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Standing on the sidelines as the Ravens coaching staff elected to take a delay of game penalty and then punt instead of kicking a field goal, safety Kyle Hamilton said he was playing contrarian.

There was 9:55 left in the game and the Ravens were up just three points, 16-13, over the Chicago Bears. They had the ball at Chicago’s 39-yard line, and rookie kicker Tyler Loop, who is known for his big leg, had been making kicks all game.

Loop told senior special teams coach Randy Brown he felt ready to kick it, which Brown said he’d convey to the team’s decision makers.

Instead, the Ravens decided to take the penalty and punt, trusting the defense with the three-point lead.

It felt like the perfect turning point for the Bears against a team that gave up a 15-point lead with less than five minutes left in its Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

And in past weeks, it would have seemed like a reckless risk to trust a defense that forced just five punts from Week 3 to Week 5.

This time, though, a reinvigorated group rewarded the decision by intercepting Bears quarterback Caleb Williams on the first play, after a brilliant special teams play had pinned the Bears deep.

“There’s a reason I’m not a head coach, because I was being a contrarian on the sideline with a couple of those decisions, but that’s the reason [John Harbaugh] is the head coach,” Hamilton said.

Rookie safety Malaki Starks was all the way on the other end of the field when second-year cornerback Nate Wiggins picked off Williams. He said he was jumping up and down in excitement before he ran to celebrate with Wiggins.

“If you can get on the field and get off in like a play or a play or two, it’s awesome,” Starks said. “And Nate, he’s doing such a great job just the way he’s working, the way he’s attacking the season.”

Wiggins had been having a difficult game up until that point. He acknowledged that the Bears were picking on him through the first half.

In the first quarter alone, Williams found wide receiver Rome Odunze three times for 41 yards with Wiggins in coverage. Wiggins also committed a holding penalty on another play.

But Wiggins asked for that attention. Literally.

Secondary coach Chuck Pagano said during the bye week that Wiggins had been asking to cover top receivers. Wiggins said he requested to be the one to try to lock down Odunze.

“I feel like if I’m keying on the top guy, I feel like they’re gonna come at me, see what I’m about,” Wiggins said. “I take the challenge. I ain’t never back down from a challenge.”

Wiggins said he felt great running back onto the field following the punt, knowing the coaches were trusting in them.

Much like Wiggins’ personal performance, the Ravens got off to a rough start when the Bears’ offense marched down the field and kicked a field goal, using up over eight minutes of the game clock.

From there, however, they tightened up. While there were still plenty of plays they will want back, the different parts of the defense played complementary football, and they held up in critical situations.

The run defense held the Bears to 4.2 yards per carry, a huge improvement on its season average of 5.3 yards per carry. The pass rush generated two sacks and four quarterback hits, which in turn made the secondary’s job easier. The secondary gave up 7.1 yards per catch, down from their season average of 7.7.

In addition to forcing two punts, the Ravens held the Bears to 1-for-3 in the red zone. All three were goal-to-go situations.

Hamilton said it’s a sign that this defense, which coaches and teammate cornerback Marlon Humphrey have described previously as immature, is growing up.

“Throughout the season, we’ve been a bend-and-then-break team,” Hamilton said. “We gave up long drives and then touchdowns, and I feel like just growing up throughout the season as a defense, we have become a bend-but-don’t-break team.”

While he meant the unit as a whole is growing up, that’s also true of young players like Starks. He’s one of many rookies who have had to step up on defense because of injuries, and he said his understanding of the defense is growing every game. Veteran linebacker Jake Hummel, who is also a leader on special teams, said younger players are embracing leadership roles in recent weeks.

Rookie outside linebacker Mike Green recorded his first sack, linebacker Teddye Buchanan had six tackles, including two for loss, and Starks finished with five.

The defense’s turnaround had started in Week 6 against the Los Angeles Rams. With the way they played through the game against the Bears, Harbaugh was confident enough to trust them in a moment where the momentum had a chance to swing.

“It worked out for us,” Hamilton said. “I wouldn’t blame him a few weeks ago if he decided to try to kick the field goal [and] not to put the defense out there, but I think we’ve stacked enough drives to have some confidence in him to have confidence in us.”