ESPN NFL

We're Black and Blue All Over:

We've discussed the impending return of Chicago Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher, who missed most of last season because of a fractured wrist. This week, however, Urlacher discussed the hoped-for return of the Bears' Cover 2 defensive scheme.

Speaking to Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune, Urlacher said the addition of defensive end Julius Peppers should elevate the defensive line's pass rush, reduce the frequency of blitz calls and allow the Bears to play the scheme they employed with great success in the middle of the decade.

Urlacher: "I mean the year before the Super Bowl and the year of the Super Bowl, we were good. We ran so much Cover 2, and it worked, man. We had pressure on the quarterback. We had a lot of picks. Yes, we have the talent and the ability to play more man coverage. But here's the thing: Cover 2 works. When we do it right and when we have pressure with our front four and we're breaking on the ball like we've been doing all this spring, it works. There is no doubt in my mind that we will have pressure on the quarterback this season. ... I would hope we blitz less. Hopefully we won't need to. Pressure on the quarterback from the front is huge. You're dropping seven and that's more eyes on the quarterback, more people breaking on the football. It's just better for everyone.''

Pressure from the front four is a goal of every defense, but over the past three seasons, we've seen what happens when the Bears don't get it. Can Peppers alone reverse that trend? Urlacher believes he will.

Continuing around the NFC North:

• Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com isn't sure why the Bears have placed so much trust in defensive end Mark Anderson, who will start opposite Peppers: "What has Anderson done to restore the Bears' faith in him? Why was [Alex] Brown deemed expendable? These are questions only Anderson can answer by his performance on the field."
• Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times traces the journey of Bears guard Johan Asiata.
• The Minnesota Vikings have expressed interest in free-agent receiver Kelley Washington, according to Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune.
• The father of Vikings center John Sullivan died suddenly of a heart attack last month, writes Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune.
• Tom Pelissero of 1500ESPN.com takes a look at the Vikings' quarterback depth.
• Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel offers this doomsday scenario for the Green Bay Packers' offensive line: "[Chad] Clifton and [Mark] Tauscher get old in a hurry, and when they are able to line up their level of play dips dramatically. [Bryan] Bulaga struggles at left tackle. T.J. Lang's post-surgical wrist takes a long, long time to heal. Breno Giacomini isn't the answer. No one emerges at left guard. Daryn Colledge proves that he shouldn't even have been brought back. Jason Spitz really is a center. Allen Barbre fails again. Marshall Newhouse can't anchor inside. Lang isn't able to punch and grab. Bulaga finally is moved inside in October, but by then it's too late."
• Defensive lineman Justin Harrell's career is on the brink, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
• The Detroit Lions would be better off having running back Jahvid Best hold out than defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, writes Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press.

	Bruce Kluckhohn/US Presswire
	Brett Favre and the Vikings escaped with a 33-31 win over the Ravens on Sunday.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

MINNEAPOLIS -- The clock showed two seconds remaining Sunday afternoon as Brad Childress leaned to his left. Childress looked at a grim-faced Adrian Peterson and spoke in confident tones.

“I just told him we’re going to win this football game right here,” Childress recounted. Television replays showed Peterson nodding his head, accepting if not agreeing with the prediction.

Pressed on what made him believe that Baltimore place-kicker Steven Hauschka would miss a 44-yard field goal as time expired, Childress smiled.

Week 6 Coverage • Walker: Steelers in a good spot • Yasinskas: Why Saints are best in NFL • Seifert: Vikings better lucky than good • Mosley: Giants' D disappears • Williamson: Criticism inspires Oakland • Sando: Seattle has fallen far • Graham: Sanchez throws away Jets' start • Clayton: Saints, Vikings living large • Pasquarelli: Falcons step up • MNF: Denver's reaction game | MN HQ • NFL Nation: Reactions | Wrap-ups | Live

“What else am I going to say?” Childress said after Minnesota survived a wild fourth quarter to take a 33-31 victory. “What am I going to tell them? ‘They’re going to beat us right here?’ I’m not going to say that. I stay on the positive side all the time.”

There are times when you know and there are times when you hope. Childress clearly fell in the latter category after nothing more than chance prevented his team from losing its first game of the season. You can credit quarterback Brett Favre’s 58-yard pass to Sidney Rice, which set up Ryan Longwell’s 31-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining. You can acknowledge that Childress’ conservative approach forced the Ravens to exhaust their timeouts before taking over for their final possession.

But the truth was evident to anyone who sat through this one: The Ravens simply ran out of time. They exploded for 21 points over the final 10 minutes of the game after falling behind 27-10. If they had a few more seconds, I’m quite sure they would have reached the end zone rather than trotting Hauschka onto the field at the end.

His kick sailed wide left, sparking a wild celebration. But you didn’t find many people -- players, coaches or otherwise -- crowing about a victory that nearly slipped from their hands.

“This is a game where in every facet we were dominant before the fourth quarter,” defensive end Jared Allen said. “It wasn’t a meltdown, because we didn’t lose. But it was pretty damn close. ... Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”

Remember, the Vikings led 27-10 with 10:03 remaining. Longwell’s 29-yard field goal made it 30-17 with 6:01 left. After that, everything happened so fast that Allen looked blank when asked to explain how the Vikings suddenly found themselves trailing 31-30.

“I’m not even going to try to comment until I watch the film,” Allen said. Sometimes players say that to avoid making critical statements. In this case, however, I don’t think Allen or anyone else really grasped why they got steamrolled in the latter stages of this game.

The Ravens did their damage -- 222 total yards and nine first downs -- despite possessing the ball for only 4 minutes, 25 seconds of the fourth quarter. Here’s how their three touchdown drives went down:

Minnesota's fourth-quarter defense Sunday Points allowed: 21 Yards allowed: 222 First downs allowed: 9 Time of poss.: 4 min., 25 sec.

1. Passes of 28 yards to Kelley Washington and 17 yards to Demetrius Williams set up a 32-yard score to Mark Clayton. Total time of possession: 1:33.
2. A pass of 63 yards to tailback Ray Rice set up a 12-yard score to Derrick Mason. Total time of possession: 49 seconds.
3. Chris Kluwe’s 39-yard punt, and Ed Reed’s 9-yard return, set up the Ravens at the Vikings’ 33-yard line. Rice goes untouched on a draw play for the go-ahead touchdown. Total time of possession: Nine seconds.

It’s only fair to mention the Vikings were playing without cornerback Antoine Winfield, who suffered a right foot injury in the first half and did not return. But Sunday’s collapse went way beyond questionable depth at cornerback. It sure seemed the Vikings relaxed against a team that’s too good to be relaxed upon. Once the genie was out of the bottle, the Vikings never stuffed it back in.

Perhaps that’s why a Metrodome crowd of 63,689 roundly booed when Childress played for a field goal after Rice’s catch set them up at the Ravens’ 18-yard line with 2:46 left. Did anyone think a two-point lead would hold?

“I felt like we needed to score a touchdown,” Favre said. “They were feeling it at that stage of the game. I think everyone in the building felt the same way. They had kind of hit their stride. ... We knew they needed to get to the 30, 35-yard line. ... I hate to say that I was not real confident, because I’m confident in our team, period. But I felt like maybe, for the first time this year, offensively they felt like they could probably do whatever.”

In hindsight, Favre said, “it’s easy to say we should have thrown it” on the third-down play before Longwell’s final kick. Childress, however, ordered three consecutive running plays, forcing the Ravens to take their final two timeouts. That left Baltimore with 1:56 to move into field goal range -- an eternity in terms of this game. Remember, Baltimore had completed three touchdown drives in less time in the fourth quarter alone.

In the end, Childress took the lesser of two evils. The Ravens likely were going to get the ball back one way or the other. So when I asked him about it afterward, Childress said that forcing the Ravens to take their timeouts was of prime importance.

“We knew we were going to get down inside of two [minutes],” Childress said. “That’s why [Ravens coach John Harbaugh] used his timeouts.”

Sorry to say, this victory won’t tone down harsh analysis of the Vikings’ 6-0 start. Three of their wins have come against Cleveland (1-5), Detroit (1-5) and St. Louis (0-6). Two other victories, Sunday and Sept. 26 against San Francisco, came only after a wild and unlikely turn of fourth-quarter events.

Allen called Sunday’s victory a “wake-up call,” if there is such a thing. But Allen vowed: “There’s enough character on this team that that’s not going to happen anymore.”

Afterward, Favre said he consoled linebacker Chad Greenway -- who seemed particularly upset after the game.

“They deserved to win and I think we deserved to win as well,” Favre said. “That’s the way you have to look at it. Who knows how you’re going to win them sometimes. It’s like the San Francisco game. ... All I know is we’re 6-0, I think. Pretty proud of that. There’s a long way to go but I think that’s a good start.”

Lucky or otherwise.