When calendar hits November, Gould delivers
Robbie Gould's game-winning field goal against the Packers on Monday night was his second straight and the seventh of his career - 5 of which have come in overtime, including the last 2.
All 7 game-winners have occurred in November or later, 5 at Soldier Field, including the 49-yarder against the Seahawks in the NFC championship game on Jan. 14, 2007.
"That's really telling you what type of player he is," said Bears coach Lovie Smith. "Robbie Gould has just been true, has been a guy that you can count on, it seems like, every time we've asked him to step up to the plate."
Gould's career success rate of 85.8 percent on field goals is the third best in NFL history, trailing only Mike Vanderjagt (86.5), who played for the Colts and Cowboys, and the Chargers' Nate Kaeding (86.0), who hit a team-record 57-yarder last week.
Punter with few peers: Heading into the final weekend, 12-year veteran Brad Maynard leads the NFL with 36 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line, tying the career best that he established in 2001, his first year with the Bears.
Only two players have had more than 36 punts inside the 20 in a season since that statistic was first recorded in 1976. The 49ers' Andy Lee set the record last season with 42.
Maynard had 2 inside the 20 against the Packers on Monday night.
No guy to go to: Not one Bears receiver ranks among the league's top 50 in yardage, and Devin Hester leads the team with just 580 yards.
The Texans' Andre Johnson (1,427), Kevin Walter (876) and tight end Owen Daniels (825) have more receiving yardage (3,128) than the entire Bears team (2,985).
In the first four games of the season, Brandon Lloyd showed occasional glimpses of filling the role of go-to receiver for the Bears, but he's done next to nothing since then. Hester seems to be making progress, but he's never had a 100-yard game and is a No. 1 receiver only by default.
But Bears quarterback Kyle Orton claims passing success doesn't depend on having one true go-to guy.
"I think it's a little bit overrated," Orton said. "We were doing a great job early on in the season of distributing the ball to everybody. It seemed like every week we were getting six or seven guys with 3 or 4 catches a game and really just moving it around. We've gotten away from that just a little bit. I really don't know why."
Looking for help: Even though the Bears need help from other teams Sunday to make the playoffs, it appears the level of scoreboard watching will vary from player to player.
"It's tough to do," Kyle Orton said. "You have so many adjustments, especially at quarterback. I don't know about other guys, but for me, we've got so much stuff going on from series to series on the sideline. I'm sure I'll try to sneak a peek up there at some point, but for the most part you're just concerned about making the necessary adjustments from series to series."
Other players have more free time to monitor other games.
"You know we will, but we've got to handle our business on the field," said defensive end Adewale Ogunleye. "Every now and then, I'm sure my eyebrows will go up and look at the scores."