Defensive coordinator Vince Tobin said the Bears defense is almost in an unwinnable situation-even when the team wins.
”I still don`t see the emotion on defense we had before,” Tobin said after Sunday`s 30-10 victory over Detroit. ”And I don`t know why.
”But when we make a play where you should be tremendously elated, we aren`t tremendously elated. Because it`s expected, and that`s a tough situation to be in.
”The success has bred that. We are expected to stop them every play that they have. Offenses are paid to play well, too, and they`re hard to stop.
”When you do make the plays, you have to be excited about it. We`re almost to the point where if you do make them, the reaction is `So what?` And if you don`t make them, you`re a goat. That shouldn`t be.”
Where the Bears a lot better on defense compared to recent games, or a little better?
”I`d say we were a little better today than we had been,” Tobin said.
”The offense controlled the ball, which helped us.
”But we made few mistakes, whereas in the past we either didn`t cover a guy or didn`t execute our responsibilities.”
Tobin singled out linebacker Ron Rivera for his play Sunday, and he wasn`t only talking about his interception. ”He made two or three other breakups,” he said. ”I was extremely pleased with the way he played. He was sick before the game, too, and still did well.”
Defensive back Maurice Douglass made the play on Lions wide receiver Pete Mandley that resulted in Shaun Gayle snaring the ball from the air for an interception and returning it 20 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Douglass pledged to be physical when the Bears moved him into the nickel defense for this game. And he showed what he meant when he kept pounding on Mandley until the ball was tipped up for Gayle.
”It was a small success, but I`ll take it,” Douglass said. ”It seemed like we were more confident on the nickel defense.
”I got a decent bump on the guy at the line of scrimmage. And I was fortunate to see the ball a little when he looked back for the ball. I tried to hit his arm and use my strength to pull the ball away. I think my strength tipped it up and gave Shaun the time to get there.”
Douglass also contributed some special teams tackles. ”Getting the chance to play nickel gave me even more enthusiasm on special teams,” he said. ”I was pumped.
”Shaun Gayle`s interception really helped. These are the things we hadn`t been doing. We were able to get pressure on (quarterback Chuck) Long and he got indecisive. It all helped turn our situation around, attitude and all.”
Gayle replaced Todd Bell on the nickel defense this week, but for Bell there`s no negative feelings in the move. ”I`m glad the way we got through it today,” Bell said. ”We needed to lift some pressure off the defensive secondary. I`m not looking at it as negative toward me.
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”We`re on a winning roll now, I feel. Having the pressure off helps. You fight against so many things, even self-doubt. When you`re able to have a good game like we just had, you`re able to come back and play more aggressively, with reckless abandon.”
Punter Bryan Wagner had a good day, even though his punting average was 31.7 yards on three kicks. He put two punts inside the Lions` 20-yard line. He also saved a disaster when he leaped high to grab a high snap and make the punt in the third quarter.
”I jumped pretty good, but I still got it inside the 20,” he said.
Wagner said he was motivated by the Bears bringing back former punter Maury Buford for a tryout last week. ”I kicked well when he was here,”
Wagner said. ”I had more confidence in myself. I concentrated more and that carried over into today.”
That the Lions sacked Bear quarterbacks eight times did not impress Detroit coach Darryl Rogers.
”We may have had eight sacks, but all that did was hold the score down,” Rogers said. ”Instead of second down, it was third down, and (Jim)
McMahon just turned it into something else.”
The Lions` seven sacks of McMahon matched a career high (or maybe that should be a career low) for the Bears` sixth-year quarterback.
McMahon was sacked seven times by Minnesota in the third game of his rookie year (1982).
Rogers just didn`t think much of his 2-8 football team.
”Was there any individual you liked out there,” he was asked.
”No,” he answered.
Long was impressed by the play Rivera made for an interception in the second quarter.
”I couldn`t believe he (Rivera) came up with that,” Long said. ”He took the ball right off the receiver`s back. It surprised the heck out of me.”
Interceptions unfortunately are no surprise to Long. He has been picked off 13 times while throwing 7 TD passes in 7 starts this year.
”Chuck is a quarterback that has got to get the feel of the NFL, be it good or bad,” Rogers said.
Long should get some commendation for courtesy. Knowing many reporters wanted to talk with him after the game, the quarterback moved away from his locker so teammates dressing nearby would not be inconvenienced.
McMahon sympathized with his offensive line that allowed eight sacks. The seven against McMahon were the most since 1982.
”We had a rough day up front. We have a lot of people hurt. I give them a lot of credit for playing in pain. I know what they`re going through,”
McMahon said. ”I had a bad shoulder last year. They`re doing the best they can. They didn`t do as well today as the last couple weeks.”
Willie Gault enjoyed another good day with 5 receptions for 55 yards underneath the Lions` zones.
McMahon tried to hit him deep a couple of times. He drew an interference call on the final scoring drive.
Earlier, Gault said he hesitated a step in trying to run past cornerback Duane Galloway, and McMahon overthrew him.
”I said I`d never do that again,” Gault said. ”Jim almost deceived me. He threw the ball pretty well.”
Said coach Mike Ditka: ”We were not pass protecting very well. I was really scared to call anything deep because of Jim`s health.”
Gault said a couple of run-ins with Detroit safety Raphel Cherry must have been a case of mistaken identity.
”I think he confused me with somebody else. He said people were cutting
(blocking low) him. I just did it one time,” Gault said.
Dennis McKinnon was robbed of a 36-yard punt return when Kurt Becker was penalized for blocking below the waist.
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”I`m quite sure once we watch the replay it will be another (bad) call by the officials. We don`t get any breaks,” McKinnon said.
”We`re running at about 65 percent,” said middle linebacker Mike Singletary. ”Nice place to start.”
”We weren`t forced into any situations where guys felt they had to make something happen,” said safety Dave Duerson.
”Too much is made of the fact we haven`t dominated teams. So what?”
Ditka was asked whether the players responded to his opinion Tuesday that his defense stinks.
”I don`t know. You guys responded. You all wrote it. That`s all that counts. You guys have no imagination. I have to tell you what to write and then you write it,” Ditka said.