Ex-Jet McClover sounds onside alarm

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Bears stopped short of calling the New York Jets a desperate team, but their onside-kick attempt sure portrayed them that way.

After his team limited the Bears to 80 yards of offense in a scoreless first half and allowed them to cross midfield only once, rookie Jets coach Eric Mangini called for an onside try to open the third quarter.

Kicker Mike Nugent set the ball on the tee and began walking backward before spinning and driving the ball into the ground to his left.

Chris Harris, lined up as the right tackle on the kick-return unit, fielded the ball easily at the Jets' 44, providing the Bears with positive field position and leading to their first score, a 20-yard Robbie Gould field goal.

Harris was tipped off the kick was coming by teammate Darrell McClover, who was waived by the Jets in their final cutdown. McClover noticed that Kerry Rhodes was in front of them, and he typically had been on Nugent's other side in film the Bears had reviewed.

"He tapped me on my chest and said, 'Hey, I think it might be coming right now,"' Harris said. "We were ready for it."

Special-teams coordinator Dave Toub had told his group that he figured his Jets counterpart, Mike Westhoff, would have some chicanery in store. New York had run a successful onside kick earlier in the season against Indianapolis, with Rhodes recovering a ball that had been kicked to the other side.

"Sometimes you just have a feeling someone is going to have some tricks," Toub said. "I just had that idea."

Thomas Jones carried seven straight times after Harris' recovery, and Gould hit his 26th consecutive field goal -- all the points the Bears would need.

"That was surprising," quarterback Rex Grossman said. "That definitely helped us get points on the board. Anytime you get points on the board, you start to feel better, get a little more relaxed and get into your game plan."

Explained Mangini, unlikely to be referred to as "Man-genius" again anytime soon: "We have been practicing it for quite a few weeks. It looked good in practice. It was a good opportunity. "I really liked the play, I liked the situation, I liked the call. It's like anything else. There is a risk involved in everything you do."

SHORING IT UP: It looked as if the Bears were in store for another long afternoon defending the run as the Jets piled up 84 yards on their first three possessions behind Cedric Houston, Leon Washington and a 28-yard flanker reverse by Tim Dwight.

The Bears had allowed an opposing player to rush for 100 or more yards in each of their previous three games, but the defense came together and wound up holding New York to 108 for the game.

The key was adjustments made on the sideline. What threw the Bears off early was a lot of pre-snap movement by New York. The Jets shifted players around, and quarterback Chad Pennington was able to detect what the Bears were going to do on each play and make the final adjustment.

The Bears did a better job of disguising their looks, and New York suddenly was stymied.

"After the third series, we were able to relax and settle down," defensive coordinator Ron Rivera said. "Bam! Our guys took charge." Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher played a big role in steadying the defense. He made 11 tackles, as did strong safety Todd Johnson.

WOOZY FEELING: If fines were doled out for helmet-to-helmet contact on teammates, Johnson would be hearing from the league office. Cornerback Charles Tillman was feeling pretty good afterward, despite getting knocked cold on the Jets' second possession when Johnson flew in and nailed Tillman as they brought down Washington.

"We got him down, though," Tillman said. "That's all that matters."

Tillman was taken to the sideline and replaced by Ricky Manning Jr., but he returned and played the rest of the game, reporting only a minor headache afterward.

"I was asleep. I was out," Tillman said. "I didn't even know what was going on. "I didn't hear anybody. I just saw this white light and said I can't go to it. It was that evil white light. It was that 'Poltergeist' white light."

Tillman was put through a battery of tests on the sideline before he came back.

EXTRA POINTS: Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye left the field late in the game after taking a shot to the midsection.

He was fine afterward. Defensive tackle Tommie Harris missed some time because of dehydration. - Coach Lovie Smith won a replay challenge in the second quarter when video evidence proved Jones' right knee was down before the ball came out with three defenders on him.

It prevented New York from gaining possession on the Bears' 35-yard line and resulted in a 41-yard swing in field position after Brad Maynard's 59-yard punt. - Cornerback Nathan Vasher made his second interception in three weeks when Chad Pennington misfired on a screen to tight end Chris Baker.

The throw was rushed as Alex Brown hit the quarterback. - Defensive end Mark Anderson moved past Urlacher as the franchise's leading rookie sack artist.

bbiggs@suntimes.com