EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- There was a noticeable lack of jersey-popping, of asking for respect because of what happened more than eight days earlier, no begging for love to be shown. Winning at San Francisco on a Sunday night and beating the New York Jets in the Meadowlands the following Monday night isn't to be taken for granted, especially for a Chicago Bears team hardly anybody expects to be special.
Jared Allen, the grizzled vet, decided very quickly as he entered the locker room what he liked most about beating the Jets, and it wasn't Jay Cutler's second straight game with no interceptions or the quarterback's 94.7 passer rating, nor the team's plus-2 turnover advantage, nor the defense allowing only one touchdown on the night.
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AP Photo/Julio CortezKyle Fuller notched his third interception of the season Monday, picking off Geno Smith in the end zone with Chicago up by nine.
"I'm probably most impressed," Allen said, "by the humility of the team, to go back to work this week and approach tonight as if last Sunday in San Francisco never even happened. You think you know what the answer will be. But you have to actually do it to find out, to know for sure."
There was nothing dominant about Monday's 27-19 win over the Jets, who actually outgained the Bears by more than 150 yards, averaged 4.4 yards per rush and were robbed of four points when Jerome Boger, a recent Super Bowl referee, cost New York four points by blowing dead a Cutler fumble that should have resulted in a return-for-touchdown and not an eventual field goal. But the Bears, by virtue of what has happened these past two weeks, could be one of those teams that could do something which escapes most fans and media (but not coaches and players), which is to say, win now ... and get good later.
Looking for a sign? How about plus-6 in turnover margin the past two weeks? Plus-4 against the 49ers, followed up by plus-2 against the Jets. No interceptions for Cutler for the second consecutive week. The defense seems to be coming together ... not quickly, but gradually, enough that Allen and tag-team graybeard Lance Briggs think they saw something again Monday night. "We're far from peaking," Briggs said. "We've got guys playing together for the first time ... and we're not close to a finished product."
Allen said, "The sign to me was the play of our young guys. I've been on teams with young guys who are just a little too cocky. We don't have one rookie on this defense who acts entitled. ... And with the injuries we had, we needed them to step up and really produce tonight, and they did."
By "they," Allen was talking about cornerback Kyle Fuller, who had another interception; about tackle Ego Ferguson, who ripped through the Jets for an early sack of Geno Smith; about Will Sutton at the other defensive tackle and Christian Jones at linebacker; about Brock Vereen, who was forced to play more than the coaches had planned because of the injuries to fellow safeties Chris Conte and Ryan Mundy.
"They all had a humility and an excitement to play," Allen continued. "Fuller doesn't say much of anything; he just works and works. Ego and Will had to play tonight, and they didn't play like rookies. Last year [as a member of the Minnesota Vikings] the thing I noticed was [the Bears] didn't have any depth when they suffered all those injuries to front-line guys. But now, we have depth."
Even Cutler said of the defense, which stopped the Jets on fourth down late to end it, "The defense ... they're getting some edge to 'em, forcing turnovers."
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