Chicago Bears coordinators met with reporters Thursday at Halas Hall in Lake Forest as the team continued preparing for its regular-season finale against the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Soldier Field.

The Bears will try to tighten up some last things ahead of the game before the playoffs start next week. Quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense are playing their best after keeping up in a shootout with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Meanwhile, the defense will try to shore things up after a tough showing in that same game.

Chicago will have a lot to play for Sunday as the Bears try to earn the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. Here are three of the most interesting things the Bears coaches said Thursday.

On how offense has grown from start of season

Not surprisingly, the Bears’ offense will look much different Sunday than it did in Week 2 when it played the Lions.

At the time, Chicago showed a spark early and scored 21 points against Detroit. But the Bears offense turned the ball over twice, allowed Williams to be sacked four times and committed five penalties, including two false start penalties and one holding call that was accepted.

Fast forward to Sunday’s loss to the 49ers, and Chicago’s offense looked completely different. Williams and the rest of the players appeared as comfortable as they’ve been all season while scoring 31 points – linebacker T.J. Edwards returned an interception for a touchdown on the game’s opening throw.

“The operation is much cleaner,” Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said at Halas Hall. “I think that speaks to the quarterback, that speaks to [center] Drew [Dalman] being able to direct things. You’ve been in 17 battles together, and there’s shared experience as far as how we handle problems, how we handle things that might come up that are unscouted, and the communication is much cleaner. That’s the biggest thing. And then also confidence is born of demonstrated ability, and so they’ve seen themselves perform at the highest level at times.”

Chicago will need to keep up that pace heading into the playoffs. The offense has averaged 26.7 points over the past six games. Putting together a strong performance in front of a national audience like Sunday only boosts the Bears’ confidence even more.

“We’re always trying to make it more consistent,” Doyle said, “but I think that there’s a confidence bred from going through those times of 17 games or 16 games to this point, and feeling like you can go and execute against anybody.”

On defensive struggles

Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen didn’t beat around the bush when he met with reporters Thursday. He took ownership of one of the defense’s worst showings of the season.

“I don’t think I coached well enough last week, I don’t think we played well enough last week,” Allen said. “So, you learn your lessons, you make the corrections that you need to make. Now we move forward, and we’re getting ready for Detroit.”

While the offense has shown progress compared with their first meeting with the Lions, the defense revealed it still has some flaws when it doesn’t create numerous turnovers.

Chicago gave up 496 total yards of offense to the 49ers, which is the second-most this season. That’s behind only the 511 total yards against the Lions in Week 2. The Bears’ 296 passing yards given up to San Francisco was the third-most this season, behind the 334 against the Lions at No. 2, and the 200 rushing yards was second-most this year.

While Allen was quick to address the issue Thursday, he was also quick to move on and look for improvements this Sunday.

“That’s the way this league is,” Allen said. “Look, it doesn’t matter, win or lose, you move on to the next one. And I think that’s one of the things our team has done a really good job of in all phases. I think [head coach] Ben [Johnson] has done a good job of maintaining the focus of the team on the task at hand. And, look, we’re looking forward to playing against a really good Detroit team."

On successful punting

The Bears didn’t need him much, but punter Tory Taylor did a nice job with the limited opportunities he had against the 49ers.

Taylor punted three times for 176 yards, averaging 58.7 yards. His best play came late in the second quarter when he boomed a 57-yard kick across the field. Taylor pinned the 49ers at their own 9-yard line after cornerback Jaylon Jones won his one-on-one matchup to stop San Francisco from gaining a yard on its return.

“It’s an explosive for us from a punt standpoint,” Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said. “I thought that was outstanding. I thought the punt team did a phenomenal job in that game, period. [49ers returner] Skyy Moore is a good player. He’s had some big returns, and the punt team and the kickoff coverage team eliminated him. He was a nonfactor.”

Taylor has played well over the past few games when the Bears have needed him in critical situations. He’s pinned opponents inside their own 20 eight times on 14 punts over the past four games.

“You’ve been in 17 battles together and there’s shared experience as far as how we handle problems, how we handle things that might come up that are unscouted and the communication is much cleaner. That’s the biggest thing. And then also confidence is born of demonstrated ability, and so they’ve seen themselves perform at the highest level at times.”

—  Declan Doyle, Bears offensive coordinator

Hightower said that can be hard to do, especially when the Bears aren’t punting as much as they did Sunday.

“This time of year, with the games being played where they are and what the stakes are right now, it wasn’t really hard to keep them engaged,” Hightower said. “They were locked in and chomping at the bit for every play. So obviously, there are no moral victories. We went out there to win and we didn’t get that done. But I did think the guys put their best foot forward and they played good football on teams for most part of the day.”