Still many questions for Bears going forward

Eventually the Jay Cutler issue will go away and a wider issue will surface.

How good, bad or mediocre was this Bears season and how good, bad or mediocre does the future look?

Players and coaches sound proud that they reached the NFC championship game.

“Nobody,” they repeatedly said the past couple of days, “expected us to do much.”

That's the problem: These Bears weren't expected to do much this season.

Why not?

Because they weren't very good.

Even after reaching the NFC championship game, losing to the Packers sort of rendered the season up for debate.

The loss raised questions like, “If not this year, when?” and “If not in Soldier Field, where?”

The discussion was delayed the past couple of days by the absurd fuss over Cutler's toughness, a question as absurd.

“We're going to love having him here for years to come,” Bears head coach Lovie Smith said Monday.

Other topics at Halas Hall — always an interesting place the day after the season ends — were the merits and demerits of social networking and the wildness or mildness of Chicago's sports media.

Every once in awhile the conversation returned to evaluating the 2010 season.

So, let's see, the Bears had an 11-6 regular-season record, won the NFC North and beat Seattle in the playoffs.

OK, give them a grade of C for all that.

Just a C after being a couple of plays from beating the Packers to reach the Super Bowl?

Well, maybe that assessment isn't fair. Make it a C-minus.

This was the year for the Bears to qualify for the Super Bowl. The conference was waiting for them to take it and they simply couldn't.

For gosh sakes the Bears, who lost one player to injured reserve all season, lost to Green Bay, which lost 14 players to IR.

The Packers had to come to Soldier Field for the NFC championship game. They didn't play particularly well. They still beat the Bears.

The entire NFC stunk. Teams like the Saints and Giants and Falcons and even the Packers kept climbing toward the top before falling back.

All the Bears had to do to take advantage of the parity/mediocrity was beat Green Bay in Chicago before a revved-up home crowd.

The Bears couldn't do it, so what's there to be proud of, winning a divisional-round game over the NFL's only under-.500 playoff team ever?

Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo conducted media briefings Monday and expressed confidence that this season was a prelude to championship contention next season.

If that's true, the Bears will have to make considerable roster improvements, partly because it'll be almost impossible to be this healthy again and partly because the NFC North couldn't possibly be as bad again.

Lost in the loss to the Packers was that Cutler played poorly before being injured. Smith's decision making lived down to the perception the public has of him. The offensive line and receiving corps need upgrades. The defense will have to show it has another quality year in it. This draft will have to be better than recent drafts were.

After continually being asked to prove themselves this season, now the Bears will have to prove 2010 was a start rather than a finish.

mimrem@dailyherald.com