Don't hold your breath waiting for Bears to be pretty

In a league as mediocre as the NFL, you have to be especially bad to be 0-7.

You have to work to be that bad.

You almost have to try to be that bad.

And you don't reach 0-8 and consistently lose by small margins without making the most comical of mistakes.

Like missing extra points.

The Bills failed twice and in the process handed the Bears a victory in Toronto, giving the beloved their first victory in a month.

Thank you, Buffalo Bills.

And thank you, Israel Idonije, who returned to Canada in a huge way, blocking a key extra point that essentially won the game for the Bears, who improved to 5-3 with a 22-19 victory.

Idonije also stuffed a 2-point conversion try, collected a big sack, and pressured Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick twice on the final two drives.

While this win was certainly nothing to be proud of, this Bears team isn't going to win any pretty games the rest of the way, and it's going to take someone having a monster game like Idonije did Sunday to stay alive in the playoff race.

“That (extra point) miss changed the course of the game. But he's made a lot of big plays like that in his time in Chicago,” Lovie Smith said of Idonije. “He's the only Canadian guy on our team, so it was good to see him do it here in Canada.”

If not for a couple of special-teams plays, including a brilliant punt from Brad Maynard, and embarrassing drops by Buffalo receivers, this would have been yet another sickly loss for the Bears.

If that gets Lovie Smith excited, bless him for his delusions. It's a peaceful way to go through life.

“There's so much parity in the league, it's hard getting a win,” Smith said. “So that's why we feel so good about that.”

Yeah, OK. A win's a win, to be sure.

And there was some good, like the Bears' willingness to run the ball even though it wasn't working.

That's the Bears' only real chance to win, committing to a formula let allows Maynard and the defense to win games for them.

There was yet more proof that the Bears can't leave the game in the hands of quarterback Jay Cutler, who made as many bad throws as he made good and was outplayed by the Bills' Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The Buffalo QB was under siege all day but never wilted despite the pressure and consistently stepped into his throws even as he was about to get drilled.

Cutler, meanwhile, continued to backpedal and throw off his back foot with the best protection he has received all season, another bright spot albeit against the NFL's only winless team.

The line had its best day of the year and at least Cutler didn't sit back and hold the ball too long, scrambling five times for 39 yards, three times on third down that extended drives for the Bears.

So his decision-making overall was somewhat better than it has been, but he still looks like a guy who's been beaten to a pulp this year and wants nothing to do with the pass rush not that anyone could blame him.

“It's hard to win in the NFL,” Cutler said, holding the company line. “It's hard to win on the road.”

But they did, and now the Bears face a very difficult second-half schedule.

So how does Cutler view the first half?

“Umm, you know, 5-3,” he said in classic Loviespeak. “I don't think we're exactly where we want to be offensively. We're definitely getting there.

“I think the defense is keeping us in games, keeping us alive, getting turnovers and getting us good field position.

“As long as we keep coming along offensively and catch up to the defense, I think we're gonna be a really good team come December.”

Well, what's the hurry?

After all, Mike Martz assured us the offense would be clicking on all cylinders by the time the season started.

But, hey, that would be negative, and the Bears certainly don't like it when anyone peers at them with a discerning eye.

The reality is the Bears haven't been a good football team for months and they're going to have to be much better when facing teams like the Vikings (twice), Dolphins, Eagles, Pats, Jets and Packers.

If the offense does catch up to the defense, as Cutler believes it will, the Bears will reach the postseason tourney, where the NFC is completely up for grabs.

Forgive anyone for thinking they might not want to wait until December to make that happen.