Mediocrity ahead as Bears' 2nd half begins
At 3-5, the Bears obviously need to put together a winning streak to keep their thin playoff hopes alive.
The next three opponents, a combined 9-14, offer a perfect opportunity.
But it remains to be seen if Lovie Smith's team is capable of getting hot, even against mediocre competition.
Watching the division-rival Packers, Lions and Vikings all win Sunday didn't help. The Bears are cohabiting in the NFC North basement with the Vikings, trailing the Packers (7-1) by 4 games and the Lions (6-2), who have defeated the Bears twice, by 3.
Fresh from a weekend away from football, Bears players and coaches returned from the bye week Monday and said there are reasons for optimism, but the positive signs might not be visible without squinting.
"If there was a complete collapse, then maybe it's something I'd be a little down about (regarding) our situation," defensive end Adewale Ogunleye said. "But one week our offense looks OK, the defense looks OK another week, and the special teams looks great one week. We've just been having certain collapses in different phases.
"If we can try to come together every game and try to play our best ball with these next couple games, I can see us winning these games."
The Bears played only two teams with losing records in the first half of the season (the Vikings and the 3-5 Eagles), but two of their next three opponents are below .500, starting with the Raiders (2-6) and then the Broncos (3-4) -- sandwiched around the Seahawks (4-4).
The Bears face the Raiders and Seahawks on the road, but that isn't necessarily a negative, since 2 of their 3 wins this season are away from home.
That's one of the few positives Smith takes solace from during an otherwise disappointing first half.
"You have to look at some of the things we were able to get done," Smith said. "Green Bay is having a good season. To be able to go into Green Bay, to be able to go into Philly, and to beat a good (4-4) Kansas City team -- two of them are leading their division right now (the Chiefs are tied for first in the AFC West). We've seen signs of us being a good team. Now it's time for us to put it all together."
For all the Bears' inconsistencies, they have mounted a fairly reliable pass rush, getting 3 sacks or more in six of their eight games.
The Raiders have not done an effective job of protecting quarterbacks Daunte Culpepper and Josh McCown, allowing 23 sacks while throwing just 222 passes. And the Bears sacked Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck eight times in two games last season.
But even the Bears' defenders admit they need a lot more than a decent pass rush to get this season turned around.
"Yeah, the pass rush has been there," said Ogunleye, who is third on the team with 4 sacks. "We've been getting a lot of pressure on quarterbacks, but if it doesn't translate to wins, what does it mean?
"The problem for us is to get these W's no matter which way we get them. We need to get more turnovers. We need to try to get our offense in better position to score, and we need to score (on defense)."
The Bears' defense forced a league-best 44 turnovers last season and scored 3 touchdowns. But they've forced only 13 turnovers this season and have yet to score a point off a takeaway.
"That's something that we've gotten spoiled here in the past in Chicago -- getting turnovers and scoring points," Ogunleye said. "(But) we haven't done that."