Bears vs. Eagles: 9 Adjustments Chicago Must Make to Contain Mike Vick

Truth be told, I'm not all that worried about Michael Vick. Yes, he's a fine QB, but the Bears have handled him pretty well over the years. 

My focus would be on stopping the Eagles running game and just keep doing what we always had been doing against Vick.

A more pressing concern for Chicago might be how the Bears offense can score points vs. the Eagles defense.

The holes in the Eagles defense that allowed teams to run the ball earlier in the season appear to be closed.

If Matt Forte cannot run the ball, the Bears are in trouble.

But back to Vick. Just because the Bears have had past success containing him doesn't mean they should be complacent.

So what do they need to do? Lets find out together.

Zone Defense vs Man-to-Man

The zone defense the Bears employ seems to trouble Vick a lot more than the man defense that the Dallas Cowboys played on Monday night.

With a zone, you can have eyes on Vick instead of your back to him. If you turn your back to this guy, the next thing you know, he's running next to you.

The Bears Tampa 2, a base defense that gets criticized a lot, actually seems to work quite well against Vick.

Vick in winless in his career vs. the Bears, but the last time these teams met,Vick passed for 333 yards and two TDs.  

Vick has completed 58.4 percent of his passes for 803 yards and three touchdowns to go with three interceptions against the Bears.

Don't Let Vick Scramble

Even with all the yards passing Vick had against the Bears in their last game against each other, the Bears still came out on top, and a lot of that has to do with two things:

One, wait for him to throw that critical interception, and two, stop those long runs.

As good a passer as Vick has become since getting back to the league, Brian Urlacher makes a valid point when he says Vick still looks to get it done with his legs.

"His best assets are still his legs," Urlacher said. "He makes good decisions with the football, but he still needs to run the football. That's where he can hurt people. He's still faster than everybody, can run the football and get out of bounds. That's what he's been doing the last couple of games."

Bears Run Defense Needs to Be Stout

I know this doesn't directly deal with the question of how to contain Vick, but in an indirect way, it means more than anything.

If LeSean McCoy is able to run all over the Bears defense, that will open up the passing lanes for Vick.

Meanwhile, the Bears run defense has been better lately, but they have allowed three runs of 40 yards or more, which is tied for the second most in the league and two more than they gave up last season.

McCoy is second in the league in rushing (754 yards). He has scored a TD in every game. He torched the Cowboys on Monday night.

If the Bears employ an eight-man in the box format against the Eagles, as they did vs. the Vikings to stop Adrian Peterson, they will open up the Eagles passing game.

Watch out for the Early Lead

Vick and the Eagles have been great in taking an early lead in games. This takes away the Bears best asset, their run offense led by MVP candidate Matt Forte.

An early lead would also give Vick confidence, something he probably lacks a bit after his lack of success against Chicago.

In their last two wins, the Eagles got off to double digit leads against the Redskins and Cowboys.

If they get an early lead against the Bears, they will be able to forget about the run and pin their ears back and rush Cutler.

Repeat the Past

Chicago has been good when it comes to stopping Vick, who is 0-3 as a starter against the Bears.

He has posted a 76.2 passer rating, rushed for 187 yards with no TDs, been intercepted three times and sacked 15 in five games versus Chicago.

So, in a lot of ways, it makes sense not to change too much of what they have always done vs. Vick.

The concern is that with a long bye week, the Bears may try to over think and get away from what has worked before.

Safeties Are Key as Bears Need to Limit Big Plays

Vick’s mobility challenges safeties and cornerbacks. The Bears have been deploying their free safety at a deeper spot in the secondary, which has helped.

Safety play is crucial when you have to defend the vertical passing game, and you can expect the Eagles to attack the Bears deep early.

But with Vick's mobility, along with DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy, if the pass rush isn't stout, he will buy time for guys to get open, so Chris Conte had better be ready. 

Heading into Monday night’s game in Philadelphia, the Bears defense is 27th in sacks, which partly explains why it’s 28th in passing yards allowed.

That means that the corners and safeties will be tested.

Limiting the big plays is a key for the Bears. Allowing big plays was one of the major reasons for the Bears’ 2-3 start, and the Eagles are third in the NFL in average yards per offensive play this season.

If I'm Andy Reid, I tell Vick to test the young safeties (Major Wright, Chris Conte).

The Bears had better play with a little more depth in their initial alignment and get ready—because that deep ball is coming.

Need to Get Pressure from Soneone Not Named Peppers

So far, the only real pressure the Bears have had is from Julius Peppers. They really need Isreal Idonije to step up.

Henry Melton, who had such a strong start, also needs to step up in this game.

If the Bears can force Vick to run to his right, the lefty QB will struggle.

Meanwhile, no player in the NFL has ever sacked Vick more than Peppers has. 

However, I wouldn't throw the kitchen sink against Vick. He has responded well to pressure lately, and even when the Bears blitz, they never go all out anyway.

But you have to tackle well and hit him a few times in the mouth.

Bears Corners Have to Be Physical

The Bears cover-2 is actually a benefit against Vick. Man coverage means your back is to the offense, and before you know it, Vick is up the field on you.

They have to be physical with the Eagles wide receivers.

The cover-2 helps the Bears to know where Vick is at all times.

The cover-2 means that the corners are rolled up in the flats and the linebackers are dropping, so even if Vick breaks contain, it is reduced to a shorter gain.

Pass Rush Cannot Take Chances

Vick is a run-first QB, so when the Bears do decide to rush the QB, they had better rush with containment.

Whether you rush Peppers off the edge or D.J. Moore, you need to think about the edge.

If you put all your eggs in the basket to rush inside to get to the QB, you open up the edge to Vick, and he will take off for a big gain.

This puts a lot of pressure on the young safeties to tackle Vick in the open field.