Les Bowen: Mays might be man in middle as Eagles shift defense again

"They always come in bunches, and I think teams started to say, 'Look, these guys are starting to get a lot of turnovers.' So they started to pay attention to what teams were doing against us. Game plans changed on us," Mikell said. "Teams came out and did some different things, and now we have to adjust and change the things that we do. I think we had a little bit of a hangover there, but from here on out we'll be able to fix those problems and get some more turnovers."

That hangover would be the double-move touchdowns surrendered by ballhawks Brown and Asante Samuel the past 2 weeks.

Cutler certainly is capable of making such adjustments - the Bears lead the league in 20-yards-plus passing plays. But their offensive line is suspect, and remember what McDermott said about pressure and turnovers. Part of Cutler's problem against San Francisco was his gunfighter mentality - refusing to eat the ball and reset.

"The quarterback definitely believes in his arm," Witherspoon said.

But the Eagles believe in their ability to bring pressure and force mistakes, even with a mix-and-match lineup.

"Those guys stepping in, they need to say, 'Look, this is my time to show what I've got. This is my time to make a name for myself.' It shouldn't be an excuse. It should be exactly the way it should be, whether the starters are there or not," said Mikell, who labored for 4 years as a special-teams standout before he became an everyday starter at safety. "You have to have that mentality and there shouldn't be a dropoff. No, it's not an excuse."