Rozner: Chicago Bears will get chance to prove they belong
Even coming off the misery that was Sunday's loss in Miami, the Chicago Bears don't have to fear the New England Patriots.
The Bears don't have to fear any team. And that's not because the Bears are particularly good.
It's that the NFL is particularly bad.
With each year that passes, it becomes more of an any-given-Sunday league, and that applies even to this Sunday when the Pats invade Soldier Field.
But it is, nevertheless, an opportunity to see the best ever, a 41-year-old Tom Brady who pretends the calendar doesn't apply to him.
And it brings back memories of the last time Brady was here, in December 2010, when a blizzard and below-zero wind chills presented so many problems for the Bears and absolutely none for New England.
That was the part that was so impressive.
Jay Cutler wasn't the only Bear with bad body language in the blinding snow and brutal wind. It was a team thing and in stark contrast to how the visitors reveled in it.
"We're very comfortable in whatever conditions we have to play in because we practice in it every day," Brady said postgame, after a 36-7 victory over the Bears. "We don't go in our bubble very often. If it snows, we practice in it. If it's windy, we practice. If it rains, we practice.
"They don't cancel football games very often. This isn't baseball. You're out there in the elements and you've got to be mentally tough enough to play in them."
On the 28th anniversary of the "Snowplow Game," Brady shredded a top-10 Bears defense for 369 yards, 2 TDs and a 113.4 QB rating, while Cutler threw for 152 yards, 2 picks and a 32.9 QB rating.
"It looked like the weather didn't affect them at all," said Brian Urlacher. "They came in here - our field, our weather - and they pounded us. We didn't expect this result."
After every three-and-out, the Bears' offense couldn't wait to get their winter clothes, hats and gloves on, while Brady followed every TD by merely sitting on the bench with his helmet, occasionally playing catch with a teammate.
"It's one of those days that people would rather be cozied up near the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate," Brady said. "But we work on Sundays and all of us are pretty committed to coming out here and trying to execute in tough conditions."
Brady and his mates had the field for a laughable 39:41.
"We could have been playing anywhere on any field," Cutler confessed. "Their offense puts so much pressure on you. If you don't convert, if you don't sustain drives, if you turn it over, they're going to take advantage and make you pay."
That hasn't changed, some eight years later. The Pats are fourth in the league in scoring after putting up 43 points on the Chiefs Sunday night, and New England has won its last three while averaging 40 a game.
And as long as we're reliving horrid memories, the last time the two teams played in 2014 was that 51-23 beating in New England that began the precipitous decline of Marc Trestman.
The Bears fell to 3-5 and then came out of the bye week with a 55-14 drubbing in Green Bay that marked the end of the Trestman era.
So if you're keeping score at home, that's a combined 87-30 in favor of the Pats in their last two games with the Bears, though the Bears would argue this is a completely different team.
Of course, New England could say the same thing, with virtually everything different except the head coach and quarterback, who have been to four of the last seven Super Bowls and lost the conference championship game in the three years they didn't reach the big dance.
They've made the playoffs in 14 of the last 15 years, missing only in 2008 (with 11 wins) when Brady was out for the year with a knee injury.
In a parity-stricken league that takes pride in teams going from worst to first, and with constant change the only constant, it seems impossible that this New England run can continue, and yet it does.
The Pats seem headed for another division title and are again among the best teams in the game.
The Bears will get their chance Sunday to prove they belong in that conversation.