Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs.  (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

CHICAGO -- Lance Briggs has experienced enough disappointments, enough unrewarded defensive excellence, during his 11 seasons with the Bears to appreciate not only the team's 2-0 start but also how it won both games.

The offense has supported the defense with two fourth-quarter rallies, a novelty that has allowed the Bears to push forward under coach Marc Trestman in an uplifting environment instead of one choked by panic.

"When you're 0-2, you're circling the wagons," Briggs said Monday. "You've dug yourself into a hole and you have to salvage that season, so you have to get back to even. Being 2-0, in the history of us winning more games in the beginning, we know we give ourselves a chance of getting into those playoffs."

In mid-September, the postseason is beyond the horizon, especially with significant room for improvement evident in the first two games. But the Bears' place alone atop the NFC North beats the alternative.

Even Trestman, who was not here last year when a tiebreaker cost the Bears a playoff spot, recognizes how fortunate they are to have navigated what he described as the "extremely thin" margin for error in the NFL.

"We're two or three plays away from sitting here on the opposite side of both games, no doubt about it," he said.

The Bears don't have to apologize, though. They earned their two wins with enough positive plays at decisive moments.

In Sunday's 31-30 victory, the defense held the Vikings to a field goal at the 4-yard line with less than 4 minutes remaining.


That positioned quarterback Jay Cutler to lead the offense 66 yards in 10 plays for the game-winning touchdown pass to tight end Martellus Bennett with 10 seconds remaining.

It was a defining sequence for a team that continues to evolve under their new coach.

"The identity that's being created is 'clutch,' " Briggs said. "When the chips are down, some Bear is going to make a play."

The Bears wouldn't have to rely on that if they addressed a few concerns Trestman detailed after his Monday film analysis.

The Bears turned the ball over four times. Trestman actually counts five, including the penalty for too many men on the field during a Vikings' first-quarter punt. That gave the Vikings an automatic first down.

Trestman lamented losing some big-play opportunities because of a lack of communication or coordination on the offensive line.

Positive elements outweighed the negatives, though. Trestman praised the kickoff return unit for Devin Hester's 249 return yards. The defense limited reigning league MVP Adrian Peterson to 3.8 yards per carry. And the Bears' eight penalties through two games were the fifth-fewest in the NFL entering the Monday night game between the Steelers and Bengals.

"The best way to approach it is just take what you've learned, positively and negatively ... and try to decipher what you need to get better," Trestman said.

For Briggs, the predominant lesson is a luxury that bodes well as the Bears prepare to play on the road for the first time this season Sunday night at Pittsburgh.

"The one thing that sticks out right now is that when we need a score, our offense will get that score," he said. "Last year, really any year, defensively, we think we need to create a turnover and score in order for us to score."