After a tough season-opening loss to the Packers, the Bears vowed not to dwell on the defeat and instead focus on their upcoming game against the Seahawks.
Following an impressive win over Seattle, Bears coaches and players are employing the identical mentality as they prepare to face the Cardinals Sunday in Arizona.
"Same mindset," said quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. "Enjoy the win, but we've got work to do, so we've got to move on quickly. We've got to have a great week of practice."
Learning how to handle success is just as important as learning how to deal with adversity, especially for a team that's experienced more adversity than success in recent seasons.
Seeking their first winning record since they were 2-1 in 2014, the Bears are in no position to take any opponent lightly, even a winless Cardinals team that has been outscored 58-6 in two losses and ranks last in the NFL in points, point differential, total yards and passing yards.
"Just like last week when it was coming off a difficult loss, now the team is feeling good in the fact that we got a win," said coach Matt Nagy. "Sometimes when you have that, with bad teams, complacency sinks in. That's not what we want.
"We want our guys to continue to stay hungry, to realize how important it is to stack wins on top of each other. I want good practices. I want everybody to be sharp, focused and understand that—again, we preach it all the time—the parity in this league is so great. Every game is close. We've got to keep this mental focus and make sure that we carry this momentum, this slight momentum we have, into this third week."
The Bears registered back-to-back wins only once in the past two seasons under coach John Fox, compiling a 1-7 record in games immediately following a victory.
Outside linebacker Khalil Mack, who has recorded two strip/sacks and returned an interception for a touchdown in his first two games with the Bears, is not concerned about the defense being overconfident when it faces a Cardinals offense that has struggled early this season.
"Consistency is what you want, especially from a defense on the road," Mack said. "It's going to be very important to go out, pack our defense and do what we're capable of doing. But even then, those guys get paid as well. They're coming out here trying to win the game."
While the Bears are employing the same short-memory mindset this week that they utilized after their loss to the Packers, the taste in their mouths is certainly much sweeter following their win over the Seahawks.
"It definitely feels a lot better," Trubisky said. "You're a little less sore coming out to practice. Everybody has more energy after a win, and we're feeling good about ourselves right now. But it's time to move on, go to work and get ready to stack another one. That's just been the mindset to be 1-0 this week and stack these wins. So we're just really focused and locked in on what we've got to do now."
