Chicago Bears: Top five plays from win over Lions

Play Number Three: Bryce Callahan’s second quarter interception

Bryce Callahan has been a breakout player on the Bears’ defense. One of the best tacklers on the team, Callahan’s emergence at the nickel cornerback position has been one of the reasons why the Bears defense is as good as they have been.

In the second quarter of Sunday’s game, with the Bears leading 19-0, Callahan made a spectacular play.

Callahan read Stafford’s throw perfectly, initially just getting his hands on it before juggling it not just once, but twice, before finally securing the interception and solid return.

The Bears secondary has been purely spectacular this season. The defense as a whole has 16 interceptions, which is tied for first in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins.

The Bears secondary was viewed at as the weak-link in the defense prior to the season. More than half way into the 2018 season, it looks like the Bears defense simply doesn’t have a single weak link.

Prince Amukamara made a pick of his own later in the game, and safety Adrian Amos recovered a fumble as well. The Bears secondary has been a turnover-forcing machine, making the job of their dominant front-seven easier by making great plays on bad balls forced up by the pressure put on by the tackles and linebackers.

As the Bears get deeper into the season, the performance of their secondary will be a definitive point of where they finish the season. If the secondary can continue to step up and make the plays that they’ve been making through the first nine games of the season, we could still be watching the Bears come the first weekend of February. That’s how crucial the performance of the Bears secondary has been.

Callahan isn’t even a top-two corner on the depth chart, but on most teams, he’d easily be a top-two guy. The Bears depth has been apparent on both sides of the ball, another major area in their success thus far in 2018.