Will Bears use spy guy on Vick?
One tactic that has been used against the Eagles' Michael Vick in the past is to designate one player to “spy” the elusive quarterback, hoping to shadow him and prevent long runs.
“As far as spying, all of our players will know where he is most of the game,” said Bears coach Lovie Smith. “We probably play more zone coverage than we do man-to-man. One of the benefits of playing zone is you have everybody looking at the quarterback.
“Whether we spy or not, we'll know where he is most of the time. It's not really hard to know where he is. But he is a great player, and our guys are looking forward (to defending him). We'll have a plan that we're pretty comfortable with.”
In his career, Vick is 0-3 as a starter against the Bears and his offense produced a total of just 1 touchdown, losing 31-3 in 2001, 14-13 in '02 and 16-13 in '05 as a member of the Falcons. Vick was sacked 14 times in those games, intercepted twice and threw 1 TD pass.
He leads the NFL with a 108.7 passer rating.
Top to bottom:
While the Bears' offense languishes near the bottom of the league in most categories, the defense is among the elite.
In total yards, the offense is No. 30, while the defense is No. 3. In rushing yards, the offense is 20th, and the defense is second. In third-down efficiency, the offense is 29th, while the defense is No. 2.
“I've said it all year long,” said Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. “The defense has been carrying this team. Whenever the offense catches up to them, we're going to be where we want to be.”
Picture of health:
Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee) was limited at Wednesday's practice but hopes to play Sunday. Everyone else was a full participant, which is almost unheard of for an NFL team this late in the season.
“I have never gone through a year where we have had everyone available (this late),” Lovie Smith said. “I'm getting old, and it's hard for me to remember all of those teams, but as far as I can remember, that normally doesn't happen.
“We have the group that we started the season with. This is the team that we wanted to go into the year with, and we have everybody available right now.”
For the Eagles, two starters, cornerback Asante Samuel (knee) and defensive end Juqua Parker (hip) did not practice Wednesday.
Barking dogs:
Even though they're at home Sunday and have the same 7-3 record as the visiting Eagles, the Bears are 3-point underdogs.
But that doesn't surprise nose tackle Anthony Adams.
“Everybody is the favorite every week when we play them,” Adams said, “so it's nothing new.”
For the record, the Bears have been underdogs in seven of 11 games counting Sunday's matchup.
The winner is:
Julius Peppers was named NFC defensive player of the week after tying his career best with 3 sacks in the 16-0 victory over the Dolphins. Peppers also deflected a pass that was intercepted by Charles Tillman. It was Peppers' eighth 3-sack game, the most by any NFL player since he entered the league in 2002.