Oct. 13: Run defense; Metcalf suspended for steroids

Jeff Joniak, WBBM NewsRadio 780 Reporting

SECONDARY ISSUES
If a hamstring injury suffered in the third quarter of Sunday's loss to Atlanta sidelines Danieal Manning, the Bears have a void in their nickel package. Options are limited.

Manning suffered the injury covering a punt. Injuries to cornerbacks Nathan Vasher (wrist), Charles Tillman (left shoulder), and Trumaine McBride (shoulder) complicate the situation.

The status of all four defensive backs is completely up in the air for the Vikings game. Linebackers Hunter Hillenmeyer and Nick Roach are options. Hillenmeyer was forced into that role against the Falcons and has played it in the past. Roach missed the Falcons game with a shoulder injury and his status is uncertain.

The only healthy corners are Corey Graham who led the Bears in tackles for the second straight game (11) and young Marcus Hamilton who has been with the Bears for less than three weeks. Rookie cornerback Zackary Bowman is on the Bears practice squad.

This also affects coverage units on special teams.

HINDSIGHT
Bears head coach Lovie Smith said Monday in hindsight said he would have preferred a deep kickoff from Robbie Gould rather than a short squib kick with eleven seconds left in the game. The Falcons returned the kick to their own 44 and still had seven seconds to fire off a 26-yard pass and 48 yard field goal for the stunning win.

"I feel like I could have helped our team a lot better if we would have just kicked the ball off deep, but it didn't work out that way," said Smith.

When asked if in hindsight he would changed the cover-two defensive coverage for the final play, Smith said no.

"That's the coverage we like to run in that situation," Smith said.

"We didn't execute it exactly the way we need to like we didn't do a lot of things exactly how we needed to do it. But, a lot of things go into losing a football game, that was one of em. But you don't all of a sudden start changing some of the things you believe in. Cover two has been a good defense for a long time. It's not going anywhere."

METCALF SUSPENSION
Reserve guard Terrence Metcalf was hit with a four-game suspension from the NFL for violating the league's policy on Anabolic Steroids and related substances. He will be unavailable to the team without pay until Nov.17.

The Bears do have reserve guard Dan Buenning on the roster and rookie tackle Chris Williams is getting close to a return to gameday duty. Williams has been practicing in full pads for the last couple of weeks as he recovers from summer back surgery.

LOOKING AHEAD
A Bears running attack that has earned less than 100 yards in each of the past three games meets one of the league's top run defensesSunday.

The Vikings are stout inside with Pat Williams and Kevin Williams. Despite a Kevin Smith 50-yard run for the Lions, the Vikings allowed only 50 yards on the other 23 Lions carries Sunday. Kevin Williams had a monster game collecting 8 tackles, 4 sacks, 5 tackles-for-loss, and 4 hits on Gus Frerotte.

BEARS DEFENDING THE RUN
While Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan tore up the Bears defense in a 300-yard passing day with no sacks and no interceptions, they did stop the run.

On 30 carries, the Bears bottled up the Falcons to the tune of six negative carries, and six no gains. 26 of the Falcons rushes gained a total of eight-yards.

This week the Bears revisit Vikings star Adrian Peterson who gouged them for 220 yards last season at Soldier Field. Peterson ran for 111 yards on 25 carries against the Lions, but fumbled twice. His longest run was 13-yards.

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