Chicago Bears' defense doubles down when faced with adversity
Matt Nagy has been one fired up football coach during his last two meetings with the media.
And why not?
His Bears are leading the NFC Central at 5-1, his hard-nosed defense is flying around and keeping offenses at bay, and his offense is putting up enough points to get the job done.
It's led to an electric behind-the-scenes atmosphere Nagy wishes everyone could see.
"I wish you all could have been on the plane with us flying home," Nagy said a day after the Bears won 23-16 at Carolina. "We were rockin' and rollin'. We're so fired up right now. It's a great feeling. It's pretty cool."
During his talk with reporters Monday, Nagy lauded the defense, which has allowed just 3 touchdowns the last three weeks and 8 all season. Most impressive to the third-year head coach is how that unit responds to a questionable call or a self-induced gaffe.
A perfect example came late in the first half as Carolina was driving with the Bears leading 10-3.
A split second after Panthers WR Keith Kirkwood caught a pass from Teddy Bridgewater on a second-and-10, cornerback Kyle Fuller arrived and hit Kirkwood high. The ball bounced out, but Fuller was whistled for unnecessary roughness, giving Carolina a first-and-10 at the Bears' 14.
"We were kind of joking about it on the plane. Kyle sits right behind me," Nagy said. "There's literally nothing you can do in his position. He's just playing football. ...
"It's a bang-bang play. The referees have a tough job there when it is that fast."
Some teams would let up at that point, but the Bears held firm and forced the Panthers into a fourth-and-3 from the 6.
Field goal time, right? Wrong - all because Akiem Hicks inexplicably jumped off sides when Carolina was clearly lining up to make the Bears do just that.
Now it's first-and-goal from the 3, meaning Carolina is almost assuredly going into the end zone.
But that's not what happened, thanks in large part to Fuller executing a perfect open-field tackle on Bridgewater on second-and-goal. After a D.J. Moore drop in the end zone, the Panthers settled for a field goal and the Bears still led 10-6.
"They get that first down on fourth-and-3 and we end up holding them to a field goal," Nagy said. "I mean's that's big time. That's special. There's not a lot of teams that can ... rebound from that."
Carolina's only touchdown came after a questionable 33-yard pass interference call on Jaylon Johnson early in the fourth quarter. That was the third-longest play of the day for a Panthers team that saw Bridgewater throw for 216 yards and Mike Davis manage just 52 yards on 18 carries.
An excited Nagy talked about how thrilled he is that different players are stepping up at critical times to keep opponents either off the board or out of the end zone.
"It's across the board. And you feel that," he said. "What that's doing is really putting us in a great spot to be able to win these games.
"That's why ... I really believe there's something special here with these players and something special with the coaches - even though it's not that fantasy world everyone wants on offense. It's not that.
"What it is, is it's winning. It's winning football. You know what I mean? And that's pretty cool."