As the focus now shifts to week 9, the Chicago Bears will travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals, who have been on quite the journey themselves this season, but for Chicago, how will they handle the best one-two punch of wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins?

​Chicago’s starting secondary has yet to play a game this season together. Jaylon Johnson has played only one game this season. Kyler Gordon missed the first four games and returned against Washington and New Orleans, but has since been placed on injured reserve. Tyrique Stevenson, after starting the first six games, missed the Baltimore game.

​The defense for Chicago has been inconsistent — they have been gashed on the ground, lacked pass-rushing presence, and allowed a team to total over 500 yards of offense this season.

​It’s been a next man up mentality for the Bears, and guys like Nashon Wright, Nick McCloud, and Josh Blackwell have stepped up for Chicago and will have to continue to do so against the Bengals’ offense.

​“We definitely feel like we got everything we need right now to go out there to make plays and do what we need to do to help the team win,” McCloud said. “I feel like when I’ve been in there, I stepped in and done my job. Obviously, some plays here and there that I want back, but like you said, it’s about the opportunity. Not getting too high or too low when things are going good, or bad.”

​It’s been a week-to-week process, but so far, at 4-3, Chicago has managed. Led by Kevin Byrad II, who has anchored the secondary, he’s tied at the top of the league with four interceptions, and Wright and McCloud, who Chicago brought in during their offseason, have filled the voids of those absences. But the task is no greater than it will be this weekend. Despite who the starting quarterback may be for Cincinnati this week — either Joe Flacco or Jake Browning — Chase and Higgins have been able to hurt defenses and still put up the big numbers.

​At home this season, the Bengals have averaged 31.5 points per game, and since acquiring Joe Flacco, the offense has been able to get some of its production back to what it was when Joe Burrow was under center.

​Since Burrow’s injury in week 2, Chase has put up 529 yards with four touchdowns and 54 receptions, and has three consecutive games with 10 or more receptions, and is averaging 115 yards in the last three games. Higgins also, in the last three games, has 202 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

​“You talk about a complete problem, he is that,” Head coach Ben Johnson said about Chase Wednesday morning. “I don’t know how much you can slow him down. I don’t know anything he doesn’t do well. I turned on the run tape last night, and he’s down there blocking down the field for the runners. I think he’s a complete receiver, I think it’s all hands on deck to try and slow him down, I think we have to do a great job marrying our rush and our coverage, and making things as difficult as we can for this offense.’

​The Bears’ defense ranks No. 25 overall in the NFL, giving up an average of 350.7 yards a game and 207 yards through the air, but it has been the turnover differential that has made the Bears’ defense seem top-tier.

​Leading the league in the turnover over differential category with 10, Chicago has 16 takeaways on the season, but only one takeaway through its three losses, and 15 in the four wins. And when the Bears are taking the ball away, the defense looks completely different, giving up 36 points per game to opponents in the three losses and just 19 a game in the four wins.

​Defensive reinforcements

​Wednesday morning, it was also announced that the Bears signed veteran defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who has crossed over, playing under Dennis Allen during his time as head coach for the Saints and with Johnson when he was in Detroit.

​At 27 years old, Gardner-Johnson has bounced around the league, with the Saints, Lions, and two stints with the Philadelphia Eagles, and recently with the Houston Texans. He’s contributed to competitive winning organizations in his seven seasons in the NFL, and now brings his experience to Chicago.

​With Gordan down on IR, and Chicago thin overall in the secondary, Gardner-Johnson brings versatility with playing safety, corner, and nickel corner in his career.

​Johnson made it official that Gardner-Johnson will play in the slot for the Bears, and it makes sense, seeing that he played 1,367 snaps under Allen in the slot during his time in New Orleans.

​“We’ve had some injuries over the course of the last few weeks, and we had an opportunity and (Gardner-Johson) was available, he’s a good football player, and there is a number of us that had been with him in the past, so it’s a good fit.”

​“Yeah, we will lock him in one spot and have him learn the defense, he’s obviously been with DA and so, he should have some familiarity, but he’s also bounced around with a few different other systems in the last few years, so we will see how quickly it comes back and whether he’ll be ready to go on this week or not.”

​Shortly after signing, Gardner-Johnson arrived in Chicago ready to integrate into the Bears’ system and meet his new coaches and teammates.

​“We played a lot of ball together in New Orleans, and the model was the same — he cared for me as a player, as a person, and at a time that I was younger, the message was always the same,” Gardner-Johnson said about his previous time with Dennis Allen. “So coming here, him understanding what I can do, and coming to a locker room with veteran presence, I can adapt easier, and understand that if I need help, I can go ask.”

​“I think that’s the biggest thing he taught me in my first three years: if you need help, ask questions, ask the guys around you, go to your teammates.”

​As far as whether Gardner-Johnson will play on Sunday with a short window since being signed, the familiarity of Allen’s defense and his competitive drive point in the direction of him suiting up, but the next two days of practice will determine a lot.

​“I’ll see you Sunday,” he said. “I’m just doing what coaches are telling me to do, so I can be ready Sunday. Hopefully, they give me a chance on Sunday — they gave me an opportunity to come into the building, so I’ll just be ready when it’s time to go.”