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WWLTV.COM: The Saints' offensive line had issues in the opener with diagnosing Green Bay's defensive alignments, stunts and blitzes, leading to Drew Brees getting sacked three times and hit countless others. How will the Bears attack New Orleans' offensive front?

Brad Biggs: “The Bears had a great deal of success rushing the passer in their opener against the Falcons, sacking Matt Ryan five times. Defensive end Julius Peppers spearheads the front and the Bears, in their Tampa-2 scheme, try to generate their pass rush with the front four. Peppers primarily lines up at right end but he moves around and the Bears may look to attack right tackle Zach Strief with the more athletic Peppers.

“The breakout performance in Week 1 came from Henry Melton, a former running back at Texas who is in his third season. He's the starting under tackle, replacing the departed Tommie Harris, and he had two sacks and five hits on Atlanta's Ryan. The Bears rotate seven players on the line to keep their rushers fresh and will mix in blitzes, primarily using nickel cornerback D.J. Moore.”

Kevin Seifert: “The Bears like to rely on their front four and haven’t blitzed a ton since Rod Marinelli became the defensive coordinator. That’s been the biggest benefit of signing Julius Peppers. His pass rush allows them to devote maximum players to coverage. The Bears also got two sacks from new defensive tackle Henry Melton last week, so I bet they’ll feel comfortable with their standard four-man rush on a lot of their plays.”

WWLTV.com: Jay Cutler, quite publicly, caught flak for the way the NFC championship
game went down. He showed in the Week 1 win over Atlanta that he has moved past it himself. My question is did his teammates give him the benefit of the doubt or is he one bad game from losing the locker room?

Biggs: “Cutler has the support of the locker room, particularly from veterans who have been around and seen some of the real problems the franchise has had at the position in the past. Cutler wasn't criticized by teammates in the fallout from the NFC title game last year, but interestingly he was very publicly flogged by others throughout the league. That was more of a representation of his popularity, or lack of, than people actually questioning his toughness. He may not be the most popular player in his locker room, in fact he's not, but he doesn't have to be. Teammates simply look for him to perform.”

Seifert: “I guess the best way of putting it is that NFC Championship Game didn’t do anything to change teammates’ perception of Cutler one way or the other. That came at the end of his second year with the team. By that point, everyone had enough information about him to make a personal judgment. I’m sure it’s like many teams. Some players like him and some don’t. But I don’t think that game changed anything.”

Full interview below.
Bears writers: Chicago will rely on defensive front to pressure Saints | wwltv.com New Orleans

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