NFL

Lack of respect has Bears growling mad

A dominating defense isn't enough to turn heads outside Chicago.

By JOANNE KORTH
Published January 15, 2006

CHICAGO - The Bears are irritated.

Even after 11 wins. Even after six Pro Bowl selections and other individual awards. Even after a first-round bye in the playoffs. Even now, the Bears are mad.

And hungry.

"No one gives us any respect," said linebacker Brian Urlacher, the NFL's defensive player of the year. "They do, but it's kind of begrudgingly. We haven't beat anyone in the playoffs yet. That's what we have to do. We need to win playoff games to get respect."

Two months ago, Chicago made a doubting nation take notice with a dominating 13-3 victory against Carolina. Today, when the teams meet again in an NFC division game at Soldier Field, everyone will be looking to see if the Bears can do it again.

"We have to play even better," defensive end Alex Smith said.

Chicago turned heads this season with what most agree was the league's best defense, a version of the Tampa 2 installed by former Bucs assistant Lovie Smith when he became coach in 2004. Chicago led the league in allowing the fewest points per game (12.6), yards per play (4.4) and yards per pass attempt (5.7). It also allowed the fewest touchdowns (20).

Statistically, the Bears finished second in total defense to the Bucs, dropping from the No. 1 spot when they rested their starters in a meaningless finale against the Vikings. Bears players say it doesn't bother them, but it does.

"Everybody knows that we didn't play against Minnesota," defensive tackle Tommie Harris said. "We already know what we did this season. We don't have to prove anything to anyone but ourselves. We know we have to keep this up for the Bears to be in the Super Bowl."

Nov. 20 against the Panthers, the defense sacked quarterback Jake Delhomme eight - yes, eight - times and held the Panthers to 55 rushing yards. Cornerback Nathan Vasher had two first-quarter interceptions, one he returned to the Carolina 8 to set up a touchdown. The other produced a field goal. Chicago won its sixth straight while snapping Carolina's six-game win streak.

"When you spot a team like that 10 points out of the chute, it's going to be a tough hole to dig out of," Delhomme said. "A couple bad plays early on and they really got after us. We had to throw the ball a lot in the second half and they teed off on us. Offensively, it wasn't one of our best performances. We need to try to learn from that film and learn from what they have done since."

For the Bears, it was a benchmark win.

"That was probably one of the games where we started to get some respect, started to get noticed a little bit," linebacker Lance Briggs said.

Yet, as the teams prepared for today's rematch, the buzz was about the Panthers, who claimed they took the Bears too lightly in the first meeting, and their 23-0 victory against the Giants in the wild-card round.

Carolina's defense, which finished the regular season ranked third, held Giants running back Tiki Barber to 41 yards rushing and harassed young quarterback Eli Manning, who threw three interceptions, lost a fumble and was sacked four times. The game plan should be the same today: Stop running back Thomas Jones and pressure quarterback Rex Grossman, making his eighth career start.

The Panthers also looked sharp on offense against the Giants. DeShaun Foster rushed for 151 yards and Delhomme connected with receiver Steve Smith 10 times for 84 yards and a touchdown as Carolina controlled the ball for 42 minutes, 45 seconds.

Such talk rankles the Bears.

"We're not the Giants," Urlacher said. "If they overlooked us, didn't play their best game, whatever. We didn't play our best game either. They scored three points, so we didn't play our best game. They scored on us; they shouldn't have."

[Last modified January 15, 2006, 01:48:18]