Only one thing keeps Bears out of playoffs: Themselves

HOUSTON - The Bears got all the help they needed from other teams Sunday to sneak into the postseason.

But they couldn't help themselves, proving, as they have throughout the season, that they aren't a playoff team.

Needing only to defeat the 7-8 Texans to snag the final wild-card berth, the Bears lost 31-24, allowing a season-worst 455 yards of total offense at Reliant Stadium to finish 9-7, as their playoff mirage disappeared.

Because the Oakland Raiders upset the Bucs 31-24 at Tampa and the Philadelphia Eagles devoured the Dallas Cowboys 44-6, the Bears would have traveled this weekend to Minnesota to play the Vikings in a first-round playoff game - had they won.

Coach Lovie Smith declined to blame the disappointing performance on the defense, calling it a group effort.

"Our team failed today," Smith said. "Overall, our team didn't play well enough. We didn't play well enough this year to accomplish our goal."

Even though the Bears had a playoff berth at stake but couldn't get a victory against a team that had nothing but pride to play for, Smith tried to put a positive spin on things.

"It's a disappointing end to the season," he said, "but when you finish 9-7, you're close. We did make progress from last year.

"We were closer. We were a better football team than we were last year (at 7-9) but still weren't good enough to get into the playoffs."

Not everyone was buying into the concept of "better" and "closer."

"How did we improve?" defensive end Alex Brown said. "I don't believe we improved. We missed the playoffs last year; we missed the playoffs this year. I don't know if that's improvement. Doesn't sound like it to me."

Many of the same things that plagued the Bears all year prevented them from having a chance to participate in the postseason.

Again the Bears' defense made a good quarterback look like a Hall of Famer, allowing Matt Schaub to complete 27 of 36 passes for 328 yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 121.1.

Shredding the Bears' defense doesn't make Schaub special, though. Atlanta's Matt Ryan, Tennessee's Kerry Collins and Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers all put up passer ratings of better than 105 against the Bears.

In those four games, those opposing quarterbacks threw 137 passes, and the Bears had 1 sack. Sunday, they had none.

As it has in the past, the Bears' offense started well but stalled for long stretches.

The Bears held a 10-0 lead midway through the second quarter, but it disappeared in a hurry.

First, a blatant lapse in coverage allowed the Texans to close to 10-7.

Andre Johnson, the league's most productive receiver with 1,427 yards entering the game, ran past cornerback Charles Tillman, who anticipated deep help from strong safety Danieal Manning.

But there was none, and Johnson was so wide open he had time to wait for Schaub's underthrown, play-action pass and still get into the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown with 5:50 left in the half.

Tillman, who was roasted by Johnson (10 catches, 147 yards, 2 touchdowns) most of the afternoon, was not at blame in this instance.

"That was all me," said Manning, who started for the first time this season at strong safety in place of injured Mike Brown. "I thought it was a run play, and I came up and they threw it over my head."

Manning fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, and it was recovered by Texans kicker Kris Brown at the Bears' 38.

On third-and-goal from the 3, Johnson took a jump ball away from Tillman, giving the Texans a 14-10 lead 1:54 before halftime.

With Schaub seemingly able to connect with Johnson at will - and with most of his other targets, as well - the Texans moved easily down the field on their first possession of the second half, covering 72 yards in 9 plays for a 21-10 advantage with 8:30 to go in the third quarter.

But the Bears answered almost immediately, going 77 yards in 7 plays in exactly three minutes, and scoring on Kyle Orton's 1-yard pass to Greg Olsen to pull within 21-17.

Orton had his best game of the final eight weeks statistically, completing 22 of 37 passes for 244 yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 97.1.

But the Bears were ineffective running the ball, picking up just 69 yards on 18 attempts for a 3.8-yard average.

Rookie Matt Forte (50 yards on 13 carries) was rendered ineffective in the second half after his injured big toe was stepped on. He carried just twice for 5 yards after halftime and did not catch a pass.

With the game and the season on the line, the Bears' offense stalled, picking up just 1 first down until there was 3:19 left in the game and they trailed 31-17.

And the defense couldn't stop the Texans, who got a 22-yard field goal by Brown for a 24-17 lead early in the fourth quarter and then drove 89 yards for the clincher with 3:24 remaining.

"When you start the season, the goal is to win the division, get in the playoffs and win the Super Bowl," Alex Brown said. "We didn't win the division; we didn't get in the playoffs. I don't see how that can be a successful season."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=260921">Turner: Orton the starter <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260931">Sore toe hampers Forte <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260924">Rozner: Bears getting closer, yes ... to mediocrity <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260911">Photos from the game <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260916">How they scored <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260923">Grading the Bears <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> </ul> <h2>Photo Galleries</h2> <ul class="gallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=260911">Photos from the game <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>