance.”

Takeaways. Chicago is on a tear, with 15 of its league-leading 16 takeaways on the season coming in the past four games. The Bears recovered a fumble and intercepted Spencer Rattler three times in their fourth straight game forcing three or more turnovers.

Montez Sweat set the tone with an early strip-sack that led to a field goal, and Nahshon Wright set up the game’s first touchdown with a long interception return. Kevin Byard and Tremaine Edmunds also picked off passes.

Penalties. The Bears committed 10 for 92 yards after getting flagged nine times for 84 yards against Washington. Pre-snap penalties in particular have been an issue.

"We have to get it all cleaned up. Good teams don’t have so many self-inflicted wounds," Johnson said.

Penalties weren’t the only issue. The Bears converted just 3 of 12 third downs and scored just two touchdowns on six trips to the red zone.

RB D’Andre Swift. In the two games since the bye, Swift has delivered two of his best performances in two seasons with the Bears. The one-time Pro Bowler has run for 232 yards and a touchdown in that span to go with 81 yards receiving and a TD catch.

Against New Orleans, Swift ran for a season-high 124 yards and a score, helping Chicago rack up 222 yards on the ground. In the win over Washington, he ran for 108 yards and added a highlight-reel touchdown reception when he turned a short pass into a 55-yarder.

Williams. The Bears need more from their quarterback after the defense and run game bailed them out. Williams reverted to some bad habits, like spinning away from defenders too often and scrambling around when he had opportunities to step up in the pocket. He threw for a season-low 172 yards while completing 15 of 26 passes with no touchdowns and one interception.

“That’s part of what makes him special as a player, and so you don’t want to neuter him,” Johnson said. "You don’t. That’s a dangerous road to go down, because he’s got this natural ability to feel the pocket and know when to escape and extend. And I think, more than anything, for us, it’s just making sure we’re on the same page of the time and the place, the situation for where that Superman cape comes out, and at other times, whether it’s we’re running with our legs a little bit more or throwing the ball away, where that needs to come into play.”

CB Tyrique Stevenson (shoulder) and TE Cole Kmet (back) exited the game. “We’ll find out more on Wednesday for sure," Johnson said. “But we’re thinking more day to day, week to week right now.”

5 — The Bears haven’t won five in a row since the 2018 team won five straight late that season.

The Bears visit Baltimore on Sunday.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl