Chicago’s Dent Is Back and Bounding : Bears: With a flying tackle, a sack and a fumble recovery, defensive lineman helps cart off Ram offense.

Desperate times demand desperate measures, which is why Chicago Bear Coach Mike Ditka celebrated his upcoming one-year anniversary of his heart attack by sending his blood pressure to new post-mellow heights.

Ditka ranted. He raved. He relieved Bear offensive coordinator Greg Landry of his play-calling duties in mid-game. He jerked starting quarterback Mike Tomczak from the lineup and replaced him with Jim Harbaugh. No one was spared.

“I yelled enough that I don’t have any friends left,” Ditka said.

Meanwhile, a much-criticized Bear secondary (ranked 25th against the pass), resorted to superstition and switched from white to black turf shoes. This is what happens when a team unfamiliar with losing finds itself in the middle of a three-game winless streak.

“It was ‘de-feet,’ ” safety Dave Duerson said. “It was just something for the secondary to rally around.”

Turns out that the Ditka tirade-athon was a waste of effort, nothing more than filler for the 11 o’clock news. As for the Bear defensive backs and their quaint notion of shoe changes--please.

This was a game decided Sunday morning when Bear defensive end Richard Dent walked, not limped, into the Soldier Field locker room. At last, his injured right leg, the victim of a freak collision with a runaway food cart, was healed. Dent was back and eager to introduce himself to various Ram linemen, quarterbacks and running backs.

Hello, he said, to tailback Greg Bell, who was cut down by Dent’s acrobatic flying tackle early in the third quarter.

Howdy, he said, to Jim Everett after a sack and numerous other close calls.

Hi, there, he said, to offensive tackle Irv Pankey, who didn’t fare quite as well as the legendary food cart.

“We’re just glad to have Richard back,” Duerson said. “He made some incredible plays out there. When Richard’s on the field, you’re going to have to designate two guys to block him.”

Said Ditka: “The addition of Richard Dent seemed to make a big difference.”

Seemed? Dent was in the Ram backfield more than Gaston Green Sunday. And Everett probably knows what brand of cologne Dent wears.

Then again, Ditka still can’t entirely believe he lost Dent for a game because a caterer’s cart smacked into a tender thigh bruise. At one point, he questioned the severity of the injury, to say nothing of Dent’s dedication.

Now all is forgiven. Dent practiced this week and managed to dodge all moving metal objects. In return, Ditka placed the former Super Bowl MVP back in the lineup.

“A food cart can’t stop me this time,” Dent said.

Neither could the Rams, who tried a little bit of everything in their quest to slow down Dent. Few things worked, as Dent often roamed free.

“We knew we had to win this game more than anything,” Dent said. “We had to play this game like it was the last game in our lives.”

Melodrama aside, Dent managed to inspire a Bear team in dire need of something other than Ditka’s tired theatrics or the apparel changes of a battered secondary.

“Definitely call it urgency,” Duerson said.

Not since 1984 against the Raiders, said Duerson, had the Bears faced this sort of critical regular-season game. Oddly enough, that was the same game that Dent set a career high in solo tackles.

He was at it again Sunday, most noticeably with his tackle of Bell, whose back appeared to be bent at a right angle.

“I didn’t get a good view, but I heard it,” Bear safety Markus Paul said. “I heard the clack.”

Or as Bear defensive tackle Steve McMichael explained: “Having Richard Dent back . . . geezus!”

All Dent did was hurdle over the low block of Ram fullback Buford McGee and then knock the bejabbers out of Bell, who took the handoff but a moment earlier.

“He just surprised me with it, that’s all,” Bell said.

Well, not exactly. The tackle electrified a heretofore Anaheim Stadium-like crowd, as well as the sluggish Bears.

“(McGee) came and cut me before, and he was laughing and talking about it, saying he timed me right,” Dent said. “Next time I knew that I had an opportunity to make a good play. I was really hoping that the ball would come out more than anything.”

On the next Ram series, Dent got his wish. William Perry pried the ball from Bell and Dent fell on it. The turnover resulted in a Bear touchdown six plays later.

Dent even managed to get into a brief wrestling match with a frustrated Everett. Nothing happened, except that Everett pointed at Dent and Dent pointed back.

“I told him that wasn’t necessary,” Dent said, smiling.

Dent’s contract expires at the end of this season, which makes him eligible for the National Football League’s version of free agency. Don’t think he hasn’t thought of the financial possibilities.

“I don’t follow anybody, I try to lead,” he said. “I’ve been a leader since I left home to go to college.

“I like doing things that people aren’t used to seeing a big guy do.”

The Rams saw. They wish they hadn’t.