The Bad News Bear : Buddy Ryan Is Man Who Built Chicago’s No. 1 Defense

When the Rams defeated the Chicago Bears, 29-13, on Nov. 11 they gained more yards (370) against the National Football League’s best defense than anybody else has all season.

The San Francisco 49ers might like to know how they did it.

“I’ve heard they’ve been calling down here,” Ram tight end David Hill said this week.

The 49ers, who meet the Bears in the NFC title game at San Francisco Sunday, figure to attack the Bears primarily through the air, while the Rams went at them on the ground in a 29-13 win Nov. 11.

The Rams employed a special blocking scheme to counteract the Bears’ overloaded defensive front and sprang Eric Dickerson for 149 yards on 28 attempts (5.0) and two touchdowns.

Would the Rams run off a Xerox of their game plan for the 49ers? Would Macy’s tell Gimbel’s?

For all Buddy Ryan cares, the Rams could ship the 49ers a truckload of game plans, as long as they don’t loan them Dickerson.

Ryan is the Bears’ defensive coordinator and the latest NFL assistant to emerge from that circle of anonymity as a celebrity genius: the man who gave defense a good name again.

Ryan said of the Rams’ success that day: “We missed a lot of tackles. If they (the 49ers) can get us to do that, they can do it, too.”

As for the Rams’ special scheme: “They used the same thing Washington invented two or three years ago. But we hit that damn running back of theirs in the backfield for no gain and he breaks a tackle and goes 37 yards. Blocking schemes don’t have nothin’ to do with that.”

Ryan’s hope for beating the 49ers is his “46” alignment--four hulks with aggressive tendencies who line up in three-point stances breathing fire into the faces of the offensive linemen, backed up by three linebackers and strong safety Todd Bell in the gaps along the line of scrimmage.

Mathematicians will note that that leaves only three other guys to play in the secondary in case the other side throws a pass, but that isn’t a serious concern because there isn’t a quarterback alive who can throw a lick with his face buried in the dirt.

Ask Joe Theismann.

Ryan, an earthy Oklahoman speaking by phone from Santa Rosa, where the Bears are practicing this week, said: “We put that (defense) in with (former defensive back Doug) Plank--No. 46. All we do is uncover the strong tackle and put eight guys in a blitzing pattern.

“I see a lot of people doing it around the league now. They just picked it up. Oakland started doing it three years ago after we kicked their ass with it.”

A pass rush, Ryan said, is “the foundation of any defense. We were one of the first to play nickel defense. We put seven back there, even before the Rams did in ’79 (in a playoff game at Dallas).

“But you still have to get a rush. If you can’t get a rush I don’t care what you put back there, you can’t cover.”

The Bears’ 72 sacks this season was a league record, and they led the NFL in holding opponents to an average of 86.1 yards rushing and 241.3 total net yards per game.

Also fractures, contusions, dislocations and miscellaneous sprains.

The principals were inside linebacker Mike Singletary, tackle Dan Hampton, end Richard Dent and Bell, all of whom received all-pro votes and won free trips to Hawaii to play in the Pro Bowl later this month.

One offensive player, Walter Payton, will keep them company.

But in other positions, Ryan said, the Bears have ordinary talent.

“We’ve got two people playing linebacker (Al Harris and Otis Wilson) that our people wanted to waive last year. We’ve got a right corner that everybody’s been trying to get rid of: Terry Schmidt. We’ve got a defensive left end (reserve Henry Waechter) that was on the street up until three weeks ago, so I think the scheme has a hell of a lot to do with it, too.”

So if scheme and talent are two ingredients of the formula, intensity must be a third. No defense plays harder than the Bears’.

“Our guys play tough all the time,” Ryan said. “Have for seven years.”

Ryan, 50, joined the Bears in ’78 after working in other successful programs--eight years under Weeb Ewbank with the New York Jets, then two under Bud Grant with the Minnesota Vikings, before joining the Bears in ’78. He has been to two Super Bowls, winning one.

Joe Namath always gets credit for leading the AFC’s 16-7 victory over the NFC in Super Bowl III, but Ryan helped coach the defense that shut out the favored Baltimore Colts until an injured Johnny Unitas came off the bench to produce a meaningless fourth-quarter touchdown.

Ryan, a defensive coach to the core, resents recent rules changes that were geared to help the offense, such as “the illegal chuck rule, the legalized holding rule, and the offenses have a thousand formations. Back in those days they had two or three and no split ends. One guy made a tackle instead of gang tackling.”

The 49ers surrendered fewer points (227) than the Bears (248) this season, but 76 of the latter were in 38-9 and 38-21 losses to Seattle and St. Louis early in the season.

And even in the Seattle game, the Bears yielded only 203 yards. Against other playoff teams they were even more impressive, allowing only 181 to the Raiders and 130 to Denver.

And when Mike Ditka, the Bears’ head coach, says, “It’s all Buddy . . . I give Buddy carte blanche,” it’s not lip service.

“Mr. (George) Halas hired me,” Ryan said. “He hired me to coach the defense before he hired Ditka.”

That means that even if Ditka were fired, which was rumored a month or two ago, Ryan’s job would be secure--a legacy from the late owner. But Ditka now is safe, too.

“He just signed a new three-year contract,” Ryan said, “and he’s on record as saying that he wants me to coach the defense. That’s because we saved his job for him this year.”

Ryan laughed. According to Ditka, Ryan has the total respect of the defensive players.

“He calls those guys SOBs and they listen,” Ditka said. “When I call ‘em SOBs, they call me an SOB back.”

But Ryan apparently isn’t a threat to Ditka, or a threat to leave.

Although he hasn’t been a head coach, he said: “I’m interested but not overly so, because I don’t have an ego problem about being a head coach. The Bears people have talked with me and I think they’ll want to keep me here, so I’m sure I’ll be with the Bears.”