The Comeback Kids: Bears Aim to Repeat Last Season’s Feat

It’s time to give the Bears coaching staff credit.

No, really.

After a week when they took a beating over the Hail Mary pass and the decisions leading up to it on both sides of the ball, they actually did the right thing to get ready for Arizona.

They took a day off with a walk-through because of the physical toll that loss took. More importantly, the theme all week was focusing on the difficult task at hand with the Cardinals.

It’s easy to pay short shrift to an opponent which struggled to win in recent years, particularly after your own horrible defeat that can hang heavily over the team like a fog.

But the Bears spoke about the Cardinals all week like a team on the verge of taking over the NFC West, which they very well could do.

The offense treated safety Budda Baker like he was the Terminator.  You waited for one of them to say, “Baker is out there. He can’t be bargained with. He can’t be reasoned with. He doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And he absolutelly will not stop ever.” They didn’t say it, but close.

“Budda Baker moves around there, he’s dropping in from the middle part of the field,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “They have a three-safety look mostly in a five-down look and he’ll be dropping in. He’s not always dropping in, but there will be guys that drop in, and he’s mostly the guy that does that.

“When you’re spotting out your runs, sometimes that does create a little bit of confusion there. Our guys have done a good job in practice, but again, it’s gonna be full speed. It’s gonna be a really good player and a really good front because they move it around a little bit. Our guys gotta do a really good job communicating.”

The same respect has been paid to Kyler Murray, who the Bears faced last year, and also running back James Conner.

Last year the Bears suffered their most agonizing defeat, blowing a 21-point lead against Denver, then turned around the next week and shook off the hangover and embarrassment, went out to Washington on short preparation for a Thursday night game and routed the Commanders.

Eberflus and staff have to hope something similar happens now for their first road win of the season. They need the win badly.