For a team that depends on its defense for survival as much as the Bears do, any warning signs are full-blown alarms. If this defense isn’t what it was the last two seasons, the Bears are in real trouble even at 3-0.
There was concern when the lowly Lions romped to a 23-6 lead in the third quarter of the opener, and again the next week when the Giants went on a 95-yard touchdown drive in the fourth to pull within one score.
The tension rose a notch Sunday in Atlanta, when the Bears allowed a season-high 437 yards and trailed 26-10 in the third.