Johnson fits right in with 'D'
CHICAGO -- Whether it was because of his presence or his absence, safety Todd Johnson was responsible for big plays during his first start Sunday in place of injured Bears strong safety Mike Brown."Todd played very well," defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. "There's a couple things he did that were exciting for us, a couple big hits."Johnson forced two fumbles in his first start of the year, the Bears' 41-10 victory over the San Francisco 49ers."He played very well for us in (man-to-man) coverage," said Rivera. "We put him in a couple spots having to run with the tight end in coverage and were very happy to see him play the way we think he's capable of playing and it really helped."
He knocked the ball from 49ers receiver Antonio Bryant on a fourth-and-six completion at the Bears' 28 that Ricky Manning Jr. recovered. The play triggered the 70-yard drive to the Bears' final points of the game.
Johnson also forced a fumble by Frank Gore on a screen pass but San Francisco recovered in the fourth quarter.Johnson finished third in unofficial team tackles with five. He had a big hand in pass coverage that held San Francisco to 132 net yards, the second-lowest total the Bears have allowed this year.However, his absence on special teams had a role in possibly the biggest turnover of the game.San Francisco kickoff returner Maurice Hicks coughed up the ball on a hit by linebacker Leon Joe with the Bears leading 3-0 early in the first quarter. Reserve safety Cameron Worrell recovered at the Niners' 15 and it made possible a 10-0 Bears lead.
"I was down there quick, too quick -- I missed the tackle," Worrell said. "I turned around and I see Leon stripping it. The ball was just sitting there on the ground. That's our third one on kickoff."We try to put an emphasis on stripping the ball regardless of defense or special teams and to come up with a turnover or a couple turnovers week after week is big for us."However, Worrell was playing a different position on the play than normal. Johnson was pulled off special teams because he is now starting, so Worrell was moved from his normal spot to take Johnson's spot at the second spot from the end on kick coverage, or the No. 2 position."I would have been on the other side completely," Worrell said. "The coaches put Darrell (McClover) in at my old spot and moved me, so I was in position to make the recovery.
"I like Todd's spot, the No. 2 spot. You get to run free and make plays."Just like Johnson did from his new spot at starting strong safety.
Happy returns --Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye returned to the starting lineup after leaving Oct. 1 against Seattle with a pulled hamstring and felt no ill effects -- the 49ers' offense felt the ill effects from his presence.
"My wind was a little bit off because I missed two games," he said. "And practicing, I felt good, I felt great. I was active, I drew some holding penalties, I got a sack, a couple tackles. I'm happy with the way I played today."Ogunleye was credited with a 6-yard sack and three quarterback hurries. He also drew an offensive facemasking penalty out of tackle Kwame Harris -- but only after complaining to officials for several seconds when the penalty wasn't immediately called.
"I shouldn't even have to do that," he said. "But I was telling the ref all day that No. 77 always puts his hands in my face and they didn't call it. The referee (Ron Winter) wasn't going to call it."It had to be the line judge (Tom Stephan) who finally bailed him out. But I shouldn't have to lobby for that call. He was the one who yanked at my face or it would have been another sack."
Big day --Tight end Desmond Clark had his biggest day as a Bear with six catches of Rex Grossman passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns."I think Rex has a lot of confidence in Dez and we put a lot of emphasis in the offseason on our tight ends, getting the ball to our tight ends, getting them involved," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "We had confidence in them, the quarterbacks had confidence in them and we made a big push."With 26 catches, Clark now has two more than he had each of the last two years.
"I think Dez and the rest of the tight ends took exception to everyone saying we needed tight ends," Turner said. "They knew we had tight ends. We felt good about those guys, just had to give them opportunities."
In a rush --Thomas Jones quickly silenced talk about Cedric Benson needing more carries to make the running game more effective.Jones had a season-best 111 yards rushing on 23 carries. Benson struggled to 26 yards on eight carries.
"When we commit to the run, we can run the ball on anybody," Jones said. "We did last year."Jones carried three times for 25 yards on the Bears' first drive to a field goal and three straight times to 15 yards on their second possession.
No respect --The 49ers had played San Diego's top-ranked defense two weeks earlier and then the Bears on Sunday, but they weren't about to decide one way or the other who was better.
"Who's better?" Bryant said. "I'm going to leave that up to you all to answer that. I'm not a critic."Quarterback Alex Smith just knew he had run into a buzz saw.
"This is a team that thrives off of turnovers," he said. "If you look at the statistics from the season, they're a team that especially creates with their defense, with their turnovers, with their special teams, and today was another case of that."I think we made it really easy on them."
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