Jared Allen will put Bears' Williams to the test
For the Bears' offensive line, there is no better test than the Minnesota Vikings.
Vikings right end Jared Allen will be voted to his third straight Pro Bowl on Tuesday. Tackle Kevin Williams also went to last year's Pro Bowl, as did nose tackle Pat Williams, who was making his third straight appearance.
Allen is second in the NFL with 131/2 sacks, and right end Ray Edwards has 61/2 from the other end spot.
On Monday night the Bears will throw the Vikings a little different look and hopefully be able to generate more than the piddling 169 yards of total offense they accumulated four weeks ago at the Metrodome.
In that last meeting Chris Williams was at right tackle, so he faced Edwards. But Williams will make his fourth straight start at left tackle Monday, which means he will have to deal with Allen this time.
"It's a big game for Chris," coach Lovie Smith said. "You want to judge yourself by the best. Jared Allen is one of the best pass rushers in the game, one of the better defensive players in the game.
"Chris realizes that. He didn't play him last time. (But) I know he's looking forward to playing him this time."
Since he entered the NFL in 2004, Allen has 71 sacks, more than anyone in the league. He has 431/2 sacks since the start of the 2007 season, including 61/2 in his last three games against the Bears.
"It should be a good measuring stick," said Williams, who is expected to be the long-term solution as Jay Cutler's blindside protector. "The sign of being a good player is playing well consistently over the course of games and seasons. I always want to play against good players, and this should be fun."
Maybe "fun" is the wrong word.
Both of Allen's sacks in the first game came against Kevin Shaffer, who replaced injured left tackle Orlando Pace in the second half. This time Shaffer will be at right tackle.
"Ray Edwards is a good player also," Smith said. "They have all-stars on their entire front. It's a big challenge for our entire offensive line. Kevin's looking forward to this opportunity. He's a veteran, and he's been in the fire before."
Shaffer had started 86 games (55 at left tackle, 31 at right tackle) in the previous six seasons with Atlanta and Cleveland before signing with the Bears as an unrestricted free agent March 25.
But he sat behind Pace and Williams for the first 11 games until Williams shifted to fill in for the injured Pace, leaving an opening at right tackle.
"I feel comfortable (now)," Shaffer said. "It's one of those things that takes some time to get back.
"But it's still a battle every day. Every day I'm going out and I'm working on things I need to work at. Every week there are a few things that I can do a little better at or that I need to work on fundamentally and technique-wise.
"That's been my whole career; every day you go and work on something."
Shaffer had to work on developing patience this season, playing less than at any time since his rookie season of 2002.
"It did take me a little while to kind of realize that I wasn't going to play, and at first I wasn't ready to accept that," said the seventh-round pick out of Tulsa.
"But then I realized my role here, and that I've just got to go out and work hard every day and hope for the best. Now I'm thankful for the opportunity that I've gotten."
Shaffer signed a three-year contract with the Bears, but he's not as worried about auditioning for next year as he is about producing right now and salvaging something from this year.
Cutler is all for that, hoping to avoid the 4 sacks and 2 interceptions he suffered against the Vikings a month ago.
"There's two games left," Cutler said. "There's always room for improvement. This is going to be a good opportunity against a really quality team. I'm going to keep throwing it, keep working with these guys, keep telling them what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong."