MIAMI – Living in Brian Urlacher’s shadow hasn’t prevented Lance Briggs from shining. The 2003 third-round draft pick has been voted to back-to-back Pro Bowls despite being the second most popular linebacker in town.

“The good thing about that is that I have games where I play well and games that I play bad,” Briggs said. “But a lot of people don’t see the games that I play bad. Brian usually takes the brunt of all that stuff. Maybe if I played in the shadows of a guy who’s a jerk it might be different, but I love playing next to Brian.”

Lance Briggs finished second on the Bears to Brian Urlacher with a career-high 176 tackles.

Briggs reached double digits in tackles a career-high 12 times this season while leading the Bears in tackles eight times, tying him with Urlacher for the team lead. The former Arizona star established a career high with 176 tackles, six more than he had last season.

While Urlacher garners most of the attention, Briggs was named All-Pro in 2005 and repeated as a Pro Bowler this season.

“I think for me, as far as working hard throughout the years, I’ve created a lot of respect from my peers and coaches and that’s where it all starts for me, especially on this team,” Briggs said.

“The guys that I’ve played with, I’ve earned their respect earning the starting job and taking it another step getting to a Pro Bowl. Now it’s going even outside of just the Chicago Bears.”

Playing alongside Urlacher has given Briggs a unique perspective when it comes to the perennial Pro Bowler.

“His legacy speaks for itself,” Briggs said. “When he’s on the field, the plays Brian is able to make, even the plays when he makes a false step or a bad key, he makes up for because he’s so fast. It creates problems for teams because he’s so tall.

“In a cover-two scheme you have to lob it over his head. If you lob it over his head, then you give the safety a good opportunity to make a play. He’s competitive. He’s got a high motor. There’s nobody like him in the league.”

A job to do: Miami offers a lot of temptations, but Briggs isn’t concerned about partying until after Super Bowl XLI.

“There is no point in working as hard as we have to get here and then not finish,” he said. “There are people asking, ‘How do you focus in Miami?’ You can focus because this is the biggest game of your life and no matter what’s going on distraction-wise it’s the Super Bowl.”

No repeat performance: Urlacher enjoys watching the 1985 Bears perform the Super Bowl Shuffle, but the All-Pro middle linebacker doesn’t plan on starring in a sequel.

“That was sweet back in the day,” Urlacher said. “They still play it on the radio in Chicago and on TV every once in a while. You won’t see us doing any shuffle I don’t think. I think they did it before they even won the Super Bowl. It was cool. It was a funny song and a funny video to watch.”

Easy does it: If you think that Urlacher prepares for games by banging his head against a wall or gnawing on raw meat, you’re in for a surprise.

Asked about his typical pre-game routine, he said: “Every Sunday when I wake up, there is a saltwater fishing show on ESPN that I watch at 8, and then at 9 o’clock there’s another one and I watch that one until I have to go to the stadium when the game is at noon. This Sunday I’ll be able to watch the whole thing since (the game) is late.

"I just kind of relax before I have to go over and get in the game mode. Then I go over to the stadium, eat a couple of cookies, relax a little bit and listen to my headphones. There’s something relaxing to me about watching fishing shows.”