Heat is on Bears like never before

If there's anything we've learned over the last decade, it's that Bears seasons are rarely as they appear when the team reports to camp.

In many of the years when they were supposed to fall flat, they have found extraordinary luck and health and captured double-digit victories.

In some of the years when they were expected to challenge for the conference title, they have succumbed to injury, poor performance and all manner of odd disaster.

And as the players filed into Bourbonnais this week, this Bears team was already expected by many in Chicago to be an NFC title contender — if not more.

While not prone to superstition, this ought to at least get Lovie Smith's attention.

Yes, one day into camp there is already tremendous pressure on this roster to reach the Super Bowl, though Smith immediately dismissed the notion that there is heat on him — or his squad — in 2012.

“Pressure to win?” Smith said. “There's always (pressure) with the Chicago Bears.”

But Smith has a new GM and a contract only through 2013, which makes this — in essence — a contract year for Smith.

There is that, and there is a team in place that Smith believes is talented enough to get them to the big dance. Of course, Smith would say that in a 4-12 season, but this time he probably believes it.

“As we look at our roster coming into camp,” Smith said, “it looks about as good as it has since I've been here.”

Arriving are Brandon Marshall, Michael Bush, Jason Campbell, Shea McClellin, Jeremy Bates and — for all intents and purposes — Gabe Carimi.

Gone are the excuses.

Matt Forte is in camp, happy and healthy after signing his new contract.

Mike Martz has flown his cuckoo's nest, and the Mike Tice scheme is a wonderfully simpler design, designed simply to make Jay Cutler a great quarterback.

The Bears can run the football and they've got two backs to do it, while the passing game should finally be functional after adding one of the best receivers in football and subtracting Martz.

Protection could still be an issue at both tackle spots, but the Bears are not the only team that can say that and better teams have won more games with less.

Age on defense could become a problem at any moment, and the Bears are thin at corner and safety, while still wondering who will get to the quarterback opposite Julius Peppers.

But every NFL team has holes and the NFC possesses no perfect team.

Outside of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, there's no reason to fear any one player or team in the NFC.

The Giants won't repeat because no one does. The Eagles won't survive with Michael Vick. The Niners don't have a star quarterback and already had their magical season. The Lions have a monster duo in Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, but might have a quarter of their roster suspended. The Saints are in trouble and the Cowboys must hope that Tony Romo gets over the hump.

The NFC is there for the taking.

“I think we've made progress. But to say (the Bears are) a Super Bowl contender, it has to be earned on the field,” said GM Phil Emery. “Do we have good, talented players that can contribute towards a winning team? Yes, we do.

“Are we there? No, we're not. We have to earn that every day on the field.”

Smart of Emery to downplay expectations, but he can't return that train to the station. It left the day Emery traded for Marshall, when all deficiencies were magically erased.

There will be enormous pressure on the Bears. Hopes are ridiculously high — irrationally so — and it won't take Bears players long to figure it out.

“When you take a little time off and you travel a little bit, you get a chance to talk to the Bears fans,'' Smith said. “And you get a chance to know everybody's expectations.”

Anything less than 3-2 going into the bye week will have the townsfolk searching for pitchforks, while 4-1 is a possibility if Tice and the tackles can figure out a way to keep Cutler off his back on third-and-long.

Cutler, for his part, must raise his game, as he did for a stretch last season when he led the Bears to 5 straight victories.

After years of wasting his talent, the Bears have finally put in place the pieces to make Cutler successful. He has to be a superstar this year, pressure he has never faced in his football life.

It's hard to imagine that affecting Cutler negatively, but that will be a storyline.

Some teammates will also be under the microscope, probably no one more than Marshall.

The line has to protect. The pass rush has to get to the quarterback to prop up what's behind it. The special teams must be special again.

It takes some measure of luck to keep your best players on the field in the NFL, but the fans will not accept injuries as an excuse.

So the Bears can say the pressure this July is as normal as a 95-degree day, but when the real games begin it won't take long to find out who can stay cool.

brozner@dailyherald.com

ŸListen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM, and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.