Lovie says Bears will blitz more

[ChicagoBreakingSports]

By Brad Biggs

The Bears made Julius Peppers the highest-paid player in franchise player in March because they want him to rush the pass rusher like no one has done in these parts since Richard Dent was in his heyday.

The defense consistently struggled to rush the passer last year and in the two other seasons since the appearance in Super Bowl XLI. But don't think that means coach Lovie Smith and new defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli are going to shy away from the blitz. The Bears have been among the biggest blitzing teams in the league the past few seasons. That might not change.

"In an ideal situation, four guys rush, everyone sees the ball, breaks and makes plays," Smith said. "We're not going to just play zone defense every time. Even though everyone assumes we play cover-two 95 percent of the time, that's not the case. I am excited about us being able to blitz more. We'll be able to blitz more when we can get that pressure (from the front four) but also be able to cover a little bit more. That's why to see Charles Tillman and Zack Bowman, are two starting corners, play the way they are capable of doing, will help the front an awful lot."






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[HighJump31]

Good!

 

[ClydeLee]

Blitz more??? they were one of the top blitzing teams last season, that's far from good. They blitzed around 45-50% of the time the figures showed. Some of the only teams who did more were the Jets. They can't just blitz more effectively without good blitzers, none of their linebackers are blitzing types.

 

[USCChiFan]

Blitz more??? they were one of the top blitzing teams last season, that's far from good. They blitzed around 45-50% of the time the figures showed. Some of the only teams who did more were the Jets. They can't just blitz more effectively without good blitzers, none of their linebackers are blitzing types.

This
They blitzed so often last season because they couldn't get pressure on the QB. Plus when you blitz and fail, it exposes your secondary

 

[bossdrb]

Because we have a better secondary, I suppose. He better think of different blitz packages, instead of Urlacher sitting in the centers face, then he drops into a zone while Briggs and Tina blitz.

 

[JJ-28]

Good!

It wasn't so great last year when we got burned all the time.

But hopefully with some players returning and new ones coming on we can make the other teams QB wish he hadn't showen up.

 

[Lefty]

Because we have a better secondary, I suppose. He better think of different blitz packages, instead of Urlacher sitting in the centers face, then he drops into a zone while Briggs and Tina blitz.

Right because leaving the training camp star Zack Bowman and rookie Wright in one-on-one situations with increased blitzing is the perfect thing to do.

 

[ClydeLee]

The only good blitzes they have done with some consitentcy the past few seasons have been nickle and safety blitzes. When Manning was coming off the edge or Kevin Payne and that has been about it. The 1 gap D makes it harder to blitz up the middle and Urlacher and Briggs have no ability to shed linemen.

 

[Lefty]

The only good blitzes they have done with some consitentcy the past few seasons have been nickle and safety blitzes. When Manning was coming off the edge or Kevin Payne and that has been about it. The 1 gap D makes it harder to blitz up the middle and Urlacher and Briggs have no ability to shed linemen.

Exactly. Not to mention Briggs' and Urlacher's penchant for over pursuit, something exacerbated by blitzing up the middle.

 

[Rush]

It wasn't so great last year when we got burned all the time.

But hopefully with some players returning and new ones coming on we can make the other teams QB wish he hadn't showen up.

Having Chris Harris, and a healthy Urlacher will definitely help out the blitzes and pressure. Peppers as well.

 

[bossdrb]

Right because leaving the training camp star Zack Bowman and rookie Wright in one-on-one situations with increased blitzing is the perfect thing to do.

I didn't say I supported it. I said he better think of different blitzes.

 

[Manticore]

I think the whole concept is that,since there will be more pressure from a healthy Tommie Harris and the freak Julius Peppers and linebackers coming off the edge,the pressure will be there and everyone else can 'ballhawk'. Whether or not they can effectively do that,is the question.

Chris Harris claims that this team has more speed collectively on the defensive side than the '05/'06 team he played fore in his rookie campaign.

 

[bossdrb]

Chris Harris claims that this team has more speed collectively on the defensive side than the '05/'06 team he played fore in his rookie campaign.

It does. With the exception of Mike Brown. Him and Wright are just as agile.

 

[payton 34ever]

Right because leaving the training camp star Zack Bowman and rookie Wright in one-on-one situations with increased blitzing is the perfect thing to do.

That "training camp star" had six interceptions last year. I don't think Wright will start immediately, but I hope he impresses enough in camp to get on the field.

 

[ClydeLee]

When Harris was on that 05 team after taking over for Mike Green, that had more speed. It's way off to say this team has more, it has a lot of the same players but older and slower. The only players faster are Danny Manning and Mark Anderson or maybe Pisa if he stays healthy.

Harris is probably slower himself, Brown had more speed than any other safety they'd play but Manning. Tilman is slower than he was, Bowman isn't as fast as Vasher was. Urlacher and Briggs are slower now than then. They are also slower at Dt. That is a false statement by Chris Harris. He needs to not make trainingcamp time comments because they are always wrong or get him in trouble.

Apparently Lovie was just talking about because they will have their front 4 doing well they will be better in coverage which will then allow them to surprisingly blitz more but he probably just meant more effectively.

 

[DMelt36]

It really doesn't matter who's in the secondary ... if you blitz and don't get to the QB, you're toast.

In 2007, when the Bears had an entire preseason to gameplan, they put together a great defensive scheme against the Colts and stunned them in their first game at the newly-built Lucas Oil Stadium.

If they can get just as much creativity out of the blitz packages this year as they did in that game, I like their chances.

 

[ClydeLee]

That was 08 but you are right. The problem was later on they kept trying to just do that with every team just mug Briggs and Urlacher up on the line on the majority of the plays, eventually they realized Urlacher's back kept him from having the speed to back up fast enough. Hopefully that is healed with a whole year off and he has speed back.