PRO FOOTBALL : 4-0 : New Bears Look Like Old Ones, Getting 9 Sacks in 27-7 Win

The Chicago Bears’ defense never rests, whether it’s the substitute team or the striking regulars.

Holding the Minnesota Vikings to 151 net yards and registering 9 sacks for losses of 90 yards, the substitutes rolled to a 27-7 victory Sunday.

“We have to play the way Bear fans expect us to play,” said defensive end Sean McInerney, who had 3 1/2 sacks Sunday and has 5 1/2 in two victories for the fill-ins. “We’re not here to lose. This team is on top and we want to keep it that way until the regular Bears return.”

The crowd at Soldier Field was 32,113. Originally, 66,030 tickets were sold for the game, leaving more 33,000 tickets turned back or unused.

The new Bears have 20 sacks in 2 games, while the regular Bears had 13 in their 2 victories.

Quarterback Mike Hohensee threw for one touchdown and set up another with his passing and the Bears wrapped the game with Bruce McCray’s 23-yard touchdown run on an interception in the final minute.

Coach Mike Ditka, obviously depressed that the strike is lingering on, said: “I’m proud of these kids. They played hard. There was a lack of execution at times, but a lot of good things happened.”

As for the sacks, Ditka smiled and said: “Nine sacks today and 11 last week . . . that will get you in the Guinness Book of Records, somewhere.”

The loss was the second straight for the substitute Vikings after the regulars won their two games. It left Coach Jerry Burns in the dumps.

“It’s disappointing, we were off to such a good start and this strike shattered a dream for us,” Burns said. “The season was coming together real well and now it seems everything disintegrated.”

The Bears defense kept the Vikings scoreless until the fourth quarter. Tony Adams, a balding 37-year-old who once played for the Southern California Sun of the defunct World Football League, capped a 71-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to James Brim for Minnesota’s only points.

Hohensee, who completed 16 of 30 passes for 186 yards, threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Glen Kozlowski in the second quarter for a 7-0 Bear lead. In the third quarter, he completed 4 passes for 45 yards in a 63-yard touchdown drive capped by Chris Brewer’s one-yard run.

Before the game, the striking Bears, getting support from some local unions, staged a labor rally outside the stadium.