Peppers, Bears hardly sack-happy this season
The press box statistics did not include a mention of Julius Peppers in any categories Thursday night, and the eight-time Pro Bowl defensive end has just 1 sack this season.
Peppers led the Bears with 11½ sacks last season and has reached double digits in four of the previous five seasons and eight of his 11 in the league. As a team, the Bears have just 8 sacks all season.
“I can’t speak for previous years,” coach Marc Trestman said of Peppers’ lack of production. “I know that it’s not just one guy. It’s a combination of rushes and people inside and moving people around and how stunts are put together.
“It’s about us collectively continuing to find ways to get a pass rush going. We got close (Thursday night), and Julius got close a couple times, too. We just didn’t get close enough. We got close enough to redirect Eli (Manning) a couple times and push him out of the pocket. We just didn’t hit him.”
Sibling rivalry:A sideline shouting match between return specialist Devin Hester and kicker Robbie Gould was captured on national television during Thursday night#146;s game but downplayed by both combatants afterward. The exchange occurred after Gould#146;s short kickoff was returned 46 yards late in the second quarter after the Bears#146; third touchdown. #147;I don#146;t want to put my teammates in a position where I hit a bad kickoff like I did,#148; Gould said. #147;It was just my emotions got in the way. I was at fault. I was the wrong party in that. I love him like a brother. Once it was over, it was over. #147;Devin got a record tonight; I got a record tonight. I#146;m really not worried about it. It was over after it happened.#148;Hester became the Bears#146; career leader in kickoff-return yardage with 4,621, passing Glyn Milburn, who had 4,596 yards from 1998-2000. Gould tied the NFL record with his 12th straight field goals of 50 yards or more. The Vikings#146; Blair Walsh has also hit 12 straight. #147;It was just an altercation,#148; Hester said. #147;We were just firing each other up. It#146;s the heat of the moment, and we#146;re both competitive guys. He#146;s my brother.#148;Not important:Through six games the Bears have 190 passing plays (including 9 sacks) and 128 running plays, an almost identical ratio compared to the league as a whole. The numbers don#146;t matter much to coach Marc Trestman.#147;I#146;ve never talked about balance,#148; Trestman said. #147;I don#146;t think it#146;s significant. I think what#146;s most important #151; I#146;ve said it from the beginning #151; is scoring touchdowns and moving the football. #147;If it is (balanced), that#146;s great. We have a guy (Matt Forte) who we feel good about running the football. We#146;ve felt our line is good run-blocking. But I#146;ve never felt run-pass ratio was necessarily the most important thing.#148;The 29 rushing attempts Thursday night were a season high. Starting with the season opener, the Bears had 28, 27, 28, 16 and 18 rushing attempts the first five weeks.