Bear Down, Nerd Up: Takeaways are finally coming for Eberflus' defense

Bears fans are doing their best to forget about Saturday's 35-13 drubbing by the Buffalo Bills.

Justin Fields and the offense fell flat in cold, frigid conditions. Fields rushed for only 11 yards and the offense couldn't stay on the field.

Yet, the battered and beat up defense somehow found a way to come away with 3 takeaways. It wasn't enough to find a win, but could the recent takeaways be a reflection of Matt Eberflus' HITS principle (hustle, intensity, turnovers and smarts) finally taking shape?

Every week in the NFL is unique. Here's which facts and figures stood out this week for the Bears.

Takeaway time: Before the Dec. 18 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Bears' defense hadn't created a turnover in nearly a month. Its last takeaway was Nov. 20 against Atlanta.

Over the last two games, however, the Bears have created 6 takeaways - three against the Eagles and three against the Bills.

On Saturday against the Bills, cornerback Kyler Gordon and linebacker Nicholas Morrow grabbed interceptions off Bills QB Josh Allen, while linebacker Matt Adams forced a fumble that rookie safety Elijah Hicks pounced on it.

Eberflus has been preaching takeaways since January, but the results might finally be coming.

Eberflus' Colts defenses all finished in or tied for the top 10 in takeaways during his four years as defensive coordinator in Indianapolis. With the recent barrage of takeaways, the Bears have now shot up to a three-way tie for 10th in the NFL in takeaways.

They have 21 takeaways on the season, even with the Chargers and Seahawks. Their takeaway margin (defensive takeaways vs. offensive turnovers) is now back to zero, which is league average.

The top teams in takeaway totals are the Cowboys with 30, the Eagles with 26 and the Patriots with 25.

Rookie DBs: Gordon became the fourth Bears rookie since 2000 to grab interceptions in consecutive games. He joined Charles Tillman (2003), Nathan Vasher (2004) and Kyler Fuller (2014) on the list.

Rookie safety Jaquan Brisker had his fourth sack of the season when he brought down Allen in the second quarter. Brisker's 4.0 sacks are the third-most by any rookie this season, behind only Detroit's Aidan Hutchinson (7.0) and Detroit's James Houston (5.0). Hutchinson's and Houston's main job, of course, is to sack the quarterback. For Brisker, a safety, that's really just a side gig.

Brisker is tied with Chargers safety Derwin James and Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson for the league lead in sacks among defensive backs.

This is only the third time in team history that a defensive back has recorded four or more sacks, according to the team. Brisker joins Dave Duerson, who had 7.0 sacks in 1986, and Todd Bell, who had 4.5 sacks in 1984.

Updated record chase: Obviously, an 11-yard rushing performance against Buffalo didn't help Fields in his quest to set the QB rushing record.

Fields needs to rush for 1,206 yards this season to tie Lamar Jackson's 2019 record. After rushing for 11 yards on seven carries Saturday against Buffalo, Fields sits at 1,011 rushing yards with two games remaining.

He needs to average 97.5 rushing yards per game over the final two games to tie Jackson's record. Fields is averaging 72.2 rushing yards per game for the season and 90.8 rushing yards per game since Week 6, when he started running more. It will take a big effort to reach 1,206 yards.

The good news is that his next game is indoors at Ford Field against a Lions team he already totaled 147 rushing yards against earlier in the season.

Best in the business?: Rookie receiver Velus Jones Jr. caught a 44-yard reception in the second half, which marked the longest reception of his young career.

On the catch, Jones reached a maximum speed of 21.21 miles per hour, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. It marked the third-fastest speed by a ball carrier in the NFL in Week 16 and the 19th fastest in the NFL this season.

There has been plenty of criticism of Jones' three fumbles this season and his lack of production offensively, but the rookie from Tennessee has quietly become one of the best kick returners in the NFL - and the numbers back it up.

With another four kickoff returns for 113 total yards on Saturday, is averaging 27.2 yards per kick return on 17 total returns. He needs to reach 20 total returns to qualify for the league leaderboard.

With three more kick returns, if Jones keeps up his average, he's right in the conversation for the best average in the league. Green Bay's Keisean Nixon leads the NFL with 27.5 yards per kick return on 30 returns. Detroit's Justin Jackson is second with 26.9 yards per return on 21 attempts.

Jones has fumbled on two punt returns, but he has held onto the football on kick returns this season.