Times change, but not the Bears and their defense.
When Lovie Smith’s team goes after the 10th title in franchise history, the defense is again center stage, just the way it has been for almost all previous Bears championships.
In 1921, before playoffs, the Bears’ record of 9-1-1 was enough to earn their first title. That team allowed 53 points, less than a touchdown per game.
In the eight title games they’ve won since, they’ve allowed 0, 21, 0, 9, 21, 14, 10 and 10 points. That’s an average of less than two touchdowns per game.
Against the Colts in Super Bowl XLI, the defense is again on the spot because a shootout against Peyton Manning and friends isn’t a game plan designed for Bears success.
So what exotic new defensive schemes are Smith and defensive coordinator Ron Rivera concocting to spring on Manning?
Former Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan of the 1985 champions suggests blitzing, of course. That’s how son Rex, defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, held the Colts to five field goals in their 15-6 playoff loss on Jan. 13.
“The Ravens looked more like the ’85 Bears,” Buddy Ryan said. “It was fun to watch. It’s hard to throw the ball with tears in your eyes.”
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Former Bears head coach Jim Dooley, who helped coach defense under George Halas and defensive coordinator George Allen in the 1963 title game, advocates starting with a nickel defense, which substitutes fifth defensive back Ricky Manning Jr. for linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer.
“I think it would force them to run a little more on first-and-10,” Dooley said. “If you use the nickel defense, especially in their territory, you can blitz a little more on first-and-10, and pretty soon you’re offsetting what they’re trying to do. They go into this fast offense, the spread offense, and they don’t allow you to substitute. With the Bears defense so strong anyway, you invite them to run.”
But anyone who expects Smith to become Bill Belichick, noted for designing new wrinkles every week for his Patriots defense, doesn’t know Smith.
“We’re not going to all of a sudden change up things,” Smith said. “We’re going to do what we’ve been doing all year. Our signature coverage is Cover-2. Ideally you get pressure with a four-man rush. You have five players underneath (three linebackers and two cornerbacks) and two guys (safeties) deep, read the quarterback and break on the ball.”
The Colts know exactly what they’re going to face because coach Tony Dungy runs the same defense.
“Our base defense is sound,” Smith said. “It’s held up against all the different offenses. This one is no different. It’s about execution.”
Against the Colts, failing to execute five basics can result in extinguishing your chances. They are as simple as Smith’s manner of speaking.
Keep everything in front of you
The Colts are built to strike fast. They will spread a defense and go up-tempo, no-huddle from the start, and a quick lead for the Colts would be the worst thing that could happen.
“If I’m (Colts offensive coordinator) Tom Moore, I say, `We’re going to throw the ball like madmen, because if we click, we’re up 21-0 and the game’s over,'” former Bears defensive lineman Dan Hampton said.
“I just see Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne running those double-move quick slants on those safeties of ours, and it reminds me an awful lot of how the 49ers set up in that ’88 (NFC title) game. They went maximum protection and ran isolation routes on our corners and safeties, and we looked like dead men.”
Tackle
Don’t say duh. If the first priority is to keep everything in front, the second must be to tackle. The Bears will let Manning complete passes all day as long as the receivers can’t run after the catch.
Against runs, the Bears are a penetrating gap-control defense, meaning their penchant for attacking works only if players protect their assigned gaps. Once they stay in their gaps, they must make the tackle on the running back, because if they miss, it can often mean a big play. That’s why Smith preaches for everybody to run to the ball once it’s past the line of scrimmage.
Manning loves to check to draws and traps up the middle if he sees defenders backing up.
Match up
The Colts will flex out tight ends Dallas Clark and Ben Utecht, trying to get one-on-one coverage somewhere. Tight end Bryan Fletcher beat a Patriots linebacker on the key play in the Colts’ comeback.
Harrison and Wayne dictate extra attention, leaving Manning room inside. Ideally, in the Bears’ base defense, Hillenmeyer could cover Utecht and Brian Urlacher can run with Clark, leaving Lance Briggs to handle the underneath stuff to Joseph Addai or Dominic Rhodes. If Manning Jr. has to cover Clark, Clark could muscle him.
“When they have three receivers in the game, we’ll have an extra defensive back,” Smith said. “If they have tight ends and a running back in the game, we’ll have our base people in.”
Pressure Manning
This seems impossible, since Manning was sacked only 15 times all season.
“The No. 1 key to playing the Cover-2 is the pass rush,” Smith said. “You can’t just go on sacks. A lot of times the quarterback can get the ball off, but where is the ball going? You can get a lot of interceptions just making the quarterback throw early.
“We just don’t want the quarterback to be able to sit back there and take his time. If we get a sack with it, that’s a lot better. We like our defensive line a lot.”
Hurrying Manning is fair turnabout because he wants to hurry a defense to exhaustion.
First he plays mental games, trying to force defenders to outguess him and stay in their stances until the play clock nearly expires. Then the Colts try to prevent substitutions and wear down defenses with the no-huddle.
“If he’s walking around pointing and stuff like that, he’s not ready to play,” Rivera said. “As he moves down the line and turns and talks to his guys, our guys have to understand that’s just part of the choreographed motion he has. When he’s set, you better be ready.”
Blitzing Manning seldom works because he can quickly find open receivers. But it wouldn’t stop Buddy Ryan, who took a break Sunday from preparations as head coach of a college all-star team playing a “Nation vs. Texas” game Friday in El Paso.
To Ryan, blitzing is “not dangerous” if you know what you’re doing.
“We blitzed the pickup scheme, not the quarterback,” Ryan said. “You see how they pick up blitzes and set your blitz accordingly. Then we knew we always had a free man running on the quarterback.
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“I remember we played against Archie (Manning) once in Minnesota and sacked him about 20 times.”
On Ryan’s staff this week in El Paso are ex-Bears coaches Dale Haupt, Jim LaRue and Ted Plumb and ex-Bears center Dan Neal. Ryan doesn’t expect Rivera to follow his advice but added, “We have a lot of (Super Bowl) rings down here.”
Force turnovers
Smith not only preaches, teaches, stresses and covets turnovers, he relies on them. The Bears led the league in takeaways, which means Dungy and his staff are turning up the volume on ball security.
When the Bears practice, the defense treats every incomplete pass like a fumble or interception just to get into the habit of swarming the ball and expecting to score.
“We try to rip the ball out any chance we get,” Rivera said. “It’s our style of play. In games we haven’t had as many takeaways as we’d like, it’s been a struggle.”
The Colts gave up the ball only 19 times all season, fourth best in the league. But Manning, who threw just nine interceptions in the regular season, has thrown six in three playoff games.
The Bears won only four games when losing the turnover battle, including the Seahawks in the playoffs. They lost only once, to the Patriots, when they won the turnover battle.
Beating the Colts in turnovers obviously increases the Bears’ chances, even though it’s risky to count on them.
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