Chargers vs. Bears: 7 Bears Players Who Need To Step Up Most

Chicago and San Diego march into Sunday's contest via two very different roads.

Of course, Chicago is riding high on the strength of four straight victories.  And those victories have come by way of some quality opponents in the Eagles, Buccaneers and Lions.

Meanwhile, the Chargers have taken the low road to Chicago.  Their vehicle?  Four straight losses by way of the Jets, Chiefs, Packers and Raiders.

On paper, this looks to be an easy win for Chicago.  

The Bears are tied for second in the league in forcing turnovers, and the Chargers are tied for first in coughing up the ball.  

Philip Rivers leads the league in interceptions and the Bears are fourth in the league in picks.

The Chargers have the league's 23th-ranked rushing defense and the Bears are riding running back Matt Forte to wins.

What it boils down to is that Rivers has spent most of this year passing for a bunch of yards before turning the ball over and the Bears' defense has spent much of the season allowing a bunch of passing yards before taking the ball away.

It looks like a match made in heaven for Bears fans.

But looks can be deceiving, and the Bears won't be taking the Bolts lightly come Sunday.  

Rivers is having a down year, but is capable of turning that around at any time.  He certainly has the weapons to grease the wheels of that recovery.  Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd provide him with a great receiving tandem, and while Antonio Gates has been hobbled by injury this year, he shouldn't be overlooked.  Add to that a impressive tandem of young running backs and the Chargers can shock just about anyone.

Today we look at the players that the Bears need to step up and control key matchups on Sunday to ensure a Bears win.

Major Wright

This year two related things have plagued the Bears—big plays and blown assignments by the safeties.

Combine that with a San Diego team with a few big play receiving threats, and you have a recipe for upset.

But the play of the deep secondary has improved in recent weeks with the emergence of rookie free safety Chris Conte and the re-positioning of second-year free-turned-strong safety Major Wright.

After a disastrous start to the season, Wright has really come on the past couple of weeks, recording interceptions in his last two games, including one that was returned for a touchdown.  His coverage has gotten better, if less frequent, and he's looking more and more like the kid the Bears thought they were getting when they drafted him.

The Bears need that trend to continue.

Wright will have a target on his back when Rivers comes to town.  The Bears will do what they can not to leave the young safety on an island, but Wright will have to do his job covering the deep zone.  

More importantly, Wright will have to read his assignments correctly without fail.  Rivers, Jackson, Floyd and Gates will be waiting for him to fail.  He needs to know when to step up into the box and when not to.  But he also needs to correctly read the receivers so that he won't be caught expecting a corner to cover deep when a receiver is released to him.

The Bears run defense hasn't been dominating, the Bolts are going to grind yards to set up play action and Wright is the player they will be keying on to make a mistake.

If Wright can hold up his end, the Bears' secondary is going to give Rivers fits.  He'll get his yardage, but not much else.

Jay Cutler

Cutler has to perform against San Diego.  It is really that simple.

The Chargers have one of the league's best rated pass defenses...if yards were all that mattered.  Truth is that the Chargers are a prime example of the deep flaws that run through yards-based ratings.

While it's true that the Bolts are ranked sixth in the league against the pass, that's only because they've seen the second fewest passing attempts in the league.  When teams are winning, they tend to grind the ball on the ground to run down the clock.  

The Chargers also built a lot of their average on the 28-yard passing effort of Donovan McNabb in Week 1, coupled with playing weak passing teams like the Broncos, Chiefs, Dolphins and Jets.

The two best passing teams they faced, the Packers and Patriots, both routed the Chargers, allowing those teams to throw less and run out the clock.

Looking deeper than yardage, the Chargers lay near the bottom of the heap in many of the passing defense categories that actually matter.

They are ranked seventh-worst in yards per attempt allowed and fifth-worst in completion percentage allowed. They are ranked fourth-worst in touchdowns allowed and quarterback rating allowed.  And San Diego ranks worst in the league in touchdown percentage allowed.

Cutler must take advantage of these failings.  If he leads an ineffective passing game against the Chargers, then the team will be able to effectively stack the box against Matt Forte.

And if that happens, the Bears may be sunk.

Charles Tillman

Charles Tillman was spectacular against the Lions' Calvin Johnson last week.  This week, the Bears face another big physical receiver that can break them if he gets free.

Vincent Jackson can be streaky, but when he's on, he can burn a defense big.  Two weeks ago, he scorched the Packers' defense for three touchdowns.

But Jackson can also be a liability.  Whether it's a lack of concentration on Jackson's part or Rivers expecting too much from him, Jackson has been the target of six of Rivers 15 interceptions in 2011, including five in the last four games.

Tillman has the ability to control Jackson and put his secondary in positions to add to Jackson's interception target total.  The Bears need exactly that from him.

Brian Urlacher

The Bears need to make the Chargers one-dimensional.  Urlacher is the key to making that happen on Sunday.

The Chargers' running attack has been average.  It's not spectacular, but it gets the job done.  

What the Bears need from Urlacher is insurance in the middle.  The Chargers are a gut-running team.  Fifty-nine percent of their rushes are directed between the guards and no more than 11 percent of their rushes come to any other spot.

The Chargers are among the best in the league at avoiding being stuffed at or behind the line of scrimmage on the run, with only 15 percent of their runs stopped for no gain or less.  

When Urlacher is on his game, he is an unstoppable force against the run.  And a team that focuses its rushing attack in the middle makes Urlacher the primary force in stopping that running game, thus forcing San Diego to rely on a passing game that has been backfiring all season.

Matt Forte

One of the reasons that the San Diego defense has allowed so few passing yards is that the rush has been so effective against them.  

The Chargers rank 24th in the league in rushing yards given up per game, and 20th in the league in yards per attempt allowed.

San Diego's pass defense may not be the best around, but neither is the Bears' passing attack.  You can bet that the Chargers are coming into Soldier Field with stopping Forte as priority one.

Forte had a down week against the Lions, but if Cutler and the passing attack can take some pressure off of Forte, the star rusher should have a big day.

If that passing attack stalls, then the Bears are going to need Forte to work his magic and make things happen, much like he did against Tampa Bay.

Israel Idonije

To say this year has been a disappointment for Izzy Idonije is a bit of an understatement.  With Julius Peppers on the other side of the line and better play from the defensive tackles this year, one would expect Idonije to have improved on his career year last season.

Instead Idonije has been mostly invisible.

But he can get back on track this week.  

The Chargers' offensive line has allowed 25 sacks on the season.  Making things even more interesting is the fact that the Bolts' tackles are not doing well.  

Right tackle Jeromey Clary has allowed almost as many total pressure—sacks, QB hits and QB pressures—as J'Marcus Webb and Lance Louis combined.

In fact, Clary and left tackle Marcus McNeill have allowed more total pressures than Webb, Louis, Frank Omiyale and Gabe Carimi combined, and that includes the 102 snaps that Louis took at right guard.

Working against Clary, Idonije has an opportunity to get himself back on the right track and take some of the pressure off of Peppers, who has been battling injury all year and still has delivered.

But there's more than stats for Idonije involved here.  

Rivers can pick a team apart when he's given time.  But when pressured and blitzed, he doesn't do well.  

When Rivers is under pressure, he has passed for a 52.7 quarterback rating and a 41.9 completion percentage.  But when protected, Rivers has thrown for a 90.1 quarterback rating and a 68.3 completion percentage.

Pressure is a must against the Chargers.  Injured or not, Peppers will bring it.  But he cannot do it alone, and Idonije has to step up and perform.

J'Marcus Webb

We know how vulnerable Rivers is to pressure.  Jay Cutler isn't nearly as rattled in similar situations.  In fact, Cutler does pretty well under pressure, recording a 77.0 quarterback rating and a 54.7 completion percentage while under attack.

But he's still much better when protected.  

The Chargers' pass rush has been every bit as lackluster as the Bears' has been, and just like the Bears, the Bolts have really only one major threat in linebacker Antwan Barnes.

Barnes has six sacks on the year with four of them coming in the past three games.  More concerning is that all six came against left tackles.

Barnes is a high motor 3-4 outside linebacker who likes to line up in the wide-9 gap—you'll remember that gap from the first Lions game and the mauling Cutler took.  In fact, all six of Barnes' sacks have come beating the left tackle out of the wide-9 gap.

The bears have done a lot to help Webb after he was exposed by the Lions as seriously vulnerable to the wide-9 technique in their first meeting.  Chicago has used running backs and tight ends to chip defensive ends and allow Webb to get into position to better defend.  And Webb has responded well.

Since that game—in which Webb allowed a sack, a quarterback hit and four quarterback pressures—he has allowed just three quarterback pressures and no sacks or hits in his last two games, both of which featured wide-9 technique defensive ends.

The Bears need Webb to continue this trend.  If he can stop Barnes from harassing Cutler, the passing game could have a big day and open up the box for Forte to do his thing.

And now it's your turn, ladies and gentlemen.  Step up to the soapbox below and let your voice be heard.