History lesson: Not end of the world to be 1-2

On Monday, Lovie Smith reminded his team that in 2005 the Bears started 1-3 and wound up in the playoffs as NFC North champions at 11-5.

"We've been in this situation before," Smith said. "We're disappointed in the effort we put forth (Sunday), but we do have history on our side. It's still early, and we have two games right now with our division coming up."

It's actually three in a row within the NFC North, starting Sunday with the Lions in Detroit, the Packers a week later in Green Bay and then home against the Minnesota Vikings.

But a loss in either of the next two games would leave the 1-2 Bears with a lot of catching up to do, since the Packers are 3-0 and the Lions are 2-1.

"We realize we can't continue to play the way we're playing right now," Smith said. "We haven't played well enough to win. But we'll go back to the practice field and hopefully get some of those things corrected and next week we'll be talking about a win."

Still a fumble: Cedric Benson still is convinced officials made the wrong call when they ruled that he fumbled on the next-to-last play of the third quarter, halting a Bears scoring chance and setting up the Cowboys for a field goal.

"I know it wasn't a fumble," Benson said. "But on the stats, it was a fumble."

It was the second lost fumble of the year for Benson, who has a disappointing 3.2-yard rushing average with 189 yards on 59 carries. His longest run of the season is for 13 yards.

The Bears already have lost 5 fumbles this season while recovering just 2.

"I would say ball security's an issue every time it's on the ground," coach Lovie Smith said. "It's been on the ground a few times."

Room for improvement: Center Olin Kreutz said the team's problems aren't much different from anyone else's.

"All you can do is work harder, like any other job," Kreutz said. "If you're not doing your job, you work harder."

Same goes for an offensive line that already has allowed 9 sacks and has provided only enough blocking for the running game to average 3.4 yards per carry, with a long gain of 13 yards on 78 attempts.

"We're all on the same page," Kreutz said. "Like I said six times in this interview, we have to work harder than what we're doing. We're just not getting stuff done right now."

Medical report: Coach Lovie Smith provided no update on the status of injured defensive tackle Tommie Harris (left knee), cornerback Nate Vasher (groin) or linebacker Lance Briggs (groin) who, among them, have made five Pro Bowls.

It seems unlikely that Harris will play this week, and the other two are questionable at best, although Briggs was walking without any trace of a limp Monday.

Guard Ruben Brown (ankle) and defensive end Adewale Ogunleye (hip pointer) both were able to return after suffering injuries Sunday night.