Now we'll see just how good Bears are
Folks, your guess about the Bears is as good as mine.
The only thing for sure is that Lovie Smith meant what he said last week.
As promised, the Bears' head coach used his starters throughout Sunday's 10-3 loss that meant little to them and everything to the Packers.
“We wanted to keep our momentum going,” Smith said. “We hadn't peaked yet. It was an opportunity get into a playoff mode.”
Smith won the gamble on his players' health. A few left Green Bay with injuries but none appeared serious.
Meanwhile, the Bears finished the regular season with an 11-5 record that is good enough for a playoff bye next weekend and home game the following weekend.
“I'm proud of the effort in the game today,” Smith said. “I'm disappointed that we lost, but I'm not disappointed in what the team accomplished to this point.”
OK, so how good are the Bears at this point? Beats me. What can we expect of them during the postseason? Beats me.
The Bears remain an unsolved mystery, and like the best mysteries, the outcome won't be revealed until the final chapter.
Of course, still in question is the date of the final chapter. Will it be written in two weeks, three weeks or next month?
When the Bears led Green Bay 3-0 at halftime it looked to me like they'd never lose again. Since they lost, even this trivial pursuit, I'm not sure they'll ever win again.
When the offense compiled 38 points last week against the Jets it looked unstoppable. When it compiled 3 against the Packers it looked like it might never score another touchdown.
When Jay Cutler limited his interceptions the past couple of months he looked like he was arriving as a premier quarterback. When he threw the one at Green Bay that ended the Bears' comeback he looked like he never will.
When the offensive line protected the Bears' quarterback the way it did most of the second half of the season it looked like the final piece of the puzzle. When it allowed the Packers 6 sacks it looked like Cutler won't survive another game.
When the defense contained the Packers it looked good enough to reach a Super Bowl. When it yielded 34 to the Jets you had to wonder how the Bears even qualified for the postseason.
“To get 11 wins, you're up to that level,” Smith said. “We're a good football team and ready for someone to come to Soldier Field.”
Smith is correct: The Bears are a good football team.
Now the questions is whether good is good enough even in the NFC, which as a whole is barely good.
The Bears clearly can beat any of the conference's other playoff teams. The problem is that it's as clear that they can lose to any of them.
The best thing about the Green Bay game was that without anything to gain, the Bears seemed to enjoy just playing football in a hostile stadium. Energy and enthusiasm must be worth something in the playoffs.
“For a team not playing for anything,” linebacker Brian Urlacher said, “it was nice to see our guys play hard like that.”
To turn a division title into a conference title the Bears will have to blend hard enough with good enough.
“We have to keep moving forward,” Cutler said. “We have bigger things ahead of us.”
The unknown should make this all the more interesting.