Addressing pass defense a top priority for Bears

By: Larry Mayer | Last Updated: 11/10/2008 6:58 PM


LAKE FOREST, Ill. – With a NFC North showdown against quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers looming Sunday in Green Bay, the Bears are more determined than ever to fix their porous pass defense.

In Sunday’s 21-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans at Soldier Field, Kerry Collins became the fourth straight Bears opponent and fifth this year to pass for a season high in yards with 289.


Justin Gage beat Nate Vasher for a 12-yard TD reception in the Titans' win over the Bears.

The 35-year-old followed the Falcons’ Matt Ryan (301), the Vikings’ Gus Frerotte (298) and the Lions’ Dan Orlovsky (292), not exactly the Mount Rushmore of NFL quarterbacks.

“We’ve got to just work on the technique-type things and just go back to the drawing board this week at practice and try to tighten some things up and hopefully things will work out for us,” said veteran cornerback Nate Vasher. “We definitely have to make some more plays.”

While they go back to the drawing board and make some adjustments, coach Lovie Smith won’t radically change a defensive system he strongly believes in.

“I’ve heard a lot about switching up schemes and different things like that,” Smith said Monday at Halas Hall. “Our scheme is good. We have to execute better; it’s as simple as that.

“We’ve had success with this defense and we’re not going to change up, but we’ll always tweak it. We tweak our defense each week and it’s not like we play the same call each play. We do it all, but you still have to execute when it’s called.”

There’s a misconception among some fans and media that the Bears line up in their cover-two defense in most passing situations. The truth is that they mix up their looks and were in the cover-two on only about a dozen of Tennessee’s 41 pass plays Sunday.

While the Bears held the Titans’ third-ranked rushing attack to just 20 yards on 29 carries, Smith denied that loading up against the run automatically makes the defense vulnerable to the pass.

“We don’t sell out, period, against anything,” said the Bears coach. “If you just look at our defense as a whole, most of the time we’ll have two safeties or we’ll have one safety.

"What can you do on the outside? You can play a form of cover-two, play a form of cover-three, or man. That’s basically it, and blitz. We do all of the above. So, yes, we would like to stop the run. But just because you’re stopping the run doesn’t mean that you’re putting yourself in a position where you can’t stop the pass. You can do both.

“We do it all, so it’s just not a question of changing up and all problems are solved. Even with changing it up, you still have to get in position to make a play and make it from time to time.”

When asked about a pass rush that produced just one sack against the Titans, Bears defensive linemen expressed frustration after the game about how Collins was releasing the ball quickly.


“That’s what everybody does on us,” said veteran end Alex Brown. “They take three steps and they throw the ball. Hopefully we figure this out soon. I mean, it’s not changing. They max protect and throw the ball.

"I know they didn’t run the ball a whole lot. But we still gave up 7-yard passes, 10-yard passes. We’ve got guys coming free, unblocked, but can’t get there. Why? I don’t know.”

Defensive tackle Tommie Harris also took issue with a reporter who questioned why the Bears weren’t able to generate much pressure on Collins.

“How long was he in the pocket?” Harris said. “How long did he hold the ball? He was quick throwing the whole time, so something has to give. It has nothing to do with pressure. We’re not Superman. If he drops back and he’s patting the ball like that, then you talk to us about pressure. But we’re doing our job. All of us have to do it better.”

Smith doesn’t think that Brown or Harris were criticizing the Bears’ defensive system.

“No players are questioning our scheme and we’re not going to change up the scheme,” Smith said. “If they’re a football player here, that’s what we’re going to play. They know that. They all have confidence in the scheme. You’re disappointed when you don’t play well, but none of our players are questioning our scheme.”

Smith stressed that all three levels of the Bears defense can improve against the pass.

“They’re not three-step dropping every time,” he said. “They are throwing it quick sometimes, but this was a typical game. You have some three-step drops, some play-action and some regular drop-back passes.

“Sometimes the defensive line will have time to get there, sometimes they won’t. But it’s not just the defensive line, it’s not just the linebackers and it’s not just the secondary. It’s a combination of all. You go through spells like this sometimes where teams can pass the ball a little bit more on you. You go through spells where teams will be able to run the football a little bit more than you’d like. But you just stay the course and things will be OK.”