How the Chicago Bears can slow down Michael Vick

is one piece of the puzzle to beating M Vick et al, The Bears style of defense is exactly what works best against Vick and the Eagles (see the Giants game). I see it as a favorable matchup for the Bears and I expect the Bears D will handle Vick well. The Bears will keep everything in front of them and have been tackling well all season. McCoy is the X factor to me; he can get lost in the middle of that line and cut back for a big run. The speed of the Eagles WRs will be negated by the 2-deep safety base and nickel packages. The Bears defense is fast and the Eagles are not a big grind it out offense, so for every big play the Eagles offense makes, the Bears defense will counter with its own big play.
This game will turn on how well the Bears offense attacks the Eagles defense. If the O-line can get a rhythm running the football early and Cutler can refrain from making bad throws/decisions early, then the Bears should be able to grind out enough points to win. Assante Samuel is the x-factor in this matchup. If Cutler gets anxious and tries to force the ball, Samuel can turn the game with a pick-6 quickly. This will be a pivotal game for the Bears, if they win, they will keep pressure on GB and establish a tie breaker for the wild card with the Eagles. I think the Bears need to show they can win at home against a good NFC rival and I expect that they will. My guess is the Bears win 16-13 in a tight but sloppy game.

But i see them assigning him to that position fairly often. I don’t see Marinelli as the type of guy who won’t alter the gameplan for a guy like Vick.

The one option I see that has a chance of happening that I didn’t see you mention is the option of the Bears actually rushing fewer men and dropping a lineman into coverage. Im not saying that this is going to happen evvery down, but I do think that the Bears will do this more than usual.

The thing everyone has tried to do is to pressure Vick into a mistake. That is usually a sound strategy, but I’m not so sure it is a great idea against Vick, as that seems to be when he does his best work. I spent a lot of time this week watching Vick, and I’m starting to think the best way to beat Vick is to bring pressure, but not to over-do it. If Vick gets just enough time, he makes mistakes. Too much time and he will kill you with his new found passing ability and if you get to him to quickly, he seems to be the most adept QB at turning it into a big play with his feet. But getting just enough pressure to him seems to leave him indecisive, and that is where I think the best chance against him lies.

Dropping a Linemen into a short zone with Urlacher in a spy situation leaves little for Vick to do but fold when the pressure does get there. This will not work on every play, and it will have to be disguised well when it is used, but I thinnk it could be highly effective.

Just my 2 cents. What do you think, Les?

two generally fast teams. Even in 10 games against the Bucks, Vick has 75.4 passer rating.

That doesn’t mean he will take a turd on Sunday, but it certainly does bode well for the Bears.

The crappy field should slow him down some too. Also, Vick doesn’t do very well outdoors in late November and December. What’s the forecast for game time?

Keep Vick on the sidelines. No better defense than to keep him off the field.

Great post, insightful, as always.

“The Bears would have to collapse down the stretch for his winning-season jinx to continue. They need help for the playoffs, but they’re certainly in reach.” http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/columns/story?id=5848301

last time i checked we were 7-3 leading our division
all week we have heard about the eagles, vick, eagles, vick
Bears defense:
1st in points allowed
3rd in total yrds
2nd in rush defense
WTF are people treating us like we are the bills…
yesterday on nfl network they broke down how great the jets are and how they are winning games in the last few minutes
said the jets are a great team and great teams find ways to win…
the ONLY above 500 team they beat were the patriots
http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/schedule/_/name/nyj/year/2010/new-york-jets and yet they are such a great team…

whether they will do so full time or part time – we shall see
but as wilt said, to devote a spy to cover Vick would detract from the overall defense.
i said earlier in the week that to spy Vick would be exactly what the Eagles want and would play into their hands.
playing disciplined defense will contain him but i do disagree about the big hit.
i think you want to punish Vick big time. you want to put him on his back hard, even if it costs a roughing the passer penalty once or twice during the game.
you want to put some fear into him if you can.
sure, make the tackle – obviously, but beat him down.
lastly –
GO BEARS!

I don’t think that it will affect him too much, but throwing his first pick of the season will no doubt work in da Bears’ favor
And I think this has been hit on a few times: SAFETIES MUST STAY DEEP!
Just because Vick is scrambling or its 3rd-1 doesnt mean they can cheat the covg…Jackson especially, and Maclin to a lesser extent, will beat almost any safety in a footrace with Vick’s arm, thats all he’ll need to do. I hope Danieal Manning is up to the task.

Fox has dubbed Bears-Eagles:
AMERICA"S GAME OF THE WEEK

This is just me spitballing—maybe they could STD tests along the line of scrimmage—I understand he has trouble avoiding those.

I can only hope they let the pee wee league and fifteen marching bands play on the field on Saturday like they normally do so the field is all torn up as per the course. It sounds terrible, but in my opinion their WR are nothing but speed, and their TE has been terrible catching the ball this year.

Cold weather + Jacked up field = Bears Win.

If not? We’ll still be able to pull it out, but it’d be nice to have the auto-win.

By looking at how they did it the last time he was in Chicago. True he was with the Falcons but the basics should be pretty much the same although he is a much better passer this year. I see the Bears forcing Vick to throw his 1st interception(s) and create a few turnovers and win the game by at least 10 points. Im looking for Cutler to have a big game and beat Asante at least once on a double move because he is definitely prone to go for it trying to get a pick…We will quiet our critics with a solid win against a playoff team and march on towards the playoffs

Bears-71905455230625
Eagles- negative 903476

 judging by the smack talk of the eagle fans they would have us believing we are going up against a super bowl mvp. A payton manning if you will. Now it could roll there way, but its not going to go down with vick looking like he did against the skins. i just dont see him playing a perfect game like he did. especially with peppers chasing him in the back field.

vick will get some numbers but the bears will get the win