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Durkin: Impressions From Bears-Raiders

By Dan Durkin--

(CBS) Prior to the season starting, prognosticators looked at the Bears' 2015 schedule and quickly penciled in three Ls to start the season and circled the Week 4 matchup against the Oakland Raiders as the first opportunity for a victory.

As fate would have it, that's exactly how the season has worked out. It took 59-plus minutes of game time to do it, but the Bears notched their first victory of the season, beating the Raiders, 22-20, on Sunday.

As predictable as their record through four game was, how this Bears team would respond to the sea change within the organization was uncertain.

Setting aside the obvious talent gap that exists between the Bears and the upper echelon of the league for a moment, this team has shown more character and resolve than they have in years. This change in attitude is a testament to the new regime that's been brought in to lead the rebuilding effort.

The psyche of last year's Bears team was as fragile as an eggshell. They were unable to withstand the slightest bit of adversity during the week leading up to, let alone during a game. They lacked leadership.

Heading into Sunday's game, the team dealt with two players being traded, a 2014 draft pick being cut and were playing without their starting left tackle and their top receiver. Meanwhile, their quarterback was nowhere near full strength.

On the third play of the game Sunday, Chicago lost its center, Will Montgomery (broken fibula), which led to a two-man shuffle along the line. Defensively, the Bears lost their veteran presence in the secondary, safety Antrel Rolle (ankle), and played nearly the entire second half with two rookie safeties.

But as the coaching staff has shown, not only do they tailor game plans for the week, they adjust them within the course of a game, series to series, play to play. They trusted their preparation, and while the execution was far from perfect, it was good enough in crucial moments to earn a win.

Offensive coordinator Adam Gase knew Jay Cutler would be limited in the pocket, so the playbook was shrunk. He dialed up intermediate pass routes that settled into the voids of the Raiders' conservative zone defenses. Yet it was Cutler's surprising mobility inside the pocket that sparked some big plays early on for the offense.

Cutler was able to climb in the pocket and evade the rush laterally on a few passes, which led to some explosive pass plays. Those plays were triggered by Cutler and the receivers being on the same page with their scramble rules -- meaning they correctly adjusted their routes to run in the same direction Cutler was scrambling or went deep on intermediate routes.

Cutler's movement in the pocket seemed to affect his injury a bit, however. Combined with some difficulties in the center-quarterback exchange, Gase had to make adjustments to his play-calling. The Bears went to more shotgun sets and started to utilize their screen game and now routes, as well as passes to the tight end and running back later in the down on check releases.

The Raiders secondary is a vulnerable group, and Cutler went after virtually all of them, with all of his completions going to tight end Martellus Bennett, receivers Eddie Royal and Marquess Wilson and running back Matt Forte.

Wilson in particular had a strong game. He worked the sidelines and gained extra yards in traffic, showing burst and elusiveness in tight areas after the catch. With Alshon Jeffery inching closer to a return, chemistry with Wilson will be essential, as he's likely to see single coverage as teams help over the top against Jeffery.

Charles Leno Jr. filled in admirably for Jermon Busrod at left tackle. Aldon Smith got the best of Leno a few times, but the Bears trusted him on his own, rarely providing chip help to his side.

With Bushrod still recovering from his shoulder injury and concussion and Montgomery shelved, the Bears have some immediate decisions to make along the offensive line. The team spent a third-round draft pick on center Hroniss Grasu, but he's yet to suit up for a game. Will they give Grasu the start this week and slide Matt Slauson back to his natural left guard spot? Or will they keep the interior of (left to right) Patrick Omameh-Slauson-Vladimir Ducasse intact?

It's safe to assume there will be veteran guards brought in for tryouts this week. Grasu eventually has to jump in to NFL action, but putting him into the fray this week against Kansas City nose tackle Dontari Poe may not be the wisest course of action.

Offensively, the Bears still need to do a better job of finishing drives with touchdowns. Cutler had another red-zone interception, which could've been fatal. He was able to persevere but has to be quicker with his reads and know both who is and isn't open earlier in the down, particularly near the goal line.

For the second straight week, the defensive line set the tone and controlled the line of scrimmage.

Heading into the game, Raiders running back Latavius Murray was averaging five yards per carry. The Bears limited him to three yards a carry. Murray also fumbled a pitch and bobbled a flare route, which led to an interception by Pernell McPhee.

McPhee has become the emotional leader of the defense and possibly the entire team. Each week, he makes general manager Ryan Pace look wise for acting quickly in free agency to secure his services. He's everything the team was looking for to lead their defensive transition -- a physical edge setter who crashes down the line against the run and an active and versatile pass rusher who consistently moves the quarterback off his launch point.

Who knew that Tracy Porter was the team's top cover corner? Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio did.

Fangio had Porter follow Oakland rookie phenom Amari Cooper for eight of his nine targets. Cooper's touchdown came from the slot, when he was matched up against Sherrick McManis. In total, Porter held Cooper to three catches for 23 yards and shut him out in the second half.

Fangio played primarily two-man and Cover-1 and challenged Cooper's release, which frustrated him and disrupted overall route timing.

If Alan Ball is able to return healthy, the Bears' nickel package will get better with Porter sliding inside. McManis has been a liability, and teams are successfully targeting him each week.

As noted earlier, the Bears played nearly the entire second half with rookies Adrian Amos and Harold Jones-Quartey at safety. Amos is off to a strong start. He's a sure, physical tackler and has shown proper eye discipline on his reads and reactions.

Other than the reliable right leg of Robbie Gould on field goals, the special teams units remain a weakness.

The Bears lost the field position battle early in the game and gave the Raiders strong starting field position. Given their struggles with covering kicks, the Bears showed a few new looks with pooch kickoffs and bunched their coverage units, but a kick went out of bounds and hangtimes remained low. These are new looks that teams will have to prepare for, but the execution was poor.

A quarter of the way through the season, the Bears are where most expected them to be. Their schedule does soften up a bit, but the team doesn't have enough talent to decisively beat an opponent. They do, however, have coaching talent, and a new team attitude is forming. They must rely on their preparation to keep them in games and have to execute in crucial moments in order to have a chance.

It's clear this team has forged a new, more resilient identity under John Fox, which is a welcomed change.

Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.

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