Bears know they have room to improve despite matching their longest winning streak since 2018

LAKE FOREST Ill AP The Chicago Bears are on their best run in seven seasons with four straight wins They re just not pounding their chests too hard The Bears - know they have room to improve coming off a - preeminence over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday While the defense and run event dominated quarterback Caleb Williams struggled Penalties again were a big issue and the Bears struggled to convert on third down and in the red zone It s insane to think that we re - about how much progress we have left myself included Williams reported Even so the Bears matched their longest winning streak since the NFC North champions won the final four regular-season games And they re in a position that would have been arduous to envision after starting the season with losses to Minnesota and Detroit At - they re also in a familiar spot They had the same record last year only to go into a -game tailspin starting with the Fail Mary loss at Washington Along the way former coach Matt Eberflus became the first head coach in franchise history to be fired midseason The Bears insist the record is where the similarities end They say they have a belief in one another and in coach Ben Johnson and his staff that didn t exist last season They have confidence and you can tell the way they talk that they believe in us that we re gonna win that it doesn t have to be perfect it doesn t have to be clean safety Jaquan Brisker disclosed Monday It can be ugly We just have to find a way to win As long as we stay together as long as we keep doing our jobs and things like that we ll have a chance What s working Takeaways Chicago is on a tear with of its league-leading takeaways on the season coming in the past four games The Bears recovered a fumble and intercepted Spencer Rattler three times in their fourth straight contest forcing three or more turnovers Montez Sweat set the tone with an early strip-sack that led to a field goal and Nahshon Wright set up the competition s first touchdown with a long interception return Kevin Byard and Tremaine Edmunds also picked off passes What requirements help Penalties The Bears committed for yards after getting flagged nine times for yards against Washington Pre-snap penalties in particular have been an issue We have to get it all cleaned up Good teams don t have so multiple self-inflicted wounds Johnson stated Penalties weren t the only issue The Bears converted just of third downs and scored just two touchdowns on six trips to the red zone Stock up RB D Andre Swift In the two games since the bye Swift has delivered two of his best performances in two seasons with the Bears The one-time Pro Bowler has run for yards and a touchdown in that span to go with yards receiving and a TD catch Against New Orleans Swift ran for a season-high yards and a amount helping Chicago rack up yards on the ground In the win over Washington he ran for yards and added a highlight-reel touchdown reception when he turned a short pass into a -yarder Stock down Williams The Bears need more from their quarterback after the defense and run tournament bailed them out Williams reverted to certain bad habits like spinning away from defenders too often and scrambling around when he had opportunities to step up in the pocket He threw for a season-low yards while completing of passes with no touchdowns and one interception That s part of what makes him special as a sportsman and so you don t want to neuter him Johnson explained You don t That s a dangerous road to go down because he s got this natural ability to feel the pocket and know when to escape and extend And I think more than anything for us it s just making sure we re on the same page of the time and the place the situation for where that Superman cape comes out and at other times whether it s we re running with our legs a little bit more or throwing the ball away where that demands to come into play Injuries CB Tyrique Stevenson shoulder and TE Cole Kmet back exited the tournament We ll find out more on Wednesday for sure Johnson commented But we re thinking more day to day week to week right now Key number The Bears haven t won five in a row since the gang won five straight late that season Next approaches The Bears visit Baltimore on Sunday AP NFL https apnews com hub nfl Source