Lake Forest, Ill. – Bring up “white shoes,” and many NFL fans reflexively think of Billy Johnson.
Try this, Alex Trebek: Guaranteeing victory, Fu Manchu, Suzy Kolber. Even non-Jeopardy nerds immediately would know the answer is Joe Namath.
Then there are the Chicago Bears. It might be the only name in team sports that should be followed by a grunt. The Monsters of the Midway. Butkus. Coach Ditka. Urlacher. Even the last names have the ring of a black eye. The Buddy Ryan 46 defense.
Argghh!
Of all the traditions associated within the NFL, fewer might be tougher to uphold than the historical reputation of the Bears’ defense.
How strange, then, that the Bears have advanced to the NFC championship game for the first time in 18 seasons with a defense that hasn’t measured up to its glorious, rugged past.
After holding opponents to seven points or fewer in four of their first five games, the Bears got soft after season-ending injuries to safety Mike Brown and tackle Tommie Harris. In their past five games, including their NFC second-round playoff victory against Seattle, the Bears have surrendered at least 21 points.
And next up is the offensive juggernaut known as the New Orleans Saints.
“Obviously, when you lose two Pro Bowlers it’s going to affect you,” said Hunter Hillen- meyer, the Bears’ strongside linebacker, of Harris and Brown. “Anybody who says it doesn’t is lying. But those five games you’re talking about, we won four out of the five. And that’s what we look at.”
Although the Bears’ D has reeled, the team has won enough to reach the league’s Final Four. Yet that hasn’t silenced criticism of quarterback Rex Grossman.
Perhaps angst in Chicago has been misdirected. The Bears’ offense has averaged more than 32 points in its past four wins. The suddenly vulnerable defense is about to take on a Drew Brees-directed Saints’ offense that finished the regular season ranked first in total yards and passing yards, and has a two-headed running monster in Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush.
For the Bears to take that final step toward Miami and Super Bowl XLI, they might need greater improvement from their defense than from Grossman.
“We have a defense capable of dominating,” Hillenmeyer said. “Maybe we haven’t done that in the last couple games, but you never know when it all comes together. Look at (Indianapolis). Their defense struggled all year and then they showed up in the playoffs and started shutting people down. If a defense like that is capable of dominating, then why can’t we?”
This might have been a rhetorical question, but it has an easy explanation: Brown and Harris are finished for the season. Brown is a two-time all-pro with a knack for making the big play. He suffered a torn ligament in his right foot in the sixth game. He has been replaced by Chris Harris, who is a big hitter but doesn’t share Brown’s instincts for the ball.
Tommie Harris was a Pro Bowl starter in just his second season (2005) and arguably was having an even better year in 2006 when his hamstring snapped during the Bears’ 12th game. It’s probably no coincidence the Bears’ skid of allowing at least 21 points has come in the five games Harris has missed.
Still, there are signs the Bears’ defense is gradually remolding into an effective unit.
Besides losing Harris and Brown, the Bears also had to play two games without starting left cornerback Charles Tillman and two other games without starting right cornerback Nathan Vasher, and two without defensive tackle Tank Johnson.
Tillman and Vasher are healthy, and Johnson has at least temporarily put aside his legal and personal problems.
And the Bears still have arguably the NFL’s best 1-2 linebacker punch in Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs.
In their playoff victory Sunday, the Bears had allowed 24 points with five minutes left in the third quarter, but then held the Seahawks scoreless through four possessions in the fourth quarter and another in overtime.
“We didn’t play that well, but we made plays when we had to in clutch situations,” Urlacher said.
“Defense wins championships,” Briggs said. “With that said, we’re going to work on doing what it takes to be there.”
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
