December 28, 2011 (LAKE FOREST, Ill.) —
Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher was selected to his eighth Pro Bowl, while teammate Lance Briggs made it for the seventh year in a row.

Running back Matt Forte made his first Pro Bowl on Tuesday, hours after being placed on injured reserve because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Veteran cornerback Charles Tillman was also picked for the first time as was special teams contributor Corey Graham.

The five selections were the most for the Bears since they had eight in the 2006 season. Six-time Pro Bowler Julius Peppers, who leads the team with 10 sacks, was among the Chicago players who did not make it.

Urlacher is the sixth player in team history to be voted to eight Pro Bowls as a Bear. He is second on the team with 125 tackles behind fellow linebacker Briggs (140) and is tied for the lead with three interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Briggs became the fourth linebacker in franchise history to be selected to seven straight Pro Bowls, joining Hall of Famers Dick Butkus (eight in a row), Bill George (eight) and Mike Singletary (10). He is the ninth player overall to be voted to seven Pro Bowls as a Bear.

The pick comes after he made a hard push before the season for a new contract even though he had three years left on a six-year deal. Management shot down his request, but did try to get something done with Forte, whose rookie contract is expiring.

Those negotiations went nowhere, but he was having his best season before a hit to the knee against Kansas City on Dec. 4 cut it short. Forte was leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage (1,487), ranked third in the league in yards rushing (997) and ranked fourth among all running backs with 490 yards receiving before missing the past three games.

That didn’t stop him from becoming the first Bears running back to make to the Pro Bowl since Neal Anderson following the 1991 season.

Tillman has 11 pass break-ups, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries to go with 107 tackles.

Graham has 20 special teams tackles, and his selection was the eighth by a Bears player under coordinator Dave Toub. Devin Hester (2006-07, 2010) and Johnny Knox (2009) have made it for returns, with kicker Robbie Gould (2006) and Brendon Ayanbadejo (2006 and 2007) also getting picked.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Despite losing their last five games in a row, the Chicago Bears had one of their bigger Pro Bowl hauls in recent years when five players were named to the Pro Bowl. While linebackers Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher, long the mainstays of Chicago’s defense, were honored again, the most welcome news for Chicago was Charles Tillman, one of the best cornerbacks in team history, being selected for the first time and runningback Matt Forte become the Bears first running back picked in 20 years.

Special teams player Corey Graham was also picked. Julius Peppers, Chicago’s $91 million defensive end, surprisingly was not picked.

Chicago’s five picks were its biggest representation for the NFL’s all-star game since eight Bears were named in 2006, the year Chicago made it to the Super Bowl for the second time.

This is the seventh consecutive Pro Bowl nod for Briggs (2005-11 seasons), who has played well despite complaining briefly about wanting a new conrtract early in the season. He is just the fourth linebacker in franchise history to be selected to seven straight Pro Bowls joining Hall of Famers Dick Butkus (eight straight), Bill George (eight) and Mike Singletary (ten). He is the ninth player overall to be voted to seven Pro Bowls as a member of the Bears organization and the seventh to be selected seven years in-a-row. In 2011, Briggs paces the team with 140 tackles and is tied for the team lead with eight tackles for losses to go along with one interception and two forced fumbles.

Forté is the first Bears running back to be named to the Pro Bowl in 20 years. Neal Anderson made it following the 1991 season.  Prior to missing the last three contests with a knee injury, Forté led the NFL in yards from scrimmage (1,487), ranked third in the league in rushing yards (997) and ranked fourth among all running backs with 490 yards receiving. His 4.9 rushing average in 2011 is a career high and sixth among NFL running backs with at least 150 rushing attempts this season.

Graham was named to his first Pro Bowl and is the eighth Pro Bowl selection by a Bears special teams player under Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub. Graham plays on five of the Bears six special teams units (punt coverage, kickoff coverage, punt returns, kickoff returns and field goal blocks).The Bears punt return coverage unit ranks second in the NFL this season allowing just 5.4 yards per return.

This is the first Pro Bowl nod for Tillman and he is the first Bears cornerback to be named to named to the Pro Bowl since Nathan Vasher in 2006. The ninth-year veteran ranks third on the team with a career-high 107 tackles. Tillman leads the team in pass break ups (11) and is tied for the team lead in forced fumbles (three) and fumble recoveries (two) while adding two interceptions and an interception return touchdown. Since entering the NFL in 2003, Tillman leads all defensive backs with 27 forced fumbles and his 29 interceptions is tied for ninth in the NFL overall during that time.

Urlacher was named to his eighth Pro Bowl (2000-03, 2005-06 & 2010 seasons). He is the sixth player in team history to be voted to eight Pro Bowls. He is tied for the team lead with three interceptions and two fumble recoveries and has added a fumble return touchdown.

LAKE FOREST — If Bears defenders have grown frustrated with the offense’s inability to score, they’re doing a good job of hiding it.

“Sometimes it gets tough, but as a defense you’re out there to continue to compete and get the ball out and do our job,” strong safety Craig Steltz said. “And a lot of times we just continue to stay focused, not look up at the scoreboard, not worry about what’s happening on offense and just worry about what’s happening on defense and do our part.”

That got harder last week when an offensive that managed four touchdowns in four weeks under quarterback Caleb Hanie had five turnovers in a 38-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

“We’ve been on the field more than we would like to the last four, five weeks,” linebacker Brian Urlacher admitted.

That doesn’t bode well heading in Sunday’s game against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

Rather than point fingers at their offense, though, defensive players think they could be doing more to create turnovers. In the last four games, Chicago’s defense produced a turnover a contest. In the previous four, they forced 17.

“Football is still fun but it has been hard to make plays for us for some reason,” Urlacher said. “We’re playing small ball with these teams. We haven’t given up a lot of points until the last week. We just fell apart in the second half. We have been playing decent for the most part. We just need to make some more plays.”

As Steltz said, just because the Bears’ offense turns the ball over, it doesn’t mean the defense can’t get it right back.

“When the game’s over, if we create takeaways, get the ball back to our offense as many times as we can, that’ll put us in a position to win the ballgame.”

The Bears’ defense now faces a challenge similar to the one that dragged down the offense — injuries. Starting free safety Chris Conte went on injured reserve with a foot injury this week and he’ll likely be replaced by Major Wright. With Wright and Steltz starting, it will be the eighth different starting safety combination used by the team.

The defense made a turnaround of sorts when Conte became a starter and Brandon Meriweather went to the bench earlier this year. They improved from 29th to 17th in total defense, 17th to 11th in points allowed, and 24th to 15th in interception percentage during Conte’s nine starts.

“He’s made a lot of good tackles in the open field,” Urlacher said. “So has Steltz when Steltz has been in there as well.”
Rodgers is certain to test a Bears secondary that gave up four completions of 21 yards or longer last week.

“He’s got a hand cannon,” cornerback Charles Tillman said of the Packers’ quarterback.

The defense seemed to wear down at the end of the last two games, raising questions about whether a group with five starters in their 30s could be showing its age.

“I don’t think age has really mattered,” said Urlacher, who is 33. “Judge me by how I play, not how old I am. I think the rest of the guys would tell you the same thing. Our older guys have played decent this year, I think.”

They haven’t played well enough to offset the struggling offense, and it showed up most in the loss to Seattle after Hanie threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown in the third quarter. The Bears’ defense allowed 17 second-half points, something it hadn’t done since a 24-13 loss at Detroit on Oct. 10.

“I don’t think there was necessarily a letdown (physically),” linebacker Lance Briggs said. “I think there’s more of a letdown in our discipline, in things that we normally would be able to handle.”

The Chicago Bears fell victim to more Tim Tebow magic Sunday, and the result was a crushing 13-10 overtime loss,  a third straight defeat that dropped their record to 7-6 and further jeopardized their playoff hopes.

Broncos kicker Matt Prater, who sent the game into OT with a 59-yard field goal with three seconds left in regulation, boomed the game-winner from 51 yards out to give Denver (8-5) its sixth straight victory.

Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 2:08 left in the game to cut the Bears’ lead to 10-7.

Denver’s ensuing onsides kick was recovered by the Bears’ Nick Roach.

Robbie Gould kicked a franchise-record 57-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to boost the Bears’ lead to 10-0.

The Bears forced a Denver turnover with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter at the Bears’ 45. Safety Craig Steltz sacked Tebow, who fumbled after a 7-yard loss. The ball was recovered by Israel donije.

After a scoreless first half, the Bears finally broke through on a nine-yard touchdown run by Marion Barber for a 7-0 lead at the 5:26 mark of the third quarter. The six-play TD drive was set up by a Devin Hester 26-yard punt return to the Denver 42.

It was the Bears’ first touchdown in 101:52 minutes of play dating to the fourth quarter of their loss to the Oakland Raiders on Nov. 27.

The Broncos tried to take a 3-0 lead on a 28-yard field goal attempt by Matt Prater, but Idonije and Julius Peppers appeared to get hands on the blocked the kick with 7:27 left until halftime.

The Broncos drove into Bears territory in the first quarter when Tebow threw a pass that was deftly picked off by cornerback Charles Tillman along the sideline at the Bears’ 39. The pass was intended for Matthew Willis with 2:38 left in the period.

The new No. 2 quarterback for the Bears on Sunday was Josh McCown, as coach Lovie Smith decided to designate rookie Nathan Enderle inactive.

McCown, who was inactive for his first two games with the Bears, said Friday that he has been preparing by “just studying and getting ready to go. You know, just going through all the reads and the stuff mentally. You get all the work physically you can in practice and get up to speed throwing-wise. But then you just have to take mental reps by watching Caleb and those guys in practice, visualizing and all those things.”

The Bears entered with a 7-5 record and faced near desperation time regarding their NFC playoff hopes. Meanwhile, the Broncos (also 7-5) were riding an AFC West wave sustained by a staunch defense and relatively error-free offense.

The Bears entered the weekend as the fifth seed in the NFC, sharing the same record as the Falcons and Lions. But the Bears held the tiebreaker over Atlanta and Detroit.

The Bears entered the game with a 7-6 all-time series advantage over Denver. The Broncos won the previous two encounters in 2003 (19-10) and 2007 (37-34).

fmitchell@tribune.com

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