The Bears` front four was defensive Sunday about suggestions it has not beenplaying an effective pass rush this year. ”Our pass rush has been good,” insisted defensive end Trace Armstrong. ”Prior to the Minnesota game we were fourth in the league in sacks per pass.
”In Minnesota they only threw three drop-back passes all day. It`s hard to get a sack when they`re throwing screens and rollouts and drop passes over the middle. That was pretty much Tampa Bay`s plan.”
The Bears got three sacks Sunday, with Armstrong and rookie Alonzo Spellman getting one each and Richard Dent sharing one with John Roper.
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”We`re playing pretty good up front,” Dent said. ”People don`t see how many people Richard Dent has to go through. When two or three people block you, your teammates have to come through and make the plays. I think I`m doing a heck of a job.”
Walking wounded: Dent was one of many Bears who were playing hurt. Dent`s sore rib was obvious on one play when he failed to wrap up Reggie Cobb on a play that could have been a loss but ended up as a 6-yard gain.
Quarterback Jim Harbaugh injured his elbow when he was blitzed, but said he expects to play next week against Green Bay.
Tackle Keith Van Horne sprained his right knee.
Safety Shaun Gayle, just off injured reserve, said, ”I took a shot on the hip on the first interception that I dropped and it`s pretty painful.”
Among the other walking wounded were cornerback Lemuel Stinson, who sprained an ankle but returned.
Wide receiver Wendell Davis, has a hip pointer. ”The night after is when it hurts,” Davis said. It usually lasts a week or two. You`ve just got to play with a little discomfort.”
Receiver Tom Waddle, who appeared injured on one play, said: ”It was just a little scare. I got my leg caught between the ground and somebody.”
Annoying noise: Buccaneers coach Sam Wyche, who usually has a difference of opinion with rules interpretations, believes officials are refusing to enforce crowd-control measures.
”The officials have made a joke out of this thing,” Wyche said. ”They tell you if players are inciting the crowd, they`re going to stop them. But officials don`t rule on crowd noise.”
Wyche was annoyed by members of the Bears` defense waving their arms to increase the Soldier Field volume when the Buccaneers were trying to call signals.
”That must have been a deodorant ad they were working on,” Wyche said.
”Well, we`ll do the same thing.”
No fooling: It`s hard to believe the Bears` defense, always a force to be reckoned with throughout its rich heritage in the NFL, is ranked No. 25 this season.
Wyche wasn`t fooled. Despite the statistics, Wyche knew it wouldn`t be easy Sunday.
”They are not a bad pass defense,” Wyche said after the game. ”They may have been ranked down there, but they were giving us a lot of pressure. Stinson had a beautiful game. He went into the game with an injured ankle, reinjured it and still came back to play. That was a gutsy game for him.”
Shot of experience: His teammatessaid Gayle`s experience may be his biggest asset. ”It makes a difference,” Stinson said. ”Markus Paul is a good safety, too, but that age helps.
”Shaun`s been in the Super Bowl,” Dent said. ”In the secondary he`s the anchor. Nothing against Markus Paul at all, but Shaun keeps the guys together.”
”It`s good to have him back,” Mark Carrier said. ”He has more experience. He`s seen a lot of these teams and what their tendencies are.”
”I hear the term `veteran` and it`s like you`re on your way out the door,” Gayle said. ”But I can give the younger players a different perspective out there.”
Aggressive offense: Tampa free safety Darrell Fullington said his team`s defense was too passive at the outset, allowing the Bears to control the ball for 16 of the first 19 minutes while jumping to a 14-0 lead.
”They have such an aggressive running style,” he said. ”A lot of it was our defense sitting back and waiting on them, thinking they were going to try and trick us.
”They weren`t, they were running right at us.”
Longest touchdown: The 83-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Morgan was the longest ever given up by the Buccaneers, who are trying to improve on their past in more positive ways.
”We had the right defense called and they make the play and we don`t,”
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Wyche said. ”I hate to call it a freak thing. The thing they (Morgan) did well was keep their feet.”
Bragging rights: Defensive players love to talk about their running exploits, and Bears linebacker Jim Morrissey is no exception. He ran back his first interception of the season-22 yards early in the second quarter-to the Bucs`
33.
”That was my longest return since the Super Bowl when I ran an interception back 47 yards,” Morrissey said. ”We were in a zone blitz and I was covering the second receiver. He tried to beat me across the middle and that`s when I got him. Vinny was looking at him all the way.”
”I got a couple of nice blocks from Dent and Stinson. I was starting to cut back when I felt the ball slipping a little. That`s when I decided to head out of bounds.”
Birthday boys: Bears coach Mike Ditka celebrated his 53rd birthday with the victory Sunday while defensive tackle Steve McMichael turned 35 Saturday.
Family day: The Jennings brothers, Keith for the Bears and Stanford for the Bucs, faced one another for the first time as pros.
Optimistic QB: Vinny Testaverde`s greatest asset remains his optimism. In his sixth season playing for his third coach, Testaverde is the NFL`s No. 1 quarterback-in-waiting.
”We`re still looking at the playoffs,” Testaverde said after the Bears` 31-14 victory.