big bad bears

If one looks at the top teams in the NFC, with 8-3 or better records, one would see three teams: Seattle, Carolina, and...Chicago. Yeah, those same Bears that have sucked almost without exception for the last decade. But suddenly they're one of the teams to beat, with the league's top-rated defense and having just defeated Carolina at home and Tampa Bay in Tampa over the past two weeks. That Lovie Smith is doing a heck of a job as a first-year coach (though he does have one of the softest schedules in the league to work with).

I wouldn't have said that for most of the season so far. I mean, these guys started 1-3, having lost to such bottom feeders as the Redskins and Browns (and Bengals, who at the time had not yet proven themselves to be any different than every other Cincy team in history). So when they started slipping past opponent after opponent--they've only beaten the Vikings and Lions by more than 10 points and neither of those teams has been too scary this season--I chalked it up to an easy schedule. The Bears kept playing a weak bunch of opponents and still needed a shutdown defense every week to escape with wins. I never got the impression they were actually good. Sure, the defense was putting up unreal numbers, but I figured the numbers were inflated due to games against high school offenses like those of Baltimore and San Francisco. And I couldn't figure out why the Bears offense was even bothering to show up on Sundays; they clearly weren't doing anything during the week that might prepare them to actually play football and not just look dumb out there. Somehow, they kept squeaking by and piling up wins. But surely the facade would come to an end and they'd become the usual Bears sometime soon.

Or maybe not. The last two weeks they've stood up to solid teams, and their winning streak is up to seven games. More importantly, they've proven they can beat good teams with their defense as long as the offense doesn't make any big mistakes. So far the offense hasn't been called on to do anything more than just be efficient and not lose games, and they've come through. As long as the defense plays like it has been the Bears are a very mean opponent, similar to the 2000 (I think) Ravens team that rode its defense to a championship. So now they suddenly look legit. And at 8-3 with a tiebreaker over the 8-3 Panthers, they have an inside track for a first-round bye or even homefield advantage in the playoffs. What NFC team is going to want to go to Soldier Field in January to face the Bears, in conditions that would force a defensive contest? That should strike fear into every playoff-bound team in the conference. Such a scenario would be the very definition of homefield advantage--so much so that the Bears could have a good shot at a Stupid Bowl berth if they can keep winning and the 9-2 Seahawks choke (the latter is all but guaranteed).

One thing is for sure: if the Bears are playing in Detroit the last weekend in January, I will be there. I may have to sell a few--or almost all--of my possessions to get there, but the Bears in the Stupid Bowl? Well worth it.