dfense
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Talking smack about the Bears secondary. Even when Toomer is out and he has a muscle spasm issue in his back. Word to Paxico, Short CB's who hit you in the back, generally aggrivate an existing condition. Better watch your back Plax. (Pun intended)
Big bad Plax picks
on 3 little Bears
BY RALPH VACCHIANO
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
[SIZE=-1]Plaxico Burress points out Bears DBs are undersized and overrated. [/SIZE]The big, bad Chicago Bears' defense may be considered the best in the NFL, but Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress is not impressed. He likes their defensive line and even said nice things about their linebackers.
But he doesn't understand why anyone is impressed with the Bears' defensive backs.
"They're not great cover guys," Burress said yesterday. "I don't know why everybody's acting like these guys are exceptional corners. I've played against better guys all year."
That was quite a statement considering the Bears' pass defense is ranked first in the entire NFL. They boast a Pro Bowl corner in starter Nathan Vasher, and they've gotten a career-high four interceptions from their nickel back, Ricky Manning Jr. Their top three corners, including Charles Tillman, have combined for six interceptions.
Yet when asked if this was the best group of corners he's faced this year, Burress answered with a lightning-quick "No." Asked who the best group is that he's faced this year, Burress said, "It's definitely not them."
"Just looking at them for the 15, 20 minutes that I have, those guys make plays on the balls that are thrown straight to them, but they're not just covering guys straight up and just shutting them down," Burress said. "They're very beatable. I've seen guys beat them with a lot of separation, so I can't say that they're the best guys that we've played against so far."
Burress said all that yesterday morning, before the Giants announced that receiver Amani Toomer (torn ACL) was out for the year. Burress also said it before his own back tightened up again, forcing him to miss practice yesterday afternoon.
However, if he's healthy on Sunday, Burress expects to see plenty of one-on-one coverage, even though he has a huge height advantage, has made several acrobatic catches this season and has made 31 catches for 510 yards and five touchdowns. Burress said the strength of the Bears' defense lies in the pass rush from their front seven (21 sacks), and when they blitz, their corners are isolated on receivers.
That's a matchup Burress is confident the Giants can exploit.
"Why wouldn't I be?" he said. "If they want to come in here and try to create a lot of pressure, they want to leave their guys out there on the island, then so be it. We'll go out there and exploit it."
It will help that at 6-5, Burress will tower over the Bears' secondary, which features the 5-10 Vasher and the 5-9 Manning Jr. Only Tillman (6-1) is in the same neighborhood. Still, the Bears' defense is giving up only 158.8 passing yards per game (first in the league), and it has 11 interceptions (fourth). But Burress still sees plenty of weaknesses - specifically at cornerback. "I'm just looking at film and assessing these guys and saying, 'We can throw the ball on these guys, make some big plays, and go out and have fun,'" he said. "I'm not going to say these guys are great corner guys. I don't see that."
Big bad Plax picks
on 3 little Bears
BY RALPH VACCHIANO
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
But he doesn't understand why anyone is impressed with the Bears' defensive backs.
"They're not great cover guys," Burress said yesterday. "I don't know why everybody's acting like these guys are exceptional corners. I've played against better guys all year."
That was quite a statement considering the Bears' pass defense is ranked first in the entire NFL. They boast a Pro Bowl corner in starter Nathan Vasher, and they've gotten a career-high four interceptions from their nickel back, Ricky Manning Jr. Their top three corners, including Charles Tillman, have combined for six interceptions.
Yet when asked if this was the best group of corners he's faced this year, Burress answered with a lightning-quick "No." Asked who the best group is that he's faced this year, Burress said, "It's definitely not them."
"Just looking at them for the 15, 20 minutes that I have, those guys make plays on the balls that are thrown straight to them, but they're not just covering guys straight up and just shutting them down," Burress said. "They're very beatable. I've seen guys beat them with a lot of separation, so I can't say that they're the best guys that we've played against so far."
Burress said all that yesterday morning, before the Giants announced that receiver Amani Toomer (torn ACL) was out for the year. Burress also said it before his own back tightened up again, forcing him to miss practice yesterday afternoon.
However, if he's healthy on Sunday, Burress expects to see plenty of one-on-one coverage, even though he has a huge height advantage, has made several acrobatic catches this season and has made 31 catches for 510 yards and five touchdowns. Burress said the strength of the Bears' defense lies in the pass rush from their front seven (21 sacks), and when they blitz, their corners are isolated on receivers.
That's a matchup Burress is confident the Giants can exploit.
"Why wouldn't I be?" he said. "If they want to come in here and try to create a lot of pressure, they want to leave their guys out there on the island, then so be it. We'll go out there and exploit it."
It will help that at 6-5, Burress will tower over the Bears' secondary, which features the 5-10 Vasher and the 5-9 Manning Jr. Only Tillman (6-1) is in the same neighborhood. Still, the Bears' defense is giving up only 158.8 passing yards per game (first in the league), and it has 11 interceptions (fourth). But Burress still sees plenty of weaknesses - specifically at cornerback. "I'm just looking at film and assessing these guys and saying, 'We can throw the ball on these guys, make some big plays, and go out and have fun,'" he said. "I'm not going to say these guys are great corner guys. I don't see that."
