This bunch of backs really doesn't matter

Maybe the Bears' tradition of Hall of Fame running backs has spoiled me over the years.

Apparently that isn't the case for others, judging by Lovie Smith's weekly news conference Monday.

The Bears' head coach was asked whether he regretted trading Thomas Jones last winter, as if Jones were rushing toward Canton.

Smith wouldn't get into that, of course. He confirmed that Jones no longer is with the Bears and added that he is happy with the running backs that are.

Personally, I don't miss Jones either. Nor was I terribly impressed by Cedric Benson, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury Sunday. Nor am I by Adrian Peterson and Garrett Wolfe, who now are the Bears' running backs.

Let's put it this way: Jones isn't Red Grange, Benson isn't Bronko Nagurski, Peterson isn't Gale Sayers, and Wolfe isn't Walter Payton.

The Bears have run the ball well over the decades but not because they were like the recent Broncos, who could tuck the ball under anyone's arm and still gain yardage.

No, the Bears ran the ball when they had a great running back. They haven't recently, don't now and don't figure to the rest of this season.

That's why the Bears' coaching staff has been so hypocritical. Smith keeps saying they're a running team, yet the Bears don't run the ball as often or as well as a running team should.

What I'm saying is the trade of Jones and the injury to Benson and the promotion of Peterson and Wolfe won't make all that much of a difference either way.

"I'm very comfortable moving (Wolfe) into that role (as No. 2 running back)," Smith said. "I'm comfortable first moving Adrian Peterson into the No. 1 spot."

Not comfortable enough to make either of those moves earlier in the season when Benson was struggling, however.

Look, the Bears weren't going to make the playoffs because of their running game anyway. Now they certainly won't.

Devin Hester's kick returns … a defense that starts playing better than it has … the occasional long pass completion by Rex GrossmanȦ…

Those are going to have to be, just as they have been all along, the ingredients if the Bears are going to qualify for the postseason.

So far the formula has been good enough for a 5-6 record, so draw your own conclusions.

Some of you would disagree with all this. You're the ones who wanted Peterson to replace Benson all along.

Well, if Peterson turns out to be the answer, everybody in the organization should be fired for not understanding the question.

Two head coaches didn't like Peterson enough to make him a starter off what they saw of him in practice, in spot duty carrying the ball during games or as a third-down specialist.

"We think (Peterson) is a guy who can do it all," Smith insisted.

Yet the Bears didn't think enough of Peterson to let him "do it all" until desperation set in Monday. He has been a terrific special-teams player since arriving in Chicago for the 2002 season, but that's about it.

Peterson is just another guy at the running back position. Maybe some day Wolfe will be more than that, but he isn't yet.

Remember, though, that's just coming from someone spoiled over the years by the Paytons and the Sayers.