Pretty good article about the CAR/CHI game

I found this on ESPN's website yesterday. It's one of the better pieces I've seen from Pasquarelli.



Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears (Sunday, Jan. 15, 4:30 p.m.)

1. Plenty of focus will be on the offensive tackles, Chicago's John Tait and Fred Miller and Carolina's Travelle Wharton and Jordan Gross, in another NFC division matchup featuring teams that also played during the regular season. In the Nov. 20 game at Soldier Field, the Bears registered eight sacks, all by defensive linemen -- five by ends Adewale Ogunleye (three sacks) and Alex Brown (two sacks and a pair of forced fumbles). Ogunleye abused first-year starter Wharton in the Bears' 13-3 victory, and it won't be surprising to see the young tackle get some help from a tight end as he tries to keep the Bears away from quarterback Jake Delhomme. Carolina defensive ends Julius Peppers and Mike Rucker aren't exactly slouches, either, but the Bears did a superb job of protecting then-starter Kyle Orton in the first meeting. Carolina didn't have a sack, and Peppers and Rucker combined for only three tackles and one pass deflection. Peppers is an unusual player, a guy who had 10½ sacks this season and is going to the Pro Bowl. But he wasn't nearly as dominating as some pundits thought he would be, especially after a breakout 2004 campaign. All of Peppers' sacks came in six games, which means he had 10 games with no sacks, and that is indicative of his career. He is a streak shooter, a rusher who collects sacks in bunches and who is capable of being shut out or posting a three-sack game. On Sunday, the Panthers need him to author one of his big games. Miller was coming off an injury the first time he matched up with Peppers, and he got some help in passing situations. Expect the Bears to do some double-team blocking on Peppers this time, as well.


Two tremendous front-four units fuel their respective defenses, and they are very similar in that they are quick on the edges and stout inside. Each team features a relatively unknown anchor-type tackle, Jordan Carstens for the Panthers and Ian Scott for the Bears, and those two might be more important than anyone realizes, particularly versus the run. Scott is far more consistent than fellow tackle Tommie Harris, who is spotty despite earning a Pro Bowl invitation. Carstens stepped into the void created by the season-ending injury to Kris Jenkins and has performed nobly in just his second season.


2. Make no mistake, these are two teams that want to run the football. But Chicago has to be concerned with both sides of the passing game, its lack of one and just how to keep splendid Carolina wide receiver Steve Smith from making big, game-altering plays. First things first: Bears quarterback Rex Grossman will not only be making the first postseason start of his career, but just his second start this season. One might have to dig pretty deep into the record books to find a quarterback going into the playoffs and who had recorded only 39 pass attempts during the regular season. Grossman has played all of 1½ quarters in 2005, sat out the regular-season finale, and probably isn't quite 100 percent physically. That said, Orton is said by those close to the Bears to be shot, having hit the wall weeks ago, and the consensus is that the Chicago offense has to have Grossman playing to have a chance of advancing in the playoffs. There is an undeniable spark Grossman provides, and it was obvious the first time he stepped into the huddle in the second half of the Dec. 18 contest against the Atlanta Falcons. The tempo is a little sharper, there seems to be more skip in the step of the offensive players, and the wide receivers, especially Muhsin Muhammad, seem to go after the ball harder. Chicago is going to need something out of the passing game and, frankly, anything is more than it was getting from Orton in his last few starts.


Now on to Smith and how the Bears might attempt to slow him: In the regular-season game, Chicago kept Smith out of the end zone, but he still had an amazing 14 catches for 169 yards, one of three double-digit catch games for the season. It was one of those games where Smith didn't even seem like he was running set patterns, but rather getting into the secondary, finding voids, and settling into them. It's easy to say Smith got a lot of catches at "garbage time," but that wasn't necessarily the case. The Bears have one of the best cornerback groups in the game, in the trio of Charles Tillman, Nathan Vasher and Jerry Azumah, but just having players isn't enough against Smith. Defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, who called a great game the first time around when he blitzed Delhomme into a pair of early interceptions and then opted to play coverage after the Panthers went to max protection, will have to surround Smith and push him to the sidelines. Permitted to run free between the hash marks, Smith is a big play just waiting to happen. Think about this: Smith had 103 catches for 1,563 yards and 12 touchdowns, the first NFL player to win the wide receiver "triple crown" since Sterling Sharpe in 1992. The rest of the Carolina wide receivers totaled 64 catches, 910 yards and eight scores. None of the other wideouts managed more than 25 catches. So it should be easy, right, to shut down one player? Apparently not, given the season Smith had, so Rivera and his secondary will have to be at the top of their game.

 

Continued...

3. Even with Grossman back in the lineup, the centerpiece of the rudimentary Chicago offense remains Thomas Jones, maybe the league's most overlooked tailback. Only a couple years ago, the former Arizona Cardinals' first-rounder was labeled a bust. All he does now is bust through tackles, bleed every yard out of every carry, and finish off every run. Jones ran for a career-best 1,335 yards and nine touchdowns in 2005, and in his sixth season has become a viable force. Chicago also has an underrated backup in Adrian Peterson, a superb special teams performer who typically gets about six or seven touches per game, and who averaged 5.1 yards per carry. The main man for the Bears, though, definitely is the workmanlike Jones, and he ran for 87 yards in the first game against the Panthers, and allowed Chicago to dictate tempo once it got an early lead. Carolina ranked No. 4 against the run (even higher than the Bears, who finished 11th in defense versus the rush) and the Panthers like to crowd the line of scrimmage and call plenty of run blitzes to compress the area between the tackles. Jones is a very patient runner and, while he's not a home-run hitter, he did have a dozen rushes for 20 or more yards this season.

Now, if you want a home-run hitter, the Panthers have one in DeShaun Foster, who, counting Sunday's upset victory over the New York Giants, has rushed for 316 yards and a 7.0-yard average in his last two starts. Foster was throttled by the Bears, who held Carolina to 55 rushing yards in the regular-season game. But even playing with a sore toe that has required a painkiller injection before each of the last two games, Foster is hitting stride at the right time. He gives the Panthers a different style runner than the between-the-tackles pounder Stephen Davis was, but he can't afford to dance so much against a swarming Chicago defense. How these two teams run the ball, and how they defend the run, will be a key element in this game.

4. For the past year, ESPN.com touted the Bears' Lance Briggs as one of the NFL's best, if unheralded, weak-side linebackers. Having earned a spot in the Pro Bowl this season, and considerable acclaim, the prefix "unheralded" can now be expunged. Briggs simply is one of the best outside 'backers in the league. But on Sunday, he'll be one of just two excellent weak-side linebackers on the field, because our new pet project has become trying to get some props for his Carolina counterpart, Will Witherspoon. A four-year veteran, and a superior athlete eligible for unrestricted free agency this spring (Briggs, it should be noted, could become a free agent after the 2006 campaign, but only if there is an extension to the collective bargaining agreement by then), Witherspoon is a classic chase and pursue defender. His all-around statistics -- 81 tackles, two interceptions, 12 passes defensed and 2½ sacks -- were not all that dissimilar to Briggs' numbers. The difference is, people are paying attention now to Briggs, scheming to stay away from him. Witherspoon could use this playoff series to enhance his profile, and given his pending free agent status, to fatten his checking account, too.

Both weak-side 'backers bear watching in this game. The Bears almost certainly will try to run the ball right at Witherspoon, who is better as a chaser than an anchor. And if the Carolina coaches get a good look at the video of the last portion of the season, they may take their chances, too, going after Briggs a little. There is a suspicion that Briggs has eroded a bit physically down the stretch, when he missed about a dozen tackles in the last month of the season. Both weak-side linebackers play well in space, so look for the respective offenses to try to keep them closer to the line of scrimmage in more of a closed area. They are, in general, two of the quickest linebacker corps in the league. Beyond Briggs and Witherspoon, the two middle 'backers, Brian Urlacher of Chicago and Carolina's Dan Morgan, can run with just about anyone. Urlacher was named the NFL's top defensive player for the '05 season and is dangerous coming up inside on the blitz.

5. Vasher had two picks of Delhomme in the first game, both when the Carolina quarterback threw off his back foot, and there is no doubt the Bears will come after Delhomme early again. He is the kind of guy who can make big plays for his own team or for the opposition, and he sometimes allows his passion to get the better of him. If the wild-card weekend reinforced anything, it's that turnovers are magnified in the playoffs, and Delhomme threw 16 interceptions during the regular season. About as confident a quarterback as there is in the league, Delhomme will take some chances because he believes in his arm and feels he can get the ball there under any circumstances. But he will have to be mindful of his occasionally poor mechanics and of the wind at Soldier Field next weekend. Both defenses thrive on takeaways and on being able to provide their offenses a short field. Carolina has a tremendous cornerback trio in Ken Lucas, Chris Gamble and Ricky Manning Jr. (who always shows up big in the playoffs), and the Panthers had 42 takeaways in 2005. That was second-most in the league and helped the Panthers to a plus-16 differential. Chicago had a plus-six differential but finished second in the NFL with 24 interceptions. Throw up a "cripple" and Vasher will snatch it and take in back the other way. Needless to say, ball security will be key Sunday afternoon.


Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

 

Alex Brown's trick has always been to figure out the snap count and jump it. That's his whole shtick. He's a good player, but if you keep him off balance with the counts, you'll take away his best trick.

 

from foxhole:

On injuries: DeShaun Foster: toe, questionable, did not practice. Brad Hoover: ankle, questionable, did not practice. Tutan Reyes: toe, questionable, did not practice. Brandon Short: knee, questionable, did not practice. Ricky Proehl: illness, probable, did not practice.

 

ESPN is trying to ruin my life.

 

Thanks, HB.

 

Belecheck.


This list should have included about 14 other players with injuries ranging from hang nail to gingivitous.

 

What I want to know is how does dan the manlady not make this list?

 

Here's a thought; maybe he's healthy?








naaaaaaaaaaaah!

 

Ugly:

In the Nov. 20 game at Soldier Field, the Bears registered eight sacks, all by defensive linemen ...

Carolina didn't have a sack, and Peppers and Rucker combined for only three tackles and one pass deflection....

Foster was throttled by the Bears, who held Carolina to 55 rushing yards in the regular-season game...

Vasher had two picks of Delhomme in the first game, both when the Carolina quarterback threw off his back foot...



Hopefully things will be different on Sunday.