This is what NFL calls a big game?

Big game? Bears vs. Titans? Rex Grossman vs. Kerry Collins?

Apparently this is what the National Football League has been reduced to.

Sorry, but it's difficult to accept the notion that these two particular division leaders will play a Super Bowl preview today in Soldier Field.

Maybe that's why few have had the nerve to even imply it.

The thought was convenient, considering the NFC North leader is playing the NFL's final undefeated team.

But then you hear a pivotal element to the outcome will be the Bears' movable-object defense against the Titans' resistible-force offense.

Not the stuff of buzz, is it?

If this truly were a battle of NFL beasts, then the presidential election truly should have come down to Ron Paul against Dennis Kucinich.

I heard last week that Walter Cronkite once observed that journalists should be skeptical so the public doesn't become cynical.

(As if you weren't becoming increasingly cynical about sports and government already, right?)

Anyway, color me skeptical about both these teams.

The Bears have a 5-3 record, lead the NFC North, and are considered longshots by fans to win the Class 1A state title.

You know, as if the Bears on a good day could beat Sidell Jamaica but never would get past Concord Triopia.

Meanwhile, the Titans are the NFL's last undefeated team and have supplanted the Patriots and the Colts as Super Bowl favorites in the AFC.

Seriously, though, does anybody - other than ESPN wonks with nothing else to say - think the Titans are the league's best team?

Think back to when the NFL was the NFL and its best teams were really good.

1970s: Steelers vs. Cowboys, Terry Bradshaw vs. Roger Staubach.

1980s: 49ers vs., oh, let's say the Bears, Joe Montana vs. Jim McMahon.

1990s: Cowboys vs. Packers, Troy Aikman vs. Brett Favre.

2000s: Patriots vs. Colts, Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning.

Now we're talking about these Bears against these Titans and that Grossman against that Collins.

Hey, you might say, they weren't supposed to be the quarterbacks. Remember, you would add, Kyle Orton and Vince Young were.

Wow, I forgot, Orton-Young would be a classic matchup conjuring memories of Bart Starr against Johnny Unitas.

Listen, we're in the business of selling sports to sell newspapers, but to be honest I'm having trouble stretching this one to those lengths.

The way today's game looks, the Bears should win because the Titans aren't all that unbeatable, and the Titans should win because the Bears aren't all that good.

Some Super Bowl preview.

Take the Bears, a not-so-pleasant surprise to their fans judging by the whining about leaky defense, Devin Hester's unhappy returns and the coaching staff's coaching.

The Bears began the season as the third choice in their division and still could end up there if Green Bay and Minnesota aren't as bad as they played so far.

The Titans began the season as AFC afterthoughts and wouldn't shock anybody by going from 8-0 in the first half to 5-3 or even 4-4 in the second half.

This might turn out to be a great game today, but not between great teams.

Then again, there might not be any in the NFL this year.

mimrem@dailyherald.com