Bears Need Sacks Out Of More Then Just Peppers............

Beyond Peppers

Question is when a pass-rushing presence will emerge around D-line force

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/...0-01181703.gif Bears defensive linemen Corey Wootton (98), Julius Peppers (90) and Israel Idonije (71) work out Thursday at Halas Hall on Thursday. (Phil Velasquez/Tribune photo)

By Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune reporter December 2, 2011


While Julius Peppers was named NFC defensive player of the month for November on Wednesday, the rest of the Bears' season largely hinges on how his defensive linemates perform down the stretch.

Peppers had two sacks Sunday in a 25-20 loss in Oakland, giving him four for the month and eight for the season. That matches his 2010 production after he was signed to the largest contract in franchise history to re-charge Lovie Smith's defense with a fierce edge-rushing presence.

Peppers has 97 sacks in his career, putting him one big game away from triple digits and leaving him only 21/2 behind the Colts' Dwight Freeney for the most in the NFL since 2002. But the question is when a pass-rushing presence will emerge around Peppers — the player who benefits from the double teams Peppers commands on a regular basis and the one who cleans up the plays Peppers forces when quarterbacks flee his reach.

Israel Idonije, who matched Peppers with eight sacks last season, has three this season. Defensive tackle Henry Melton, whom coach Lovie Smith prodded to play better last month, has five. Amobi Okoye, a nickel pass rusher on the inside, has four. They've all flashed at times but none has been consistent, not since the season-opening victory over the Falcons anyway.

The Raiders felt left tackle Jared Veldheer could handle Peppers one-on-one last week after he got the best of the Vikings' Jared Allen the week before. Players and coaches alike were marveling at how Peppers manhandled Veldheer.

"Guy is a monster," weak-side linebacker Lance Briggs said.

Offered Idonije: "He literally is throwing guys all over the place. I mean, throwing tackles, tight ends, it doesn't matter who he's lined up against. He has his way with those guys. It's just incredible to watch."
It's the kind of performance that doesn't translate into stat sheets and doesn't even get its proper due on a highlight show.

"The numbers don't talk about what he did," defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said. "It was the intensity of the game he played at, the speed. My God, the details of his pass rush. Forget the sacks already. Some of the rushes where the ball came out quick, they were some of the prettiest rushes you'd ever want to see. Just beautiful, the skill, the technique, the work habit, you know? He's starting to really come right now. It ignites everybody else around him."

What's interesting is most of Oakland's focus was on the interior of the Bears' line. That is where the Raiders chipped and sent help. A lot of weeks, Peppers does command the double teams, and that's when you expect someone else to win one-on-one situations. It's what Marinelli drills in training camp — winning those individual battles.

"It's different every week," Idonije said. "You just have to watch. Teams have guys they figure match up well."

Even though the sack figures are pedestrian, the pass defense has been solid. The Bears are tied for 20th in the NFL with 22 sacks, but opponents have a 78.0 passer rating, the seventh-lowest figure. Still, the pass rush has to improve if the Bears want to think about competing with the unbeaten Packers. This is a team that talked about its defensive line as one of the best in the league in preseason. Too often, Peppers is a one-man wrecking crew.

Marinelli said Idonije has been "a little bit up and down" but praised his work ethic. He said Okoye is improving on a weekly basis, and Melton has answered Smith's challenge. The third defensive end position, as usual, is unresolved. Chauncey Davis earned more playing time after he was solid against the run at Oakland in his first outing with the Bears.

"We've just got to work it where we're very consistent as a group," Marinelli said.
bmbiggs@tribune.com
Twitter @BradBiggs


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In my book Peppers is the premier pass rusher in the NFL. He may only have 8 sacks so far this year but he's had numerous hits where the QB has been forced to throw early because he was closing in and that's one of the reasons we rank 2nd in the league for "hurries" but only 20th in sacks. We're getting in there but just not to the QB in time.

I'll also say that one reason we rank this low in sacks is that we're not an effective blitzing team. Where other teams are getting another 10-12 sacks so far from LB's, Safeties, and CB's were getting one or two. We just don't blitz well period.

One guy who is really down on sacks is Izzy with only three so far. That's hard to understand since I think he's one of the better LDE's in the league. The inside rush has gotten better but it still needs to improve. When you add up Okoye's (4) and Melton's (5) sacks that's a total of 9 coming from the 3t DT spot and that's far more than we've had since Tommie Harris was in his prime. Paea has one or two and I think AA has one so actually we've gotten about 11 or 12 sacks out of the interior of the Dline so far which is more than we've gotten in recent years by a long shot.

Still, other than Pep, they all need to pick up their games. Melton should be getting a sack a game now that he's had some time to acclimate to his role and Izzy needs to get more as well. To me those are two guys we depend on heavily to benefit from playing with Pep. Together they've done no more than Pep has done himself.

The coaches came down hard on the units underperformance and they responded by playing better against Oakland. Now they need to keep up that intensity and consistency every game from now on. With Cutler out and expectation for 30 point games from the offense diminished the defense has to play an even more important role than before and an improving pass rush would help greatly.

I think that what the Bears have is one of the most dominant pass rushers in the league in Peppers. They have a great 1st and 2nd down run stuffing guy in Izzy and they have a wildcard in Wootton because we have never seen him.

Izzy reminds me a lot of Alex Brown, he is dominant against the run and gets effort sacks, but rarely beats anyone clean off the dge.

With Peppers and Izzy both over 31 and Wootton's health I think that pass rush is a need for the offseason either with a solid mid level free agent [Anthony Spencer, Dallas] or a fairly high draft pick.

The pass rush effort vs the Raiders should be that way week after week-no excuses.