Bears D-line ready to pick up pace Sunday

By Vaughn McClure Chicago Tribune

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Bears left defensive end Adewale Ogunleye agreed the Browns look awful on offense, from a statistical standpoint. He stopped well short of praising former teammate John St. Clair’s ability, saying only that the Browns’ starting right tackle “tries hard.”

But Ogunleye was by no means showing disrespect to his opponent. How could he, considering how the Bears looked Sunday in a 45-10 loss to the Bengals? Not to mention the Bears have failed to collect a sack the last two games after recording 14 over the first four.

In other words, there is no reason to take the 1-6 Browns lightly.

“I can only focus on the offensive line. They’ve played very well,” Ogunleye said of the Browns. “They’re trying to right the ship.”

The Bears hope to do the same.

This would be the ideal week for the defensive line – with the return of tackle Tommie Harris – to take a step forward, considering what lies ahead. With top quarterbacks Kurt Warner, Donovan McNabb and Brett Favre on next month’s schedule, the pass rush needs to come out of hibernation.

Although the Browns have surrendered 18 sacks, right end Alex Brown doesn’t believe sacks of quarterback Derek Anderson will be a given Sunday.

“[The Browns’] offensive line is probably the best we will have played,” Brown said. “They’re very good. Their record doesn’t say how good the offensive line is.

“Their left tackle [Joe Thomas], he’s top three in the league. He’s really good. Everybody knows about St. Clair. He’s going to try really hard. They have a young guy at center [Alex Mack], he’s really good. One of the guards is very aggressive. They’re a good group.”

Brown might be giving Cleveland too much credit when you consider how dominant the Bengals’ line was in Cincinnati. In fact, of the seven teams the Bears will have faced after Sunday, the Falcons (six sacks), Bengals (11), and Seahawks (15) all have been sacked less often.

The Bears need to revert to their form in the season opener, when they sacked Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers four times. Mark Anderson and Gaines Adams have to be consistent coming off the bench.

And it would help if Harris returns to the disruptive force he used to be. Coming off last week’s benching, he should be motivated.

“It’s important for the three technique (defensive tackle) in this defense to excel,” Ogunleye said. “Tommie has to be playing at a high level for us to do well in the long run.”