bears, are they furreal?

[yonglo32]

the 6-0 bears have looked shaky since that great comeback *cough cough arizona meltdown* last monday. these guys have a great defense but just got hit with a bad loss in losing free safety mike brown. their qb, rex grossman, is growing up, and their running game isnt that fantastic. can they really compete for the nfc title, and maybe the super bowl? or if not, will a more experienced playoff team do it, and who?

[#99]

Are you writing from the future? As of today, they haven't played since improving to 6-0, right?

Anyway, there was a big discussion in the "thoughts of the day" thread. The Bears are a playoff team, for sure, but their status as "best team in football" took a serious hit on Monday. They won that game while looking like the 2005 Bears, a Kyle Orton-led squad that couldn't produce on offense. Truthfully, they're not that far removed from that '05 team. So while they're no flavor of the week, they're no shoe-in for the Superbowl either.

[boston_aloha]

eh... I gotta say they still look the best. They've been blowing people out - I'm gonna look at Monday nights game as a fluke.

[Anthony]

The biggest thing the Bears have going for them is their schedule, which isn't exactly "demanding."

But that could prove to be their downfall in the playoffs, since it means they'll probably have to face a team or teams that have been keeping much tougher company, putting Chicago at a competitive disadvantage (see the 2002 Packers and what happened to them).

[bama4256]

If they have home field advantage throughout the playoffs they should make it to the Super Bowl, but their offense needs to improve a bit more.

[Billy D]

Agree with prevailing sentiment, Bears are the best team in NFC right now but far from shoe-in. Major challengers are Cowboys, Rams, Eagles, Panthers, Falcons. (That's right, no love for Saints or Seahawks... wouldn't be any love for Cowboys either if i didn't think Romo will start soon)

[Marc]

The Bears will fall at some point due to inexperience. Grossman is coming off an awful game and only has few games under his belt. Let's see how they play with a target on their back. But there's no denying they're taking the NFC North.

[Anthony]

The oddsmakers are apparently not panicking over last Monday night's near miss: The Bears have opened a whopping 16 1/2-point favorite in Sunday's home game against San Francisco.