Blown lead or not, Bears hope to draw confidence from win vs. Ravens

By Patrick Finley

Chicago Bears head coach John Fox, left, and outside linebacker Pernell McPhee celebrate with inside linebacker Danny Trevathan on Sunday. (AP)

The Bears blew an 11-point lead in the last four minutes Sunday, which sounds familiar. But they found a way to win, which doesn’t.

‘‘I feel like winning and losing can be contagious,’’ safety Adrian Amos said Monday. ‘‘Just learning how to win those tight games. . . . That team that lost their close games can turn into a 4-12 team instead of a team that wins eight or 10 games.’’

The Bears, who beat the Ravens 27-24 in overtime, have been the former in recent years.

‘‘Now that we’ve come out with a win, it’s easy to slip into the here-we-go-again,’’ Amos said. ‘‘Because we’ve had a lot of that around here when we’re supposed to win.’’

The Bears have won two of the three games this season in which they’ve been tied in the last two minutes. They also lost the season opener to the Falcons when, trailing by six, they dropped two potential winning touchdown passes in the last minute.

‘‘The message is, we control our own fate,’’ running back Tarik Cohen said. ‘‘Through every game we play, we feel like it was up to us. A couple of plays went the other way, and that’s the reason why we lost.’’

But they didn’t Sunday, and the Bears hope it breeds confidence.

‘‘Regardless of some things we didn’t execute maybe as well, especially there at the end, when you still can find a way to win the game, it still feels better,’’ coach John Fox said.

Examining the punt-return TD

The Bears brought their gunners in toward the line of scrimmage to try to prevent the Ravens from blocking their punt with 1:55 left in regulation. Maybe that affected their ability to cover, Fox said. The Ravens’ Michael Campanaro was untouched on his return touchdown.

‘‘Most people would tell you it’s a little bit easier to cover out there isolated than it is in tight — you know, in a tight formation,’’ Fox said. ‘‘There’s a little bit probably more a mode of, ‘Let’s protect it and get the punt off,’ than maybe the coverage.

‘‘Regardless of where you line up, it’s still the same job description.’’

This and that

After running fake reverses on punts with Eddie Jackson and throwing a touchdown pass, Cohen was asked what he had planned next.

‘‘I’ll punt the ball this week,’’ he said, drawing laughter. ‘‘Naw, I’m playin’. I can’t punt the ball for nothing.’’

• The Bears signed receiver Nelson Spruce, who was released by the Rams last month, to the practice squad and cut linebacker Jason Thompson.

• The Bears and Fox-32 announced a five-year extension to keep the team’s preseason TV broadcasts on the station, their home since 2008.

Follow me on Twitter @patrickfinley.

Email: pfinley@suntimes.com