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So the Bears are 3-3, they've outscored their opponents by 39 points while being one of 2 teams to play 4 road games. The difficultly of their schedule thus far has been fairly rough thus far besides the Lions game. The defense hasn't been incredible but they've been above average thus far. The offense has far exceed every expectation for them thus far. Kyle Orton has grown right in front of our eyes and nobody in the national media has noticed. For whatever reason, the offensive line has recovered back to a level of respectability.

Going into the season the entire offense sans pretty much Desmond Clark were rated as the absolute worst in the NFL but week by week we've seen growth from the skill positions. Greg Olsen has recovered from the Carolina nightmare to make some big plays. Devin Hester has gone from not knowing plays to being a playmaker at the WR spot. Brandon Lloyd was making circus catch after circus catch until he got hurt. Marty Booker has looked like somebody who Orton can count on coming out from the slot. Matt Forte is 4th in the NFL in yards from scrimmage and tied for 7th overall in total touchdowns. Mike Brown is healthy and they've clearly changed his role as a player to keep away from risk so we might just see him on the field all season. They've got a fairly easy schedule going forward and those close games tend to even out over the course of the season.

I think that if it came down to it, I'd rather have a team that looks good in September and October but has some unlucky breaks and picks up steam later in the season than the 2006 season where they dominated early but fell apart late (even though they did come back to go to the Super Bowl, they clearly weren't the same team in January than they were in September/October). I for one am optimistic about this team as long as Mike Brown stays healthy. They could easily be 6-0 but what good was being 7-0 in the 2006 season in the long run? They only need to win the division and I believe they're good enough to do some damage in the playoffs.

Im optimistic as well
Atlanta is a dam good team at home and we beat them there
We had the wrong D called and Ryan made a hell of a throw

This team finds ways to win-------That may sound moronic, but we have pretty much won every game this season.
Matt Forte is my man
Orton is playing-------He wont be all-pro but we are a SB contender with him
We need better pass coverage; the D is very good but weak against the pass--either the D is too predictable or our DBs (esp the corners) cant man up as well as they play Cover 2
I believe its a little of both

Improve the pass coverage and we're as good or better than anyone in the league
Barring significant injuries we'll at least go 9-7, fix the pass coverage and we may not loose another game

We go 9-7 or 10-6, which should be enough to win the division. I mean, we can't keep losing these types of games, can we? 3 losses combined by 8 points...

The next 3 games are huge. All at home. Vs Vikings, vs Lions, vs Titans. If we can steal one vs the Titans, we'd be in great shape. They have an excellent defense, but their offense doesn't worry me. Being 6-3 while going into another 3 game road stretch would be instrumental.

The defense has FAR exceeded expectations. It's ranked 12th in the NFL right now. So is our defense.

Orton has grown. He keeps this up we'll be set at QB for the first time in... how long? Even though we lost that last TD drive was a great sign.

Susan wrote:I think that if it came down to it, I'd rather have a team that looks good in September and October but has some unlucky breaks and picks up steam later in the season than the 2006 season where they dominated early but fell apart late (even though they did come back to go to the Super Bowl, they clearly weren't the same team in January than they were in September/October). I for one am optimistic about this team as long as Mike Brown stays healthy. They could easily be 6-0 but what good was being 7-0 in the 2006 season in the long run? They only need to win the division and I believe they're good enough to do some damage in the playoffs.

But it's not just Mike Brown that we have to worry about. Vasher, Tillman, and Tommie Harris are all injury prone. Our pass rush against the Falcons was terrible, as was our secondary for a large part of the game. People are saying that the Falcons are a good team at home, but who have they beat at home? Detroit, Kansas City, and the Chicago Bears. They beat a Packer team in Green Bay with the Packers missing a large portion of their defense. They got killed by the Panthers and the Bucs. The only game where our defense and offense have shown up in both halves has been the Lions game.

I share some of your optimism, but I try to be a realist. There are certainly reasons to be pessimistic, or at the very least apprehensive, as well. However, I do believe that we will win the division.

I agree that the team looks very promising right now.

I don't know if we could do damage or not in the playoffs, but I expect the team to at least make it there. How well the health of the defense holds up and whether or not the offense continues to make strides will be key. At this point in 2006 the offense looked unbelievable. Let's hope that the offense is able to keep up with their improvements and that teams aren't able to adjust to them in the 2nd half of the season.

This season would be a huge plus even if we don't make the playoffs if our offense stays looking this good. I mean, it's ranked #12 in the NFL, and going into the yea people said it would contend for the worst ever.

Going into the season it didn't look good, unproven QB who just wasn't considered good, no #1 or #2 WR, rookie RB, bad OL that would probably get worse...

Orton (25) and Forte (22) have looked great. Our OL is better then last year's, Josh Beekman (25) has looked solid, and Chris Williams (23) hasn't even made his debut yet. The WR corps still doesn't have a #1/#2 guy, but they have looked loads better then expected. Devin Hester (25) has made strides and can become a great #2 WR or perhaps even a #1. Olsen (23) looks like one of the better receiving TEs in the league. Hopefully we can make a few tweaks and keep this young unit together for the long run.

Our defense needs to be retooled, definitely. Urlacher and Brown's replacement, and help on the DL (HARRIS NEEDS TO GET FREAKIN HEALTHY!!!). In the secondary, we've got a good group of corners and Payne is solid and SS. Briggs has quite a few good years ahead of him hopefully, and a couple of solid young backups in Jamar Williams and Nick Roach that could make the jump to starter soon.