Charles Tillman not your typical cornerback
Charles Tillman earned a six-year, $38 million contract extension before this season, even though he's not a "shut-down" cornerback, like Denver's Champ Bailey.
Nor does Tillman have an uncanny knack for making interceptions, like injured Bears teammate Nathan Vasher, known as "The Interceptor."
No, Tillman earns his money by playing cornerback like a linebacker, only with better coverage skills.
He's one of Chicago's surest - and most physical - tacklers. He showed just how physical in the first half Sunday when he grabbed Minnesota's Adrian Peterson by the shoulder pads and threw him to the ground, one of the few times the Bears stopped Peterson (361 total yards) in a 34-31 defeat.
That befits a player who ranked third on the Bears in tackles each of the previous two seasons behind Pro Bowl linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs.
Tillman is good, not great, at covering receivers and intercepting passes (14 in his career). What makes him special is his physical play. That means tackles (104 and 85 the past two years). And it also means fumbles. No Bear dislodges the football more than Tillman. His 10 career forced fumbles are three more than Urlacher -- in half as many starts (55 to 109).
It's not enough to beat Chicago's best pass defender. Once you get the ball, you must make sure Tillman doesn't punch it loose.
"He's by far the best I've seen do that," Vasher said. "He's able to locate the ball in either hand and punch at it. It's not like he's getting an arm or something else. He's getting directly on the nose of the ball.
"Hopefully, he can teach the rest of us how to do that."
Tillman is trying.
"I'm the strip coach," Tillman said. "It's my job to strip the ball every play. Lance, he gives the down and distance. Danieal (Manning) gives the personnel. I'm the strip coach.
"Every play in the huddle, I say, 'Strip the ball. Strip the ball.' I try to keep it on everyone's mind. Coaches are constantly saying it. I'm always saying it. Other players are always saying it.
"We're creatures of habit. We're going to have turnovers on this defense. That's what (coach Lovie Smith) commands. Not what he preaches. What he commands."
Smith better start commanding harder. Chicago (2-4) ranks 30th in the NFL in turnover margin at minus 7, one better than the also-struggling Rams and Saints. Most of that is due to Chicago's mistake-prone offense, though. Thanks to Tillman, the Bears are tied for second in the NFL with most fumbles taken away with seven. Tillman forced three of those seven.
"His technique works," Urlacher said. "He does it every day in training camp. He does it every day in practice. It's just what he does. He always comes down on the ball. He always does that (junk). He's done it ever since he's been here."
The Bears need to steal fumbles now more than ever. Without injured safety Mike Brown, Chicago doesn't make many interceptions; the Bears have five in six games this year.
They also had more recovered fumbles (five) than interceptions (three) in last year's playoffs. And when they allowed five consecutive teams to score at least 20 points last year, ending with their 27-24 overtime playoff win over Seattle, it was because their takeways slowed to a trickle, with six in five games.
Chicago's defense simply isn't dominant unless it takes the ball away. And it takes it away best when Tillman yanks the ball from a receiver's grasp.
"You have to get the tackle first, then the strip," Tillman said. "If you miss a strip, then you miss the tackle and it's six points.
"I go for it, and it just comes out. I don't know how it comes out. There is no explanation for it except God-given hands. They're heavenly. They're holy."
At 2-4, the last-place Bears need as much intervention from Tillman's hands as they can get.
Rockford Register Star assistant sports editor Matt Trowbridge can be reached at 815-987-1383 or mtrowbridge@rrstar.com.