Biggs: Saints' Brees is armed, dangerous

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Saints' Brees is armed, dangerous
Saints' Brees on near-record passing pace but is 0-2 against Bears' bend-but-don't-break defense

December 9, 2008
BY BRAD BIGGS bbiggs@suntimes.com


They keep a Brees Barometer in New Orleans to track the pace of the Saints quarterback who, until last week, was on pace to eclipse Dan Marino's single-season record for passing yards.

Drew Brees isn't far off track, though, entering a Thursday night meeting with the Bears' 28th-ranked pass defense at Soldier Field (7:15, NFL Network, Ch. 50, 780-AM).

For all the issues the Bears' defense has had in the last two seasons-plus, stopping Brees has not been one of them. In fact, they've done quite well against him, throttling the Saints 39-14 in the 2006 NFC title game and defeating them 33-25 in the season finale a year ago when the Saints needed a victory to remain eligible for the playoffs. Brees was picked off three times, fumbled four times (two lost) and sacked six times in those two games.

''It seems like this is fresh on our mind, and he's coming up next,'' Bears coach Lovie Smith said. ''He's playing as good ball as he's ever played.''

The MVP candidate has 4,100 passing yards and is on pace for 5,046, which would be 38 shy of Marino's record. He's coming off his second-lowest output of the season, 230 yards in a 29-25 victory over Atlanta, and is two weeks removed from a three-interception performance in a 23-20 loss at Tampa Bay.

''That's a lot of yards,'' cornerback Charles Tillman said. ''I don't even drive that far in a season. He's having a great year.''

But the Bears know yards aren't as important as points, as evidenced by the 674 yards Brees threw for in the last two meetings. Going back to that title game, the Saints are 1-7 against operators of the Tampa Two scheme.

One NFC assistant coach whose team faced Brees this season said you can't blitz Brees, who has been sacked only once every 50.3 pass attempts, because if you don't get home, he's going to burn you. The key, the coach said, is to force Brees to be patient and work his check-down targets. The defense won't be getting hits on the passer, but it can get hits on the receivers.

The Falcons were ahead 17-16 early in the fourth quarter Sunday at the Superdome and had the Saints facing third-and-nine at midfield. Atlanta dialed up an all-out blitz, and Brees found Devery Henderson for a 36-yard gain to set up a touchdown. If you force Brees to be patient on 10-, 12-play drives, that's when he'll try to force a throw. That's what happened in the recent loss to the Buccaneers.

To a large degree, that's what the Bears have done. Brees threw 12 passes to running back Pierre Thomas in last season's meeting to go with a high percentage of other check-downs. Linebackers Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Hunter Hillenmeyer combined for 36 tackles as the Bears kept almost everything underneath. The defensive line also has gotten after Brees.

''It's always a key when you play against an offense that can move the ball like that,'' Smith said. ''They get off the bus throwing the ball, so you have to be able to put pressure with your front four. Not just by blitzing, [but] with your front four. We have done that in the past, and hopefully we can do it again.''

The difference this time is Brees has a new weapon in tight end Jeremy Shockey, who's finally healthy after battling a sports hernia, and coach Sean Payton has ordered some balance into the offense with Illinois product Thomas. The Saints rushed for 184 yards against Atlanta, so the Bears will have to be careful if they abandon their philosophy of stopping the run first, as they did in a disastrous 37-3 loss at Green Bay last month.

But with three-receiver sets featuring Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Henderson, the Bears likely will need a lot of work from their nickel package. It's a big opportunity for a defense that has been sharply criticized much of the season to make a statement.

''He's always been the same Drew Brees,'' nickel back Danieal Manning said. ''He's probably even better. He understands schemes. He understands what defenses are giving him, and the first time a defense comes out with something, he'll come back out and react to that. He's crafty. He knows our defense, and he knows what to do.''

But he has yet to find a way to beat the Bears, and the Tampa Two in general has given him fits.

''Whatever we've done has worked,'' Tillman said. ''It's just good game planning.''

The Brees Barometer isn't forecasting the weather for Thursday night, but the game-time temperature could be in the teens, and there will be high pressure: The loser suffers a serious blow in the playoff hunt.

''Drew Brees has been in San Diego and in New Orleans in a dome,'' Briggs said. ''So when he comes out here and he's got his hand-warmer fanny pack, it's a whole different ballgame. He's freezing. His blood is real thin.''
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