D/ST grades: Peterson's 'soft hundred' leaves Bears unhappy

November 25, 2012, 5:41 pm

	JOHN "MOON" MULLIN Archive
Follow @CSNMoonMullin

Members of the Bears’ defense were mad. They’d just held the Minnesota Vikings, with the NFL’s leading rusher, to 10 points, the first time Minnesota has been held under 20 all season, and they were mad.
 
The miff was coming from allowing Adrian Peterson to net 108 yards. One lineman called it a “soft hundred” but put the blame squarely on the unit for not making tackles when they were there to be made. Peterson’s yards were indeed “soft,” coming largely after the Bears were up by three scores. Peterson had 25 rushing yards in the first half and 10 on the Vikings’ first possession of the third quarter – so 73 yards over the final 19 minutes when the game was effectively over.
 
The overall was an effective shutdown of Minnesota, with the Vikings totaling just 181 yards through three quarters and mounting only one drive longer than 3-and-a-half minutes.
 
The Bears led the NFL with an opponent passer rating of 65.9 before the game and even improved on that, holding Christian Ponder to 58.2.
 
DEFENSIVE LINE        A-
 
The sack total was modest, with one on the game’s first play by defensive tackle Henry Melton (sixth this season) and a second shared by Israel Idonije and Shea McClellin in the fourth quarter sack of Christian Ponder to end a possession. The Bears combined for seven hits on Ponder, with McClellin and Melton each getting two.
 
The line play was key, however, in getting to Adrian Peterson repeatedly on his side of the line and forcing early cuts in his runs to prevent him from reaching escape velocity. Julius Peppers took a lead role in calling stunts and specifics on various plays, giving the Vikings linemen changing assignments almost on the fly.
 
LINEBACKERS    A
 
Nick Roach forced an Adrian Peterson fumble in the first quarter that led to the Bears’ first touchdown. Flow to the ball was excellent and contributed to holding Peterson to 65 yards through three quarters, with no run longer than 14 yards. Roach, playing heavy minutes with the Vikings' use of Peterson, tied for Bears high with seven tackles, six of them solo.
 
Lance Briggs also had seven stops, five solos, and broke up two passes. He and Brian Urlacher (four stops) combined with Roach to take Peterson away from dominating the game.
 
SECONDARY        A
 
Kelvin Hayden, pressed into regular-down duty after an ankle injury to Charles Tillman, saved a TD with a fourth-quarter pass breakup and locked up WR Michael Jenkins on the next play as well to turn back a four-down effort with momentum at stake.
    
Tillman outfought Peterson for a fumble on the Vikings’ third possession to set up a touchdown and broke up a third-down slant pattern on Minnesota’s second possession to force a field goal.
 
Run support from safeties Chris Conte and Major Wright was not flawless, but tackling Adrian Peterson rarely is. And Conte broke up two passes while coming up with an interception to set up a touchdown and nearly tipped a ball for another.
 
Tim Jennings was strong in open-field tackling and finished with five solo tackles.
 
Altogether, Bears defensive backs broke up nine passes as part of holding Christian Ponder to 22-of-43 passing for 159 yards, a TD, and INT and a passer rating of just 58.2.
 
COACHING    A
 
After the debacle in San Francisco, coaches prepared for a rushing onslaught from Adrian Peterson by stressing basics and gaps, but also have wanted the defensive linemen in particular also to “read” the offense. Julius Peppers has “stunt” responsibilities as coaches have put the game in the players’ hands, with solid results again.
 
The mix of safeties on Cover-2 and Cover-1 alignments for run support may have benefited from the absence of injured receiver Percy Harvin. But the Bears committed to making the Vikings one-dimensional, and taking away Peterson and forcing Ponder to beat them was solid planning and execution.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS    
 
The return game remains an issue with Devin Hester unable to regain his mojo of past seasons, and then being sidelined with a concussion. But other areas of special teams responded, with a two-point conversion and blocked field goal.
 
KICKING        A-
 
Robbie Gould was good from 47 and 46 yards to get points from stalled possessions. Adam Podlesh executed a perfect fake PAT and ran in a two-point conversion. He also was good for 43.3 yards per on four punts, none returned and two inside the 20.
 
Julius Peppers turned in the 12th kick block of his career. But the Vikings blocked a Gould field goal late in the second quarter.
 
COVERAGE    A
 
The Vikings were not able to return any of Adam Podlesh’s four punts. Marcus Sherels returned one kickoff 38 yards but the other two KOR’s were for 14 and 15 yards. The Vikings had an average starting field position of their own 29 and started eight out of 10 possessions after kicks from inside their own 30.

RETURNS    C-
 
Devin Hester did nothing with a first-quarter punt return when he appeared to have running room and was replaced on the next kickoff return by Eric Weems. Hester left the game with a concussion in the first quarter. Weems returned three kickoffs an average of 21.7 with a long of 27.
 
COACHING     A
 
The scouting of Minnesota’s kick-block unit was exploited for a two-point conversion. Bears coverage units were near flawless and prevented the Vikings from gaining any sort of advantage or momentum after either punts or kickoffs.

Tags: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher, Major Wright, Chris Conte