Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith hinted at change after Monday night’s 24-13 loss at Detroit, and the safety position will undergo a major facelift.

Veterans Chris Harris and Brandon Meriweather will be benched in favor of Major Wright and rookie Chris Conte for Sunday’s game against the Vikings, Harris confirmed Thursday. Wright and Conte received the first-team reps at strong and free safety, respectively, during Thursday’s practice.

“It is what it is,” Harris said of the demotion. “Like a vet, like a professional, that’s how you deal with it. (Stuff) happens. Nothing that happens here surprises me.”
 
Coach Lovie Smith was asked when he last felt the Bears had consistent play from the safety position.

“I can’t say consistent basis. We haven’t had it enough,” Smith said. “That’s why we’re looking at different options.”

Harris and Meriweather started and struggled against the Lions. Harris, who returned after missing three games with a hamstring injury, was a few steps behind in coverage when Lions receiver Calvin Johnson caught a 73-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford. Harris also made a few other costly errors, including one that helped lead to Jahvid Best’s 88-yard touchdown run.

Meriweather played a bit reckless throughout the game, opting for big hits rather than wrapping up for the tackle. The former New England Patriot seems to be having a tough time adjusting to a new defensive system.

If Wright and Conte perform well in practice and start Sunday, it would be the fifth different safety combination in six games.

The coaches might be asking a lot out of the inexperienced Wright and Conte with the Bears set to face arguably the league’s best running back in Adrian Peterson. This would be Wright’s fourth career start and Conte’s first.

Cornerback Charles Tillman was asked Thursday how the Bears could establish continuity at the safety position.

“Play harder, fix the mistakes, go back to fundamentals,” Tillman said. “And the most important part is to have fun.”

vxmcclure@tribune.com
Twitter@vxmcclure23

The Chicago Bears kept Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson from
hurting them in the NFC North rivals’ most recent matchup at Soldier Field.

This time, they might need to be equally concerned with Jared Allen(notes) and his
fellow defensive linemen.

The disruptive Vikings will try to take advantage of a beleaguered Bears
offensive line and claim consecutive victories for only the second time in two
seasons Sunday night.

Peterson had a season-best 122 yards and matched a career high with three
touchdowns last week as Minnesota claimed its first win of the season, routing
visiting Arizona 34-10. The Vikings (1-4) got two sacks apiece from Allen -
giving him an NFL-best 8 1/2 – and fellow defensive end Brian Robison(notes), who is
tied for ninth in the league with 4 1/2.

Allen has 8 1/2 sacks in six career matchups with Chicago and had two in the
previous game at Soldier Field, a 27-13 loss Nov. 14.

“(The Vikings) are going to let that front four go to work, and we have to
find a way to block them,” said Bears quarterback Jay Cutler(notes), who has thrown for
13 TDs in his five games against the Vikings.

Minnesota is tied for second in the league with 16 sacks and its defensive
linemen have collected all but one of those. The Vikings will try to use that
pass rush to claim only their second win in 11 games in Chicago and first since
2007.

The Bears have allowed the third-most sacks in the league (18), and Cutler
was taken down three times – and hurried countless others – during a 24-13 loss
in Detroit on Monday night.

Chicago’s offensive line also committed a stunning nine false-start
penalties.

“I’m sure they’re going to do everything possible to fix some of the
problems they had on Monday night and during the season. We got to be prepared
to adjust to any changes they make,” said Vikings coach and former Bears
cornerback Leslie Frazier. “We need our pass rush to be working for us.”

While scrambling often, Cutler managed to throw for 249 yards and a
touchdown against the Lions, and Matt Forte(notes) topped 100 yards for the second
straight game with 116 on 22 carries. Chicago (2-3), though, only scored three
points after halftime and gave up its second touchdown of 70-plus yards in the
third quarter.

“It’s time to do some soul searching and see what each of us is really made
of,” cornerback Charles Tillman(notes) said. “We can either tuck our tails between our
legs and go run away or man up and fight and get this thing turned around.”

The Bears gave up a season-worst 181 rushing yards in the loss and are
surrendering an NFL-worst 5.7 yards per carry, but they’ve held Peterson to less
than 100 in each of the past two games in Chicago.

He gained 51 yards on 17 carries at Soldier Field last November and failed
to score for the first time in seven matchups.

Peterson was nursing ankle and knee injuries during a 40-14 loss to the
Bears on Dec. 20.

To snap their three-game skid against the Bears, the Vikings could use a
similar performance from their running back and a better one from Donovan
McNabb(notes). The veteran quarterback’s completion percentage (56.8) and yards per
attempt (6.43) both rank 27th in the league.

McNabb hasn’t thrown for more than 262 yards in any of his seven
regular-season matchups with his hometown team, but has prevailed in five of
those, including a 17-14 victory with Washington last season at Soldier Field.

He might have former Bears receiver Bernard Berrian(notes) back to help him.
Berrian was on the inactive list for last week’s game for undisclosed reasons, a
punishment he says he’s “already over.”

“I don’t foresee any future problems. I really expect him to play at a high
level for us and play well,” Frazier said.

Berrian, who has two catches for 37 yards, was part of a brief Twitter feud
with a state lawmaker following a 22-17 loss in Kansas City on Oct. 2. Another
former Chicago wideout, Devin Aromashodu(notes), has 115 yards and a touchdown over the
last two games.

The Bears, meanwhile, are hoping to have Julius Peppers(notes) available. The
defensive end, who signed a six-year deal worth $91.5 million before the start
of last season, briefly exited Monday’s game after spraining his left knee.
Coach Lovie Smith said Peppers’ knee was “still sore” on Wednesday.

Chicago might also get defensive end Corey Wootton(notes) back. After missing three
games with a knee injury before returning Oct. 2, he sat out the loss to Detroit
with a broken hand.

The Bears are tied for 21st with nine sacks, five of which came in a
season-opening win over Atlanta.

A fourth straight victory over Minnesota would give Chicago its longest
streak since a series-best six-game run Dec. 11, 1983-Oct. 5, 1986.

The 31st-ranked Chicago Bears defense will go to Detroit next Monday looking for solutions, but more problems could be in store.

After being raked over for 543 yards by the Carolina Panthers and rookie quarterback Cam Newton on Sunday, the Bears have to gear up for the undefeated Lions (4-0) who are ranked second in the NFL in scoring, averaging 33.8 points per game.

“It’s definitely good to be 2-2 right about now,” cornerback Charles Tillman said. “It was like most Bears fans out there, it was an ugly win, but still the same, a win is a win and feeling good about that now.”

After surrendering 181 yards on eight receptions to Carolina’s Steve Smith, the Bears will have to contend with Calvin Johnson, who has tied an NFL record with two touchdown receptions in each of his first four games. The Bears have done a good job limiting Johnson in the previous four seasons, getting help last year with the controversial catch rule in the end zone. In seven games, Johnson has gone over 100 yards just once and he has three touchdowns

“He’s probably the top receiver in the league right now as far as just throwing the ball up and just letting him go up and get it,” Tillman said. “He’s the Goliath of receivers right now as they say. So we as a secondary will definitely have our hands full trying to contain him.
 
“Him and (Randy) Moss are similar, I would probably say he’s a little bit stronger than Moss though. He has a great hand-eye coordination as far as catching the ball at its highest point. I don’t think Randy Moss was as strong as Calvin. I think Calvin’s just a little bit more physical than Randy Moss.

“(Johnson) is in his own ballclub, to be that strong, that fast, his ability, his vertical is very impressive, so he’s in a league of his own.”

It’s interesting the Bears have corralled Johnson better than they’ve handled Smith, who has 568 yards in his last three games vs. the team. Johnson has totaled 484 yards in seven games.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Steve Smith. He is a little guy, but he plays big,” Tillman said. “He’s tough. I don’t know if he’s got a little man’s syndrome, but it works because it helps his game. It definitely showed yesterday what’d he have 8 for 181, something like that? Yeah, he lit us up and not good on our part.
 
bmbiggs@tribune.com

Twitter @BradBiggs

Updated Sep 18, 2011 1:11 AM ET

A surprisingly large contingent of Chicago Bears players flew to Lovington, N.M., on Saturday for the funeral of linebacker Brian Urlacher’s 51-year-old mother Lavoyda Lenard, who died unexpectedly Monday at her home in Texas.

Team chairman George McCaskey, president Ted Phillips, general manager Jerry Angelo, coach Lovie Smith and linebackers’ coach Bob Babich were always expected to attend the service. But defensive end Julius Peppers hired a private plane to take him and a number of other teammates as well, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, citing a source.

A Bears spokesman told the Chicago Tribune that Urlacher’s teammates Chris Harris, Pat Mannelly, Anthony Adams, Charles Tillman and Israel Idonije were among those in attendance.

Urlacher spoke at the funeral, thanking his “two families” — his family and the Bears — a source told NFL.com.

The seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker had left Chicago on Tuesday to be with his family, before returning to the team’s practice facility Thursday.

He is expected to start Sunday against the Saints in New Orleans.

Chicago’s thirty-somethings answered the critics in a big way Sunday by forcing three Atlanta turnovers during a surprisingly easy 30-12 victory.

“Defensively, it’s about taking the ball away,” coach Lovie Smith said Monday. “We start at talking about that.”

Forcing turnovers has long been the goal of the Bears defense and they’ve caused more than any NFL team (235) since Smith became coach in 2004.

Having six players 30 or older in the starting lineup against the Falcons only seemed to help and team speed didn’t seem to be lacking, either. The defense became the first since Pittsburgh in the 2010 season opener to hold Atlanta without a touchdown.

“Sometimes it just comes down to that, that speed part,” Smith said.

The oldest Bears defender, 33-year-old linebacker Brian Urlacher, stretched out for an interception and returned a fumble 11 yards for a touchdown. Cornerback Charles Tillman, who is 30, stripped the ball from Atlanta running back Michael Turner in the first half, and 31-year-old Julius Peppers had two sacks and forced the fumble Urlacher returned.

Urlacher marveled at Tillman, who has never been to a Pro Bowl but has forced more fumbles (25) than any cornerback since he came into the league in 2003.

“It’s ingrained in all of our minds, but he’s just very good at it,” Urlacher said about Tillman. “We all think about it, we try and rip it out, we try and punch it and he just does this (taps it) and he gets it out. I don’t know how he does it but he gets it done. The guy is one of the all-time greats at doing that, at corner, any position I think.”

Smith suggested turnovers like those caused by Tillman are contagious.

“When you play us you know our guys are going to try to strip the ball — he does it,” Smith said. “Once you see one guy doing it, guys catch onto it.”

Urlacher made 10 tackles Sunday in addition to his big plays.

“That’s just Urlacher being Urlacher,” Peppers said.

The defense has been making big plays for years, but on Sunday a big difference was the offense scoring 23 of the 30 points by using its own big plays.

“We complement each other,” Tillman said. “The offense makes a play, the defense makes a big play, special teams makes a big play. We feed off that energy.”

If there had been a real question about the defense, it was at tackle after Tommie Harris was allowed to leave in free agency. Henry Melton put on 30 pounds and moved inside from end to the spot in Smith’s cover-2 scheme. Melton, a former running back at Texas who now weighs about 290 pounds, had two sacks Sunday.

“We’ve been talking a lot about Henry Melton, and what we thought he would bring to that group,” Smith said. “Julius Pepper, he’s a hard guy to deal with for any offense. That sets everything up, being able to get that pressure where we can play a little more.”

The Falcons tried a no-huddle offense early in the game to tire out the Bears’ pass rushers. Chicago rotated seven players on the line to compensate.

“When a team goes no-huddle, it really stresses the defensive line,” Smith said. “But they kept standing up and they were strong at the end of the game.”

The defense will get another test Sunday in New Orleans against a Saints team that scored 34 points in a loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field last week.

“We can get better,” Urlacher said. “We make mistakes. That (improvement) will come with seeing plays and doing things that we need to be doing.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Bears had one Pro Bowler in six years before they drafted Brian Urlacher. That explains much of Chicago’s lack of success in the 1990s. And one of the most encouraging signs of the Bears’ 30-12 season-opening blowout of Atlanta was their stars played like stars.

Urlacher had 10 tackles, an incredible interception and a fumble return for a touchdown. Julius Peppers had two sacks. Charles Tillman forced a fumble. Jay Cutler passed for 300 yards. Matt Forte had 158 total yards. Devin Hester turned a short screen pass into a 53-yard gain.

The Bears might have the weakest offensive line of any other Super Bowl contender, but they also have as much star power as they’ve had in 20 years. That’s why they’ve got a chance to go a long way.

Cutler too mistake-prone

Jay Cutler gives Chicago’s offense more big-play capability than it’s had in 25 years. He also makes it easier to convert third downs. Cutler began Sunday’s 30-12 win over Atlanta by throwing 23 yards on third-and-6 and 23 yards again on third-and-10.

Now, if he’d only stop making big mistakes. Kroy Biermann’s 50-yard interception return for a touchdown with the Bears up 30-6 could be written off as a fluke because John Abraham tipped the pass at the line. But Cutler threw two passes earlier that could have/should have been picked off. He also fumbled once.

“We had way too many missed opportunities for turnovers,” Atlanta coach Mike Smith said.

If Cutler throws the ball up for grabs even in his best games, what will happen in his worst?
 

Romo comes up short in clutch

Tony Romo is Exhibit A why the Bears should worry about Cutler’s mistakes. I used to think Romo was underrated, but the Dallas QB has never lived up to his great stats. He threw for 342 yards with a 101.9 passer rating Sunday, but was 5 of 12 with two turnovers in the fourth quarter as the Jets rallied from 14 points down to win. Romo has the fourth-highest passer rating in NFL history (95.6) but one playoff win.

Rex improves for Redskins

Rex Grossman is better as a Redskin than he ever was as a Bear. His only 300-yard game in Chicago came in overtime, but he has topped 300 yards in three of four starts for the Redskins. But Rex still can’t convert third downs. Even with a 110 passer rating Sunday, on third-and-5 or more, Rex completed one of his first seven passes and was sacked twice for minus-30 yards and a fumble.

Newton lives up to draft status

Cam Newton was shockingly good, throwing for 422 yards. He’s a great athlete with a strong arm and quick feet, but just like Michael Vick in college, he wasn’t all that accurate of a passer.

Vick’s feet made him good in the NFL long before he became a good passer. Newton’s feet aren’t that good, but maybe his arm is.

Matt Trowbridge’s NFL Quick Shots appear Tuesdays. He can be reached at 815-987-1383 or mtrowbridge@rrstar.com.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears moved downfield in 20 yards and a cloud of Martz to blow out Atlanta 30-12.

The Bears exploded with four plays of at least 23 yards in the first quarter alone, and their defense also chimed in with a flurry of big plays in Sunday’s season opener.

The Bears reined in pass-happy offensive coordinator Mike Martz at midseason last year, when Jay Cutler never hit 250 yards passing in any of his last nine games.

Sunday, Cutler had 276 yards after the opening drive of the second half, and four different receivers had catches of at least 23 yards. Matt Forte and Devin Hester turned short screens into 50-yard gains.

“We don’t know when or where it’s going to go; the ball can go anywhere in this offense,” receiver Johnny Knox (three catches for 60 yards) said. “We have so many big play makers out there.

“He’s real creative,” Knox said of Martz. “In practice, he fools us the first time we run it. But as you can see, it works.”

Martz’s play-calling looked best on a fake end-around that turned into a 56-yard screen pass to Forte to put the Bears ahead 10-3 and on a 53-yard screen pass to Hester that set up a 1-yard pass to Matt Spaeth for a 23-6 lead.

And the Bears knew those were going to be big plays.

“I got excited when I saw them blitzing into the screen,” Forte (68 yards rushing and 90 receiving) said. “I knew I’d have a chance to get a long gain or a touchdown.”

Roy Williams, out front blocking for Hester, threw his arms up to celebrate a presumed touchdown when Hester was still 40 yards away.

“I thought he was gone. I would have scored,” Williams said, before adding “Devin made a great play and cut it all the way back. Not very many people can do that.”

Chicago’s defense joined in the big-play fun. The Bears allowed 319 yards passing to Matt Ryan and 100 yards rushing to former NIU star Michael Turner, but Charles Tillman forced his 25th career fumble and linebacker Brian Urlacher made a spectacular interception and returned a fumble for his fourth career touchdown.

“They weren’t turning it over; we were taking the ball away,” coach Lovie Smith said.

The Bears also sacked Ryan five times, including two each by Henry Melton and Julius Peppers.

“We complement each other,” Tillman said. “The offense makes a big play. The defense makes a big play. Special teams make a big play. We feed off that energy. It’s a good feeling.”

“We’re pretty dangerous,” Peppers said, “in all three areas this year.”

Not just good in all three areas. Dangerous. As in scoring from anywhere on the field on offense. Or defense.

“Not only takeaways, but takeaways for scores are huge in games like this,” Peppers said. “When something like that happens, it makes us extra motivated to go out there and do it again.”

The Bears plan to keep doing it. A Mike Martz offense was never supposed to be ground-bound. And it no longer is.
“Mike loves to throw it, that’s no secret,” Cutler (22-for-32 for 312 yards) said.

“We’re stacked in the skill positions,” center Roberto Garza said. “The sky is the limit for those skill positions if the offensive line goes out and gets the job done.”

And if the offense keeps making that many big plays, the sky might be the limit for the entire Bears team.

“If they give us 30 points,” Peppers said, “we’re going to be hard to beat.”

Assistant sports editor Matt Trowbridge can be reached at: 815-987-1383 or mtrowbridge@rrstar.com.

The Chicago Bears defense shut down the Bills in just about every way during Saturday night’s 10-3 preseason-opening win at Soldier Field, especially with dominant play up front.

They figure that’s a little preview of what’s to come in the real games.

“With the defensive line we’ve got, that should be how it goes every week,” corner back Zack Bowman said. “They were great in that first one. I know it’s just a preseason game and it’s the first one and all, but they sure made things easier on us right away.”

The Bears, who gave up the second fewest rushing yards in the league last year at 90.1 per game, held Buffalo to 89 yards on the ground Saturday. And just as important, they held them to no touchdowns. Chicago was also fourth in the NFL last year in scoring defense, giving up 17.9 points per game. With the help of a stingy, and deep, defensive line, it allowed three in Week 1 of the preseason.

“We really like the depth we have up there, and those guys are going to benefit from that all year long,” Chicago’s defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli recently said. “If those guys can do their jobs, and do them consistently, it’s going to really help keep this defense on top.”

The Bears starting defense surrendered 23 yards on the ground in the first quarter, making sure the Bills could not get their rushing attack going early on. Then, other than a couple of QB scrambles for chunks of yardage, Chicago’s top defensive unit allowed just 17 yards rushing in the second quarter.

The Bills offense — which was ranked last in the league in rushing last year, which has to be taken into account — never got anything going, in fact. Even through the air.

They managed just 190 total yards and never got into the Bears’ red zone.

“The guys up front are going to do their jobs; we’re confident in that every play,” linebacker Lance Briggs said. “We’ve seen it all camp. We’ve seen it enough to believe it.”

The Bears went almost exclusively with Julius Peppers and Israel Idonije at defensive end and Tommie Harris, Anthony Adams and Matt Toeaina inside for the 2010 season. They got rid of Harris, often considered a head case, and have increased the playing time for Henry Melton and Corey Wootton. They also drafted Stephen Paea and signed free agents Amobi Okoye and Vernon Gholston at the beginning of camp.

Okoye had the best numbers of the bunch Saturday, hauling in three tackles, two sacks, two tackles for losses and two quarterback hurries. Melton was a disruptive force who spent some time in the Bills’ backfield as well, earning two tackles and a tackle for loss when he charged three yards deep into Buffalo’s backfield to stuff C.J. Spiller on the fourth play of the game.

“That’s what my position demands, you know, somebody wreaking havoc in the backfield,” Melton said after the game. “I feel like I did that. I’m trying to keep that going, and hopefully this season will take care of itself.”

Cornerback Charles Tillman, who often reaps the benefits of having a strong defensive front, knows there were some very good signs to come out of Saturday’s game from a defensive line standpoint.

“I think, well, I think they’re good. It was the first game, so we’ve got something to work off of now, and they played well,” Tillman said. “I think our D-line is doing some great things, and they will continue to. I like what I saw and what those guys are doing.”

Bears head coach Lovie Smith may have put it best when he added: “So far, so good.”