Final shot for Bears? The debate roars on

Bears safety Chris Harris this past week sounded quite unintentionally like actor Will Smith in the movie “Men in Black.”

Seeing something bad developing for planet earth, Smith failed in several attempts to catch the attention of others at MIB headquarters.

“Hey, old guys!” Smith screamed, and finally succeeded.

While most other Bears seemed to dodge or refute the notion that today’s NFC championship with the Green Bay Packers could be the last Super Bowl shot for this group of players, Harris faced facts.

“The window of opportunity is so small in the NFL,” Harris said. “So you’ve got to maximize every chance you get. Guys are getting older on defense. Yeah, they’re still playing at a high level. But the truth of the matter is, yeah, we have older guys.

“You only have a short window is what I’m trying to say. So we definitely have got to capitalize and seize the moment.”

There’s evidence to support both thoughts.

“I don’t see us getting any worse next year,” linebacker Brian Urlacher said. “I think we should get better.

“You don’t want to say this is your last shot, and I’m not saying we should lose. We want to win this game, but I am not in any way thinking this is our last shot. I think we’re a talented football team. We’ll just get better every year.”

According to NFL figures, the Bears’ opening-day roster was the 11th oldest, averaging 27.59 years.

But it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the line after this shot. Pittsburgh is also in the final four and averaged 28.59 years, second oldest. Indianapolis (9th) and Baltimore (5th) both made the playoffs and are older than the Bears.

It’s the Bears’ defense that’s aging rapidly, not the offense.

The Steelers’ defense has four starters 32 or older, while Urlacher is the Bears’ oldest defensive starter at 32, but the defense averages 29.3 years of age.

“I’m 30. I’m not dead,” insisted linebacker Lance Briggs.

The difference between the Steelers and Bears is that Pittsburgh is retooling on the fly. The Steelers have four starters on defense 26 or younger. The last defensive starter general manager Jerry Angelo drafted was Danieal Manning in 2006, and the Bears’ youngest starter is 27.

Also, the Bears play a defensive scheme based on speed. Unlike the 3-4 that Green Bay uses, the Bears have to have young, faster players — even on the defensive line.

History makes Chicago fans antsy when it comes to players being done before their time. Dick Butkus played only nine seasons and Gale Sayers really played only five because of injuries. Mike Singletary played 12 seasons, and Urlacher will be in his 12th next year.

Generally, though, there is no sense of aging with this Bears team yet. Center Olin Kreutz is 33, and their oldest starter.

The real sense of urgency with most players stems from the fact they haven’t been to the playoffs for three years. Many say they took it for granted that they would be back in the playoffs immediately after playing in Super Bowl XLI.

“I would say I feel like I’m guilty of that,” cornerback Charles Tillman said. “I would say then I was ready to go a Super Bowl and now I’m looking at it a second time around and I don’t want to just go to one; I want to win one. I think the attitude around here has changed from that standpoint.

“When we went in ’06, the assumption was, ‘We’ll, just go back next year.’ Dan Marino made the same assumption, I think, during his rookie year. He said, ‘Oh, we made it there. We’ll go back again,’ and he never made it back. So definitely you want to seize the moment when it’s presented to you.”

Defensive tackle Tommie Harris is relative young at 28, but his future is uncertain because he hasn’t produced big numbers and is due a roster bonus of $2.5 million in the spring.

“It’s like, carpe diem, seize the day,” Tommie Harris said.

Age, free agency and the uncertainty of the NFL labor situation are all factors that need to be taken into account in assessing whether the Bears need a heightened sense of urgency to beat the Packers today. Then there is the fact that the Packers and rising Detroit Lions within their own division are much younger.

“So, of course, the message for our football team is not to think too far beyond, just trying to take advantage of a great opportunity that we have right now,” coach Lovie Smith said.