Bears rebound thanks to Ogunleye's sack attack

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Adewale Ogunleye couldn't have picked a better time to come up with a huge effort.

The defensive end tied his personal best with 3 sacks Sunday, vaulting him into a tie for the team lead at 7 with Tommie Harris and helping keep the Raiders out of the end zone in a game the Bears had to win to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.

"When you need to make a run you, need your best players to step up," coach Lovie Smith said. "You need guys who are your captains leading you, and that's what Wale did. He stepped up and made big plays. He's capable of playing that way, and we'll need that type of play in this stretch."

Still a postseason long shot at 4-5, the Bears know they need to run off a string of victories to have a chance at the playoffs after a poor start that left them in a difficult position -- but not yet out of contention.

"The biggest thing is not to lose confidence in yourself," said Ogunleye, who is on pace to better his sack total of 10 in 2005, his best as a Bear. "There's always going to be downers in life, but we have to rally together, fight together and good things will happen."

Ogunleye has been much more than a pass-rush threat for the Bears this season. He led the team's defensive linemen by a wide margin with 34 tackles after eight games, and he led the way again against the Raiders with 6 solos.

"He had a great game, and he's a great player for us," said defensive coordinator Bob Babich. "He really came to work last week and during the open date, as did all the defensive players. They did a great job."

Ogunleye said the Bears still have a long way to go to rebound from their 2-4 start. But if he and the defense continue to play as effectively as they did in limiting the Raiders to just 193 total yards and taking the ball away three times, he knows they'll have a chance in every game.

"We're still in the corner we've been talking about the past four or five weeks," the seven-year veteran said. "I'm sure there's stuff we've got to get better on. But we got some turnovers today, which was huge for us. That's something that we need to build on.

"We have to get a streak going."