Bears WR Brandon Marshall says team has found its identity

Mike Ehrmann

A high-powered Bears offense is something seldom seen in Chicago, but Brandon Marshall assures fans and pundits that this team knows exactly who they are.

With a recent turn toward a focus on offense, onlookers may have a difficult time identifying the 2012 Chicago Bears. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall, however, says that despite confused pundits, this team knows exactly who they are.

In speaking with 670 The Score in Chicago, Marshall was asked whether the Bears know who they were as a football team. Marshall responded with a resounding, yes:

"I think we do. We do. I think we definitely know who we are. We know where we are headed and where we want to go. We know where we are not ... I think we are a team that has a great defense, possibly the best defense in the business, and we have the offense that is capable of really being explosive. But with a defense like that, we just need to play off of each other, so when a defense is playing well and getting us the ball in key positions, we have to capitalize on those opportunities. So we have a team that feeds off each other."

The defense in Chicago has been a constant and this season has been no different. The Bears lead the NFL in interceptions this season with 13 and also lead the league in defensive touchdowns with five.

A wide receiver-quarterback duo like Brandon Marshall and Jay Cutler, on the otherhand, has been missing from the Chicago Bears for quite sometime. But before Marshall was able to take on the roll of No. 1 wide receiver, he first needed to identify his role in the NFL. When asked the differences between himself today and five years ago, Marshall explained:

"Five years ago, I didn't know what conference I was in, probably. When you go back that far, the game was different. It was definitely different for me ... Now, we have to be smarter ... It doesn't matter how talented you are, if you're not a student of the game, you're definitely going to fail. I think the things you guys are hearing from me is just a maturity."

Brandon Marshall and the new look Chicago Bears take their 4-1 record into a divisional matchup with the Detroit Lions Monday night, as they look to stretch their lead in the NFC North.