Ogunleye answers the bell in playoffs
After all, he had only 6½ sacks in 14 regular-season games -- a considerable dip from the 10 he recorded last season, when he became the first Bear to post double-digit sacks since Richard Dent in 1993.
But there were reminders nonetheless for the Bears defensive end.
''I went into it thinking that, but at the same time, Coach is, too,'' Ogunleye said Monday. ''Coach would bring you up to his office like, 'Listen, regular season's over. This is what we pay you for. This is time for you to show up.' I took that to heart, and hopefully I've got another game in me.''
That coach would be head coach Lovie Smith? Defensive coordinator Ron Rivera? Defensive line coach Don Johnson?
''Name a coach, they all called you in,'' Ogunleye said. ''When it comes to this, Rivera's calling me in. My position coach is sitting me down. Coach Smith is calling me up. It's like getting called into the principal's office because this game is so big.''
Ogunleye has come up big in the Bears' first two playoff wins, which earned him a trip to the city he calls home in the offseason. He has two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, and coaches have credited him with 11 tackles (eight solo).
That's the type of play the Bears expected when they traded wide receiver Marty Booker and a conditional draft pick to the Miami Dolphins for Ogunleye on Aug. 21, 2004. Ogunleye, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Indiana, cashed in with the Bears, who signed him to a six-year, $33.4 million deal, with $15 million guaranteed.
''It was a situation where I had been playing under a one-year contract for a couple years in Miami,'' said Ogunleye, who led the AFC with 15 sacks and earned his first Pro Bowl berth in 2003, the same season the Bears had 18 sacks as a team. ''I just felt to risk playing under a one-year contract in the NFL is pretty tough. I wanted a long-term commitment from somebody. Miami just wasn't willing to do that. We worked out a deal to get to Chicago, and it all worked out for the best.''
It will take the best from Ogunleye and his linemates to sack Peyton Manning, who has been taken down only nine times this season.
''When I'm going to pick a quarterback, he's probably going to be my first guy,'' Ogunleye said. ''Peyton is that prototypical style of quarterback -- tall, throws the ball accurate. He's just a student of the game.
''When he's done playing football, he'll give his little secrets away of what he was doing. Because nobody really knows what he's doing, whether he's really changing the play or he's just playing around with the defense. I think a little bit of both. For me and the rest of the defense, we just have to play our game and not worry about what he's doing.''
Ogunleye said the key for the defense is to beware on first and second downs, when the Colts like to use play action.
''That keeps defensive lines from guessing,'' he said. ''We're not sure if they're running or they're passing. What we have to do is at least get vertical and not let them confuse us too much. We just can't play at the line of scrimmage, we have to play on the other side of the line.''