Chicago Bears coach Fox likes what he sees on defense

Chicago Bears coach John Fox has stressed "trusting the process," which means steady day-to-day improvement.

So Saturday night's defensive performance against the Colts' NFL-best passing offense was encouraging.

The Bears surrendered 343 total yards to the Miami Dolphins in Week 1 but held Indianapolis to 229, and just 117 through the air.

"I thought we improved," said Fox, whose team had 4 sacks after getting just 1 against the Dolphins. "Obviously, I didn't like the way we started a week ago. We let them off the hook a couple times with some mistakes.

"We still had mistakes (against the Colts), but we ended up plus-1 in the turnover ratio, and that always is helpful."

Pernell McPhee's ability to create mismatches from multiple positions at the line of scrimmage made him the Bears' primary off-season target in free agency. The 26-year-old McPhee flashed that talent when he burst through the center of the line to sack quarterback Andrew Luck on the Colts' second play.

"He's a big kid. That's a lot of meat coming at you," linebacker Jared Allen said of the 275-pound McPhee. "He has a lot of football intelligence, and he brings energy to the table and a competitive nature.

"That's what we all want, and we feed off of that. The guy is a heck of a player, and he's going to continue to grow, and he's young, and he should have great days ahead of him."

Sam Acho, another key free-agent pickup, had his second sack in as many games and forced backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to fumble. It was recovered by rookie nose tackle Eddie Goldman and led to a Bears touchdown.

The other Bears take-away came when cornerback Terrance Mitchell took a jump ball away from Donte Moncrief deep down the middle of the field.

Linebackers Lamarr Houston and Willie Young have a long way to go before they're 100 percent, but both were able to play against the Colts after sitting out in Week 1.

"They've shown good progress and good confidence building in practice," Fox said. "We've had some physical practices, but there's really nothing like playing live football against an opponent. I think they probably both feel good about getting over that hump."

Defensive lineman Will Sutton, the 2014 third-round pick who is trying to find a role in the new 3-4 defense, tied McPhee and linebacker David Bass for the team lead with 3 solo tackles, and he and Bass each had a sack.

On one of the few bad defensive plays Saturday, second-year cornerback Kyle Fuller, considered a building block for the future, was burned by T.Y. Hilton for a 45-yard reception. Fuller made a bad play worse with a 15-yard penalty for taunting that gave Indy a first down at the Bears' 14.

But Fox did not blame Fuller for the infraction.

"I'm not allowed to criticize the officiating," the Bears' coach said. "But it's preseason for them, too."

Fox also was encouraged by the Bears' special teams.

Robbie Gould went 3-for-3 on field-goal attempts and is 7-for-7 in the preseason. Marc Mariani had punt returns of 29 and 22 yards, and Senorise Perry took a kickoff back 31 yards. The Colts totaled just 5 return yards on 5 punts by Pat O'Donnell.

"Our kicking game did a good job of changing field position," Fox said. "And the kicking game was solid as far as the scoring opportunities."

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