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Hunter Hillenmeyer could have picked a better opponent than Pittsburgh for his first start at middle linebacker since 2004.

In fact, due to his new job description as the Bears’ primary defensive communicator, the seventh-year veteran could have picked about 30 better opponents.

“I’m definitely glad to have that one done with, especially against a team like Pittsburgh,” Hillenmeyer said after the Bears rallied for a 17-14 victory at Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon. “They do a lot of stuff that really tests all your keys (by) moving guys around. Lots of misdirection stuff. And for linebackers, that sometimes can have you spinning like a top out there. I’m glad we settled down.”

While the Bears defense settled down after surrendering 144 yards and 7 points on Pittsburgh’s first 20 plays _ but just 182 yards and 7 points on the Steelers’ subsequent 39 plays _ Hillenmeyer never calmed down.

He lost his head on at least two occasions. The first came in the first half when the Bears had to call a timeout because the defense was confused. The second came on Rashard Mendenhall’s 39-yard run down to the Bears’ 2-yard line midway through the third quarter.

Hillenmeyer complained bitterly to the official that he was held – and the replay showed a Pittsburgh lineman grabbing Hillenmeyer by the shoulder pads and flinging him down to the lousy turf.

But Hillenmeyer’s biggest issue? He nearly lost his voice trying to make his defensive calls above the Soldier Field din. While he labeled the noise “an awesome thing,” there were limits to the awesomeness.

“We had a whole lot of checks going in on defense,” Hillenmeyer said, “so we were trying to switch some coverages up there and having a hard time communicating. We felt like we did some good things, especially there toward the end. We started getting a lot of pressure, which is always good. Ben (Roethlisberger) will pick you apart if he has time back there. Toward the end, we did a better job of getting to him.”

Hillenmeyer finished with 4 solo tackles, 1 pass breakup and immeasurable satisfaction. As you might have heard in the week leading up to this game, the Bears went 0-7 in 2004 when Urlacher was hurt and Hillenmeyer started in his stead.

“I don’t think that I played my best football game,” he said. “And I think a lot of guys, when we watch the film, will say the same thing. We feel like we can do better than we did today, but awesome to get a win.”

WHY IT’S GOOD THAT GREG OLSEN GOT BLOWN UP IN THE SECOND QUARTER.

In case you haven’t seen the replay, Bears tight end Greg Olsen caught a long ball down the left sideline during the second quarter.

Well, Olsen caught the ball until Steelers safety Tyrone Carter sprinted over, bludgeoned him and knocked the ball free.

Both players were down for a long time. Bears coach Lovie Smith even wandered all the way across the field to check on Olsen, who said he was drilled in the chest and lost his air.

Meanwhile, Carter hurt his left thigh on the play. That injury came back to haunt the Steelers on the Bears’ tying touchdown.

With the Bears facing third-and-goal from the 7, running back Matt Forte motioned out of the backfield into the slot. With the Bears backfield empty, that forced all of the Steelers’ defensive backs into man-to-man coverage. Knox was lined up wide right with Carter across from him. Knox whipped Carter on a slant and caught Jay Cutler’s pass that made it 14-14 with 6:21 to go.

“That second touchdown, I knew I couldn’t cover,” Carter said. “I should have called a timeout and I didn’t. It was on me, and I knew I couldn’t cover because of my leg. I couldn’t move.”

SPEAKING OF CARTER’S INABILITY TO MOVE AND SOME BEARS STRATEGY...

Remember Greg Olsen’s big 29-yard catch down the middle of the field that fueled the Bears’ game-tying drive?

That was a play Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner and his staff had been saving for just the right time.

(To backtrack for a moment: Future Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau appeared on “Boers and Bernstein” earlier this week and spent a little time talking about the 3-4 defense. After dodging a few specific questions by Bernstein, Seau eventually allowed that the Achilles’ Heel of the 3-4 can be found deep down the middle).

Anyway, Turner said the coaches discussed the Olsen play at halftime.

“We said it was going to be there for us,” Turner said. “And, to be honest, a couple series before, we were just kind of waiting for the right situation to call it.”

But Turner didn’t want to make it sound like the Bears were super-geniuses for making the call on first-and-10 from their own 48. Cutler had just hit Devin Hester for a 13-yard gain and everyone on both sides seemed a bit scrambled.

“We wanted to see what they were doing on certain down and distance and all that stuff and tendencies,” Turner said. “But really you call it and hope you get the right play. Fortunately we did on that one. We had a lot of others we called and we didn’t.”

Olsen was wide-open in part because Carter’s thigh prevented him from getting over quicker
to break it up. He did get over there in time to put another good licking on Olsen, though.
You can bet the Bears will try to use that play once each week the rest of the way.

“It’s a base play,” Turner said. “We’ll come back to it.”

ODDS AND ENDS AND CURIOUS STUFF
--Defensive end Alex Brown opted to sit down at his locker while entertaining wave after wave of media. While there weren’t any crutches apparent, Brown didn’t seem eager to put a sock or shoe on his injured left ankle. He also declined to discuss the severity of his injury, which occurred in the fourth quarter.
“I think the (Pittsburgh lineman) reached out and held me, reached out and grabbed me,” Brown said. “I don’t know, I twisted my ankle. I hurt something. I don’t know.
Asked to be a little more specific, he deferred questions to coach Lovie Smith.
“Y’all know I can’t talk about this,” said Brown in a tone more playful than Cub (ex-Cub?) Milton Bradley.
Linebacker Lance Briggs, perhaps knowing more than the rest of the free world, suggested third defensive end Mark Anderson would take over for Brown.
“For now, it’s going to be Mark,” Briggs said. “Mark’s the man for the job. Tomorrow, it could be somebody else. You never know who it’s going to be, but with this team we have guys who can step in and do that job. We’re very confident in Mark Anderson.”

--Offensive coordinator Ron Turner was discussing Johnny Knox’ impressive game (6 catches, 70 yards, 1 TD) when he looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Knox trying to leave the nearly-clear locker room. Turner sent an attendant to chase down Knox and bring him back.
Alas, Turner didn’t have any huge words of wisdom for his fifth-round prodigy. They shared a handshake and man-hug that looked less awkward than one might imagine between a 22-year-old dude from Houston and a 55-year-old suburban father of four.
“All right, see you tomorrow,” Knox said.
“Good job,” Turner said.

--Quick Quote No. 1: “I think we wore them down.” -- safety Danieal Manning.
--Quick Quote No. 2: “We’re gonna start a winning streak here.” -- linebacker Lance Briggs.
--Not-so-quick Quote No. 3: “That definitely wasn’t a dominating performance by our defense, but we did just enough to win.” -- middle linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer.

LW