Ashley Fox: Chicago Bears defense simply had answer to Eagles' Michael Vick

CHICAGO - Right before Chris Harris changed the game for good, the little voice inside his head told him to be alert. A tip was coming, and the ball was heading straight for him.

So when Harris saw his teammate, Chicago Bears defensive end Tommie Harris, deflect a Michael Vick pass intended for Jeremy Maclin, he knew the ball would fall into his hands. Chris Harris bolted from the end zone, returning the interception 37 yards and setting up a Bears touchdown that caused a 14-point swing the Eagles couldn't overcome.

"Hey, that was fun," Harris said after Chicago beat the Eagles, 31-26. "We knew we definitely needed to get some turnovers and that he hadn't thrown an interception all season, so we got lucky."

The Bears were better than lucky. They were good, and they won because they were the first team all season to figure out the Michael Vick puzzle. Chicago's defense relied on a game plan that called for it to be true to itself. Playing a dedicated cover 2, the Bears forced Vick to throw underneath and used an array of rushers to keep him in the pocket and limit the dynamic plays for which he and the Eagles have become known.

The front of the playbook for the defensive linemen said, "4=1," meaning four linemen working together equals one goal, a win. And so it was.

The generally agreed-upon book on the lefthanded Vick is this: Don't let him roll to his left. Don't let him stand all day in the pocket, and make him run to his right because he understandably doesn't like to throw downfield from his right.

"You try to stay to that game plan, and you'll have a chance," Chicago defensive end Julius Peppers said.

But the Bears did more than that. They decided to pick their poison with Vick and try to eliminate his run game by containing him in the pocket with rushers from the edge. They wanted to force Vick to be a pocket passer and then rely on their defensive backs to cover.

They threw a variety of players at him, including rushing cornerback D.J. Moore, who got into the backfield on a number of plays. With the Eagles often using Brent Celek and Clay Harbor as blockers, Chicago worked defensive end Israel Idonije and nose tackles Anthony Adams and Henry Melton through the interior of the Eagles' offensive line.

The result was four sacks for a Bears defense not known for getting to the quarterback. They also limited Vick to 44 rushing yards on nine carries, the longest of which went 11 yards.

"He's electric," Peppers said. "When he starts shaking and baking, you've got to keep running to the ball. You can't let him get in the open field. I think we did a pretty good job of that also today, keeping him in the pocket and not letting him get in the open field where guys have to make one-on-one tackles."

Another intended benefit of the cover 2 is that Vick threw 44 passes, the most since he was with the Atlanta Falcons. Entering this game, the most attempts Vick had made this season was 38 last week against New York. Before that, he was typically in the high 20s or low 30s in attempts.

Although Vick completed 65.9 percent of his passes, slightly above his season completion percentage of 62.8, the Bears figured if they could keep him throwing the ball, eventually they could make a play or he would make a mistake.

And certainly limiting the Eagles to shorter gains - 30 yards was their largest pickup on a single play - worked in Chicago's favor.

"Cover 2, the other thing that's good about it is that it makes teams work the ball down the field, and, hopefully, eventually [they will] make a mistake, just like what happened in the red zone," Peppers said. "He threw an interception right on the goal line. That's one of the benefits of making them complete the passes to finish long drives."

The good news for the Eagles is that not many teams have a defense as talented and stingy as the Bears. They entered the game leading the National Football League in points allowed per game (14.6), were second in rushing defense (78.0 yards allowed), and third in total defense (290.4). They are versatile, and they are fast, and not many teams can say that.

Not many players can get a stellar evaluation from Peppers, but Vick, who played against Peppers many times when he was in Atlanta and Peppers was in Carolina, did.

"He's a better player overall, and he looks a little bit faster to me," Peppers said. "I don't know, maybe it's because we haven't seen anybody at that position this year that fast, but it really looks like he's got it to me."

Vick will have it again, but after the last two weeks, opponents have a good game plan to follow when it comes to containing him. We will see if other teams have the personnel to pull it off. But certainly, not many players can call an interception right before it happens.

"It happened," Harris said. "I can't explain it, but I'm glad it happened."

Among many things they were able to do Sunday, the Bears did that, too.