By Adam Hoge-

At the time, it seemed like a very successful drive for the 49ers.

Sure, it only ended in a field goal, but San Francisco killed over nine minutes off the clock to start the second half. They led 20-7 with six minutes left in the third quarter and considering the lack of success the Bears’ offense was having, it felt like that drive might have iced the game.

As it turned out, it was the Bears who used that drive to their advantage. The defense came up with three huge run stuffs in a row to hold the 49ers to the field goal, keeping it a two-possession game.

For all the bashing Bears defensive coordinator Mel Tucker gets, it’s time to give the guy some credit.

After rookie defensive tackle Ego Ferguson jumped into the neutral zone, the 49ers had a 1st-and-5 at the Bears’ 6-yard-line. Four downs to get six yards on the ground? Should be easy against the Bears’ run defense, right?

Tucker had a different idea.

On first down, with the 49ers loading up with “22” personnel (two running backs, two tight ends), Tucker went with a nine-man front with his base defense. Many coordinators might panic after their rookie defensive tackle commits a silly penalty on first down, but Tucker stuck with the plan. In fact, he had three rookies on the field — cornerback Kyle Fuller, Ferguson, and defensive tackle Will Sutton — the Bears’ first three draft picks this past May.

On first down, every player did their job. The linemen — particularly Ferguson and Sutton — ate up their blocks and kept the 49ers linemen off the linebackers. The backers then filled their gaps, forcing Frank Gore to bounce outside. Fortunately, cornerback Tim Jennings kept outside contain and linebacker Shea McClellin used his speed to help out. Then Fuller came out of nowhere from the opposite side of the field to drag Gore down from behind.

2nd-and-4. Tucker gets even more creative.

The Bears go with five down linemen (yellow), four linebackers (blue), two cornerbacks (red) and no safeties against “23” personnel (in this case, two backs, two tight ends and an extra tackle):

This is a new look from Tucker and one that clearly goes along with some of the new techniques the Bears are using on the defensive line. Take a look at the defensive linemen and how they keep the blockers off the linebackers at the second level:

This is a vintage Jim Harbaugh Power-O run play with three lead blockers coming over from the backside:

But the Bears couldn’t have handled it better.  They have contain on both sides and each gap is filled:

Now it just comes down to winning your individual battles. The key on this play is Lamarr Houston taking on two linebackers by himself, which allows Lance Briggs to shift through traffic, work around the fullback and shoot the gap to drop Carlos Hyde for a two-yard loss. Give Willie Young credit for defeating his block too:

Here’s how the entire play unfolded:

https://vine.co/v/OWzW5M62ntP

Seeing Briggs make plays like this has to be encouraging for the Bears after he struggled in Week 1 against the Bills. And it wasn’t the only good play he made. Earlier on the same drive, he helped drop Frank Gore in the backfield on an impressive run stop.

You may have heard Briggs talk during the week about the “wham” block, a backside trap block designed to get offensive linemen downfield on the linebackers. On this play, the 49ers run the “wham” on Sutton, allowing left tackle Joe Staley to block Briggs:

At first, it looked like this blocking scheme was going to work. The running lane wasn’t huge, but it appeared to be open:

Then Briggs quickly shut it down. He essentially bounced right off of Staley’s block and met Gore head-on while Staley was still blocking him:

These are just a couple of the impressive run stops the Bears defense had against the 49ers. It wasn’t a perfect night (they still allowed 129 rushing yards), but it was definitely a step in the right direction.

“I thought the execution, even though it didn’t show up in the stats – we were still 4.8 (yards per carry) – I thought that when you watched the run defense it was very good against this football team. Very good,” Marc Trestman said. “I thought the tackling was excellent in this game overall. So I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

Five Highest Grades

Note: Throughout the season I keep my own grades on players to track their progress. Take them with a grain of salt, as I don’t know every assignment on every play. That said, at the end of the year, these grades are a pretty good indicator of how the season went. Of the 13 players who graded out negatively last season, nine of them are no longer on the team and the other four are Jon Bostic, Chris Conte, Shea McClellin and Jordan Mills, all of whom have valid reasons for being brought back. For reference, 0.00 is the baseline and Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall tied for the highest cumulative grade on the team last year with a 3.97.

WR Brandon Marshall (Grade: 7.0) – The one-handed touchdown grab was one of the best catches you’ll see all season. Playing hurt, Marshall was as reliable as ever. And did you happen to notice the hustle play to run 20 yards backwards and recover the fumble after the botched snap by Brian de la Puente? If Marshall doesn’t make that play, the 49ers have the ball at the Bears’ 1-yard-line.

DE Willie Young (7.0)  – Through two games, Young has the highest cumulative grade on the team (6.5). After playing 21 snaps (37 percent) in the opener, the defensive end saw 34 plays (51 percent) Sunday night and those will probably continue to rise.  Young leads the team with five quarterback disruptions, according to STATS, three of which were sacks. He’s been just as good against the run as well.

CB Kyle Fuller (6.0) – What a coming out party for the rookie. Fuller didn’t have a perfect night (getting beat by Stevie Johnson on a 20-yard completion comes to mind), but the positive plays he made were game-changers for the Bears.

S Chris Conte (4.0) – Conte showed on that incredible interception that he’s one of the fastest safeties in the league. Now he just needs to be a reliable tackler. The touchdown saving tackle on Michael Crabtree showed he’s making strides in that area as well. Can he stay healthy? That’s an important question, but it doesn’t sound like his shoulder injury is serious.

LB Shea McClellin (4.0) – Could this linebacker thing actually work? McClellin had one his better games in a Bears uniform. He kept contain, was strong against the run and even had a sack on a blitz. That’s exactly what the Bears need from their strong-side linebacker.

Five Lowest Grades

RB Shaun Draughn (-4.0) – Two penalties on special teams and a blocked punt allowed. It was a forgettable night for the third-string running back as he was subsequently cut on Tuesday.

LG Michael Ola (-3.0) – The Bears are asking a lot of Ola to have him fill in for Matt Slauson at left guard. He’s been adequate through two games, but Sunday night was a struggle at times.

RB Senorise Perry (-3.0) – Perry is just not an NFL kick returner. The Bears still like him as a cover guy so he will probably stick as the No. 3 running back, but Rashad Ross figures to be the returner this week in New York.

RT Jordan Mills (-2.0) – Mills had a holding penalty that was declined and an untimely false start. He also was a contributor to the struggles the Bears had running the football.

LB D.J. Williams (-1.0) – As Jon Bostic continues to improve, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Williams see less and less playing time each week. He played 14 more snaps against the 49ers than he did against the Bills, but that was partially due to the Bears playing more base defense with only two healthy cornerbacks in the second half.

Other Observations

– You might be surprised not to see Briggs among the top five grades, especially after I singled him out for his run defense early on in this piece, but he also had some struggles in pass coverage, which brought his overall grade down. It was still a nice night for the linebacker.

– Where’s Jay Cutler? He had an overall good game too, but his accuracy was off in the first half and there were a few questionable decisions (like throwing into double coverage 40 yards downfield to Josh Bellamy). Cutler showed great poise and finished strong, but his overall grade wasn’t among the top five.

– Stephen Paea also had a nice night. He’s playing with some pressure in a contract year with two solid rookies playing behind him, but he had a sack and I didn’t have him down for any negative plays.

– After just five quarterback disruptions in Week 1, the Bears were credited with 13 in Week 2 by STATS.  Willie Young led the way with four, while Paea and McClellin each had three.

Adam Hoge covers the Bears for 87.7 The Game and TheGameChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamHoge.