The first-place Bears are being themselves, and for once, that's a good thing

Perhaps this matter-of-fact quote sums up just how monumental a turnaround the Bears are in the midst of pulling off:

“We just wanted to come out and do us,” outside linebacker Leonard Floyd said. “Be the Chicago Bears.”

Being the Chicago Bears used to mean losing. A lot. It meant having opponents doing the “Electric Slide” after an interception. It meant throwing challenge flags that resulted in the opposing team getting the ball, not the Bears getting a touchdown. It meant a popular former kicker scoring every point and hitting a game-winning field goal in a one-point loss. It meant the short-lived Mike Glennon era.

Now? Being the Chicago Bears means wide receiver Anthony Miller rowing a boat in one end zone and safety Eddie Jackson conducting an orchestra in the other. It means a defense imposing its will on a game. It means an entire team bolting from its sideline to celebrate with its much-maligned kicker after he hit a field goal to seal a win. It means having a widely-praised head coach and a roster suddenly stocked with potential Pro Bowlers.

Most of all: Being the Chicago Bears now means winning, as this team did, 25-20, over the Minnesota Vikings Sunday night at Soldier Field. The Bears are 7-3 and have a firm grasp on the NFC North, a division in which they’ve been mired at the bottom for far too long.

Beating the Vikings, the presumptive preseason favorite in the NFC North, does not make the Bears a playoff team just yet. But it does prove to them, and the rest of the league, that this is a group that’s for real, one that’s made significant strides through 10 games and still has room to grow in the final six.

“You gotta understand the situation,” outside linebacker Khalil Mack said. “Knowing that you’re facing a division opponent, knowing we’re going to face them twice a year, we gotta make that jump. You saw that today.”

The Bears’ defense physically and mentally beat the Vikings, with Akiem Hicks ravaging the interior of Minnesota’s offensive line for five tackles for a loss, one sack and one critical pass break-up on a late two-point conversion attempt. Mack bullied Vikings left tackle Riley Reiff, as evidenced by his stat-stuffing day (one sack, two QB hits, one TFL, one pass break-up, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery) as well as this:

https://twitter.com/PFF_Sam/status/1064346629459910658

What Mack, Hicks and Floyd (two TFLs, and plenty of pressure) did was mentally scramble Minnesota’s offense while beating them physically across the board.

“Who do you block? Who do you block? That’s the question,” Hicks said. “Do you block Leonard Floyd? Do you block Eddie Goldman? Do you block Akiem? Do you block Khalil? Who are you gonna block? That’s the question that we want every offense to have to figure out.”

It wasn’t until midway through the fourth quarter that the Vikings’ offense began rolling, but thanks to a few plays by Mitch Trubisky and a clutch Parkey field goal, it wasn’t enough. The Bears finished a game in all three phases — offense, defense, special teams — in the fourth quarter against a good opponent, proving again this is a team headed in the right direction.

The Bears’ quick turnaround from Sunday night to Thursday afternoon’s date with the Detroit Lions will provide a challenge, though it’s one players said would be made easier by Sunday’s victory.

Perhaps the biggest test regarding the quick turnaround, then, will be for this team to devise some new, creative celebrations. Because they might need a few of those again on Thanksgiving.

“We got one,” Jackson laughed. “We gotta add more, though.”