The Bears traded for defensive end Adewale Ogunleye for the same reason the Philadelphia Eagles signed free agent Jevon Kearse–to get in the quarterback’s face.
The quarterback of the moment is Minnesota’s Daunte Culpepper. Kearse harrassed him so much Monday night the Vikings were unable to throw downfield to Randy Moss in the Eagles’ 27-16 victory.
Kearse lined up off the line of scrimmage at times and was given some coverage responsibility. Mainly, he was coming fast off the left side, where inexperienced Adam Haayer was subbing for Vikings starting right tackle Mike Rosenthal, who left the game with a right foot injury and might miss the season, the Vikings said Tuesday. Culpepper said the foot was broken.
Kearse was credited with only one tackle and one assist, but harassment isn’t an official statistic.
“They did a good job of getting pressure with their front four, not really blitzing,” Culpepper said. “The blitzing didn’t bother us. Their front four did a great job. I wasn’t reading the numbers that fast, but there were a few guys in my face.”
If Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera is to copy the game plan of his mentor in Philadelphia, Jim Johnson, he will have to count on similar pressure, starting with Ogunleye. Even if the Bears still had injured cornerback Charles Tillman and free safety Mike Brown in the secondary, pressure would be the key, especially pressure without blitzing. Of course, Kearse playing off the line simulated a blitz.
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“It was a great scheme by Jim using him in that capacity, and he was still able to get pressure on the quarterback from that position,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said.
Coach Mike Tice claimed the Vikings called “a bunch of plays” deep to Moss.
“They doubled him. We were not able to get the ball deep on any type of single coverage on him,” Tice said. “We had a couple of opportunities, and it seemed the opportunities we had the quarterback was running toward the line of scrimmage trying to save his life.”
The Vikings were expected to test the Eagles’ two young cornerbacks, Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard, but a pass rush is a cornerback’s best friend.
The Vikings and Green Bay Packers are the only two teams with offensive lines that stayed intact throughout last year and the first two games this year. With Haayer replacing Rosenthal, it’s a dropoff.
“We tried to give him as much help as we can, but if you try to give him help every single play you’re never going to get any receivers out, and if you don’t get receivers out that gives them more guys to play against the guys we do have out,” Tice said.
Tice said their plan against Kearse was to give Rosenthal help at times too.
Even inexperienced defensive backs can cover Moss if they gang up on him.
“He was double-covered just about every time,” Culpepper said. “I’m not going to force it out there if it’s not there. If it’s a one-on-one situation, I’m going to take a shot, but if it’s three-on-one or two-on-one, I’m not going to be able to do it.”
Culpepper was sacked four times–by Brown on a cornerback blitz, by linebacker Nate Wayne, by backup tackle Sam Rayburn and by tackle Darwin Walker. But it was pressure from the edge by Kearse, Jerome McDougle and even retread Hugh Douglas that bothered Culpepper most. It is exactly the kind of pressure Bears coach Lovie Smith knew he could get regularly from Leonard Little in St. Louis and expects to get from Ogunleye.
Despite the tough loss, Tice, Culpepper and center Matt Birk, whose holding penalty nullified a Culpepper touchdown run, immediately turned their attention toward the Bears. Minutes after the game, Culpepper brushed off his failure to pound the ball into the end zone on his first-half fumble at the 1-inch line.
“I thought the ball might have broken the plane,” Culpepper said. “I know my body was in there, but they didn’t even review it. So that’s how this game goes when you are away.”
Birk brushed off the late flag for holding.
“They called me for holding and it cost us points and that exemplified what happened to us,” Birk said. “Critical mistake by me. Can’t do anything about it.”
The Vikings agreed they have learned their lesson from last year’s 6-0 start and 3-7 finish that left them short of the playoffs.
“We just have to review the film and get by it,” Culpepper said. “That’s the key for this team. I think last year we hung on wins too long and hung on losses too long.
“We have to realize it’s just one game. Last week, even though we won big against Dallas, we had to get over that and get ready for Philly. Now we have to get over this and get ready for Chicago. It’s our first division game and our first goal over everything is to win our division anyway, so now we have to worry about that.”
Said Birk: “The previous week doesn’t guarantee anything for the upcoming week. We have to go back to practicing and working hard like we do and come up with a better effort against Chicago.”
Added Tice: “We have a week where we hope it goes quickly, which it will. You dig in and lick your wounds and go back to work on Wednesday, knowing this is a very long football season, an up-and-down season. You get injuries here and you get injuries there. You make plays here and don’t make plays there.”