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Bears opener: Defense has one last chance to live up to 2018

Bears coach Matt Nagy doesn’t want his players to live in the past. That’s not easy in a city that canonized the 1985 champions. Or while playing for a franchise whose most prolonged success came in the 1930s. Or when you’re compared to a defense that, just three short years ago, was the best in the NFL.

“Clearly, that 2018 team and defense was something special,” second-year cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. “And I feel like we’re tired of hearing, ‘When can we get back to that?’

“It’s about being who we are and playing tough, sound, physical football each and every week.