LeGere: For Bears, special teams special

[Xee]

For Bears, special teams special

By Bob LeGere | Daily Herald Columnist
Published: 12/13/2008 12:02 AM

With an offense that appears to have gone into hibernation and with an inconsistent defense, the Bears may have to rely more than ever on special teams to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Danieal Manning had 179 yards on 5 kickoff returns Thursday night - 8 yards more than the Bears had passing.

Manning's 83-yard TD return of the opening kickoff jump-started the Bears, who have needed a boost in recent weeks.

In six straight games, the Bears' offense has managed more than 300 yards of total offense just once and has averaged just 260. The league average is 325.

Holding the Saints to 345 yards was an accomplishment for the defense, considering New Orleans came in as the NFL's No. 1 offense.

And limiting the visitors to 24 points was commendable, considering turnovers by the Bears' offense gift-wrapped 21 of New Orleans' points.

But the defense has had its share of problems lately, allowing more than 330 yards in six of the last nine games.

Special teams have been peaking, though - even without much of a return from Devin Hester - thanks in part to Manning, who followed up his TD with a 52-yard return to set up the Bears' second score.

"All of our special teams - the return game, the coverage units - did a good job of keeping us in the game," coach Lovie Smith said. "Special teams did a great job all day."

Manning now leads the NFL with a 29.5-yard kickoff-return average, and he rightfully caught the spotlight Thursday night, as did kicker Robbie Gould with his game-tying and game-winning field goals.

Gould is the fourth-most-accurate kicker in NFL history with an 85.6 percent success rate, and he trails the Chargers' Nate Kaeding and the Bengals' Shayne Graham, who are tied for second, by one-tenth of a percentage point.

"Any time he's kicking the ball, we're pretty sure it's going to go in," linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "No matter what the situation or how far it is, he's made big kicks his whole career."

The Bears' coverage units, which don't get much publicity, are also playing extremely well, especially when working with punter Brad Maynard.

Over the last three games, Maynard has punted 20 times, and opponents have a total of 2 return yards.

Maynard has placed 11 of those 20 kicks inside the opponents' 20-yard line, giving him a league-leading total of 34 - just 8 short of the NFL record.

The coverage units lost leading special-teams tackler and backup running back Garrett Wolfe (hamstring) on the opening kickoff of the Jaguars game Dec. 7. But another backup running back, Adrian Peterson, stepped up that day with 4 tackles, tying the team high this season. And rookie wide receiver Earl Bennett had 3 tackles.

Thursday night, Peterson had 2 more special-teams hits, in addition to briefly taking over as the featured ball carrier when Matt Forte was injured. Forgotten running back Kevin Jones, inactive for the previous four games, volunteered for coverage duty and also had 2 tackles.

"Kevin has requested to do anything to help the team since Day One," Smith said. "He's been the ultimate team player for us like all of our running backs. How often do you see a team with three running backs that play on special teams? I don't think you can tell me another team where that's the case. They're all unselfish and want to do whatever they can to help the team."

That's partly because of the importance assigned to the "third phase" by Smith and special-teams coordinator Dave Toub. Many key offensive and defensive players also contribute on at least one of the special teams, whether it's covering kicks or returning them.

"Dave Toub and (assistant special-teams coach) Chris Tabor both do a great job," Smith said. "We have players that really buy into special teams being a big part of our success and how we're going to win football games. We talk about it a lot. We put time into it. All those things contribute to us being successful most games with our special teams."

By using starters and other key offensive and defensive contributors to help on special teams, the Bears do more than pay lip service to their importance.

"If you say that that's a big part of the game and it's important, you should have your best players on (special teams)," Smith said. "We've always done it that way. Even the guys in the backup roles are excellent special-teams players. That's why they're on the football team."

[UOK]

Gould is the fourth-most-accurate kicker in NFL history with an 85.6 percent success rate, and he trails the Chargers' Nate Kaeding and the Bengals' Shayne Graham, who are tied for second, by one-tenth of a percentage point.

Over the last three games, Maynard has punted 20 times, and opponents have a total of 2 return yards.

That basically says it all.

[gaba]

This leads me to really question Hester. I've been giving him the benefit of the doubt and I really DO think the blocking was a lot better last year, but our special teams are still doing really well and he's not. Eh... at least we know Maynard and Gould aren't gonna get too big for their britches. Gould got paid... how come he hasn't stopped playing? Maybe I should just stop questioning it and be happy.