Young, Paea applying the pressure for Bears

It's anyone's guess who will line up at linebacker for the Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field, their only home game in a 48-day stretch.

Already seven different players have started games at linebacker, and this week's injury report remains liberally sprinkled with 'backers in various stages of health.

Fortunately for the Bears, it's what's up front that counts, and their defensive line is hale and hearty.

Not only did that group account for all 4 sacks of Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan last week, it was largely responsible for Sunday's season-low yield of 42 rushing yards.

Atlanta's Steven Jackson rumbled for 14 yards on the first play from scrimmage, but after that the Bears permitted just 28 yards on 12 runs.

The Bears made a huge splash in the off-season by signing defensive ends Lamarr Houston (Oakland Raiders) and Jared Allen (Minnesota Vikings) to deals worth $35 million and $32 million, respectively.

So it was assumed that the D-line would be greatly improved from last year's injury-ravaged group that provided only nominal resistance, especially in the run game.

They are better. Last year's defense was the NFL's worst - 32nd in rushing yards and average gain per rush allowed. This year the Bears are 10th and 20th, respectively, in those two categories.

The Bears were 26th in sack percentage last year. This year they're 10th, and 14 of their 15 sacks have come from the D-line.

The most surprising aspect of the D-line play has been that some of the biggest contributions have come from two previously unheralded players: free-agent end Willie Young and tackle Stephen Paea.

Young, who played his first four years with the Detroit Lions, was a bargain signing at $9 million over three years.

Paea, the Bears' second-round draft choice in 2011, is in the final year of his $3.7 million, four-year rookie deal.

Both already have established single-season career highs for sacks. The 6-foot-4, 251-pound Young leads the NFL with 7, while Paea has 4.

"What Willie's doing right now, it's magical, it's awesome," Allen said. "Teams are going to have to respect it, and if not, we'll keep doing what we're doing. I'm proud of him.

"Just watching him and playing against him, I said, 'Once he figured out how to use that long body, he's going to be one of the next really, really good pass rushers.' It's starting to click for him, and he's having fun, and he's producing, and it's awesome."

Young also leads all Bears defensive linemen by a wide margin and is third on the team with 34 tackles, even though he has started just one game, when Allen was out with pneumonia against the Green Bay Packers in Week 4.

"He's very coachable; he plays with a high motor and he's very passionate about the game," defensive coordinator Mel Tucker said of Young.

"He's an excellent teammate and just a fun guy to be around. He plays the game the way the game is meant to be played."

Allen is fond of saying, "You have to earn the right to rush the passer by stopping the run first," and Young seems to agree with that philosophy.

"We have to come out and punch them in the face," Young said after the Falcons game. "Every week, we come off the line and punch them in the face. We're going to be challenged every week.

"We're going to come out looking to punch guys in the face, and we're going to keep punching them in the face."

Paea's 16 tackles are best among Bears defensive linemen, and his 4 sacks are second behind Young.

"Stephen's been very solid, and he's done everything we've asked him to do in the run game," Tucker said. "He's shown improvement in his pass rush with pocket collapse and understanding how you can contain a pocket in the inside lane and still get a rush, converting from run to the pass."

The 6-1, 300-pound Paea set the scouting combine record in 2011 with 49 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press. But before this year he never had more than 2½ sacks in a season, and he also has 5 quarterback pressures and has batted down two balls at the line of scrimmage.

"He's just improved so much from last year to this year," Allen said. "He's taken the coaching, learned how to use his hands, and he's more athletic than people think.

"You think he's just this big, squatty, strong human being, but he's more athletic, and he works hard at his craft."

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