The Chicago Bears have put together consecutive dominant defensive performances on the road, thoroughly crushing the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4 and the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5 in performances reminiscent of the Monsters of the Midway.
Greatest on the road ...
Lance Briggs, Chicago Bears
George Halas and his leather-helmeted heroes of the late 1930s and early 1940s would be proud of the modern-day edition of the Bears defense, a unit that appears to be resurrecting the team's reputation for dominant defense.
A thorough destruction of an overwhelmed and overmatched Jaguars team on Sunday seemed to hammer that point home. In the middle of the mayhem was Briggs, who helped the defense make a little team history. The Bears have returned interceptions for touchdowns in three consecutive games for the first time in franchise history. Briggs, along with Charles Tillman, became the first teammates in NFL history to return interceptions for touchdowns in consecutive weeks. That's epic.
Briggs also had a sack in the 41-3 rout, after which some might be pondering where this year's Bears defense rates among the team's all-time greats.
Also considered:
Bruce Irvin, Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks defense held the Panthers -- thought to have one of the league's most-explosive offenses heading into the season -- to a measely 190 total yards and drove Cam Newton deeper into in sophomore slump. Helping earn the Seahawks a big win on the road was their disruptive defensive rookie, Irvin.
Irvin clinched Seattle's 16-12 victory with a strip sack of Newton late in the fourth quarter. Irvin finished the game with two sacks, upping his season total to 4.5 sacks.
Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons are 5-0 for the first time in franchise history, but this victory didn't come easy. Ryan and the Falcons overcame a mistake-prone game to eventually overtake the Washington Redskins late in the game. The Falcons spent much of the game playing catchup, and taking the lead for good in the fourth quarter after Ryan led Atlanta on three scoring drives in the game's final 15 minutes. That effort gave Ryan 18 career game-winning drives (that includes in this season), which is more than any quarterback in his first five NFL seasons since 1960.
Follow Jim Reineking on Twitter @jimreineking.
