Column: Ignited by Roquan Smith’s pick-6, the Chicago Bears defense looks like its old self again in a bounce-back win

Roquan Smith couldn’t say when his last end zone visit had been. Before Sunday afternoon, Smith never had scored a touchdown for the Chicago Bears. He didn’t have any during a stellar college career at Georgia either.

Tracing backward, he went all the way back to the fall of 2014.

“High school,” Smith said with a grin.

Now that drought is over. For the first time since his days as a linebacker, receiver and running back for the Macon County Bulldogs, Smith has a touchdown to recap. It came with 10 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in Sunday’s game at Soldier Field, an interception of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow followed by a nifty 53-yard return across the north goal line.

For the first time in nearly two years, Soldier Field was shaking — really shaking — with more than 60,000 fans celebrating the biggest explosion in the Bears’ 20-17 victory.

Smith’s pick-six was fitting, too, arguably the most significant play of an afternoon in which the defense looked like its old self, again concealing the continued struggles of a work-in-progress offense. Nine players either had a sack or played a major role in a takeaway.

The Bears were flying around. Dominating. Having fun.

Smith made his contribution with shrewd anticipation and impressive athleticism. He saw, in his words, “flow” with four potential Bengals pass catchers moving to the right on the play.

“If anything comes back,” Smith said, “I was going back.”

That’s when he saw Tyler Boyd in his peripheral vision and darted into Burrow’s throwing lane.

“You can tell he studied that play before,” Burrow said. “He pushed really, really fast and made a really good play.”

Smith’s hands snatched the football and his legs did the rest. Along the left sideline, he used an escort from teammates Alec Ogletree and Kindle Vildor to cover the final 40 yards.

Upon scoring, Smith forgot how long it had been since he last had such a moment and jubilantly flipped the football to a fan in the front row. There went that memento.

“In the moment,” Smith said. “I wish I would have kept it. But I’m sure I made his year. … I’ll just keep the jersey and I’ll keep the memory.”

It’s little wonder Smith’s teammates continue to speak about his emergence with such reverence. In a league in which the best teams rely on their stars to make consistent game-changing contributions, Smith is earning that status.

“Best linebacker in the game,” Bears safety Tashaun Gipson said. “And I tell him that. I’ve been saying that since last year. … He’s just a phenomenal player, man. He can run like a DB and hit like a linebacker.”

Added outside linebacker Robert Quinn: “Probably one of the fastest linebackers I’ve ever seen. And it’s just how much he studies the game. He sees a formation and he kind of already knows what play is coming. Having a guy like that, he can make you right even when we mess up.”

In addition to the interception, Smith absolutely mauled Burrow for an 8-yard sack early in the third quarter, flying off the left edge unaccounted for and making certain to finish the blitz. “Pretty much no one stopped me,” he said.

That was the kind of hair-on-fire intensity the Bears defense played with for most of the afternoon. Smith’s pick came during a surge in which the Bears created turnovers on four consecutive possessions.

Safety Eddie Jackson started the binge with a forced fumble on Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. Gipson scooped that loose ball, and the takeaway faucet had been turned on.

After Smith’s interception, cornerback Jaylon Johnson recorded his first career pick on Burrow’s next pass.

On the next series, Ogletree hammered Burrow as he looked to throw, and the fluttering football fell into the arms of defensive lineman Angelo Blackson, who returned it 6 yards inside the Bengals 10.

“I did a reenactment of that in the locker room,” fellow defensive lineman Akiem Hicks said. “You should have been there for that. Anytime a big guy gets the football, it’s a pleasure to see.”

Man, did this feel familiar to those in attendance at Soldier Field. On an afternoon when starting quarterback Andy Dalton left with a knee injury and rookie Justin Fields struggled in relief, the defense carried the load. During that takeaway surge, the verve was unmistakable.

“To have all those plays in succession, it was like, ‘How is this happening?’ ” Hick said. “It’s important not to take that for granted. They don’t all come like that.

“We’ve had spans here where there weren’t a lot of takeaways, there weren’t a lot of sacks, and you’re just waiting for that to pop. It’s like a bubble — and we hit one today.”

For a usually reliable Bears defense, Week 1 had been an embarrassment. Thirty-four points allowed. Only one sack. No takeaways. Three 75-yard touchdown drives allowed — in a row.

“It looked even worse than we thought,” Gipson said.

Worst of all, Ogletree said in the middle of last week that he was surprised and somewhat bothered by the lack of energy the entire defense seemed to have in that opening loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

The Bears weren’t going to allow that to happen again.

“Everybody had a bad taste in their mouth,” Hicks said. “Taking that long trip (home), getting back at 5 a.m. after getting beat like that, it sits with you differently. Not only are you tired, but you just got done getting whupped. I think that sat with everybody. And everybody wanted to come out and play their best game.”

Coach Matt Nagy challenged the defense to have a swarming mentality in Week 2. New defensive coordinator Sean Desai put together a game plan that confused Burrow with various coverage disguises. Players responded.

With 6 minutes left, the defense had more takeaways than points allowed. The Bears left Soldier Field with their first win and a sense that the defense is in a good place.

“Last week wasn’t our standard,” Smith said. “We knew we had to get better.”

That mission was accomplished.

“These types of games don’t come often,” Gipson said. “But, man, when they do, those are the fun types.”

• Sign up for alerts on your phone, desktop and inbox to stay current with the latest news

• Sign up for our sports newsletter, delivered daily each morning