Let the playoff planning begin. On Wednesday, Ricky Manning Jr. became the first Bear strategically taken out of action by coach Lovie Smith with postseason implications in mind–and he won’t be the last in the weeks that follow for a team that could clinch a playoff spot Sunday at New England.
Smith learned Tuesday the NFL had imposed a one-game suspension on Manning for a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy stemming from a no-contest plea in September to a felony arrest charge. He then got on the phone with Manning’s agent, Jim Ivler, to explain why it was in the best interests of the Bears to drop any plans of an appeal that would have dragged the process into December.
“Our immediate reaction was to appeal,” Ivler said Wednesday after the penalty was announced. “In our opinion, Ricky was only tangentially involved.”
Appealing the penalty would have allowed Manning, a key member of the NFL’s top defense in his role of nickel back, to play against the Patriots in a matchup being billed as another measuring stick for the 9-1 Bears. No offense to the Fox network, but Sunday’s 3:15 p.m. game isn’t.
In wisely pushing for Manning to serve the sentence now, Smith deemed beating the only opponent left with a winning record less important than any of the five upcoming NFC opponents. Sliding Todd Johnson into the nickel slot and Chris Harris into Johnson’s strong safety position on passing downs makes both inviting targets for Tom Brady, but the Bears can afford the risk even against the NFL’s savviest quarterback.
It might sound un-Patriotic to suggest out East, but New England just doesn’t matter to the Bears as much as Minnesota, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Detroit or Green Bay do.
Conference record is the third criterion used to break a tie for NFC home-field advantage if the Bears and another team wind up with the same record. With a three-game lead in that department over five 6-4 teams, Smith decided the Bears would be better off playing short-handed against the Patriots than against the Vikings, Rams and Bucs.
The Bears’ two-game New York sweep allowed Smith the luxury of acting out of concern for the long-term rather than out of desperation. If the Bears had been preparing for the Patriots in the midst of a three-game losing streak Wednesday, Smith would be less likely to head into Gillette Stadium without his best play-making defensive back.
Typically guarded, Smith acknowledged only the benefits of putting the Manning incident behind the Bears but provided no other details. Nobody at Halas Hall ever would agree, but there should have been a sense of relief the suspension wasn’t longer given Manning’s probationary status at the time of the incident at the Los Angeles-area restaurant.
“Didn’t know exactly what it would be and now we know,” Smith said. “We’ll go from there.”
That doesn’t mean it will go smoothly Sunday. Manning, as quick and physical as most starting cornerbacks, has helped the Bears become the toughest third-down defense in the league, allowing teams to convert just 26.8 percent of the time (37 of 138). On passes in third-and-6 or longer situations, opponents have converted only 12 of 66 times (18.2 percent).
Smith played coy when discussing Manning’s replacement, but Johnson filled the role against Arizona when Manning left the game with a hamstring injury.
“We’ll have other players step up into his role–we have a few guys,” Smith said.
Asked who that might be, Smith answered, “The defensive backs on our roster. You can look at our roster.”
Johnson, coming off a career-best 12 tackles against the Jets, makes the most sense given his versatility and intelligence. He downplayed the differences in the roles but playing against the slot receiver will require Johnson to chase smaller, quicker receivers more than he does in his strong-safety spot.
“It’s something I’ve been doing all year so I’ll be OK,” Johnson said.
Expect Brady, whom Smith called a “Hall of Fame quarterback,” to test his confidence. The Patriots favor four- and even five-receiver sets on passing downs when Brady has completed 88 of 142 passes for 1,019 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions, according to Stats LLC.
“Their system is great,” Harris said, showing Brady due respect. “[But] we don’t feel like we have to prove anything.”
He’s right. If the Bears valued proving a point more than safely planning for the future, Manning would be in uniform while the appeal process began. Linebacker Brian Urlacher argued Manning should be in uniform anyway and resented the league taking nearly two months to act.
“It stinks,” Urlacher said. “He has been a good player for our team and we’re going to miss him, the way he plays. He’s a fiery guy out there, has a good time, and you miss the personality in the locker room because he’s not going to be around (until Monday, according to league rules). I don’t know why they did it this week but that’s the NFL for you.”
Urlacher sounded annoyed. Maybe the Bears lost a Manning for Sunday but found a cause.
———-
dhaugh@tribune.com
