For Lovie, it's always just business

Lovie Smith called the Bears' game in London a business trip, and that's what it looked like Sunday.

Consequently the Bears are back in business in the playoff race.

“We're definitely heading in the right direction,” Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said.

The Bears' 24-18 victory over the Buccaneers was a workmanlike effort … check into town, close the deal, and check back out.

Impressive? Not really. The first half was, but then the Bears almost let the Bucs sneak away with the royal jewels.

The Bears had just enough defense to prevail (4 interceptions), along with just enough offense (Matt Forte's 145 rushing yards).

Nothing spectacular. The Bears rarely are spectacular. They play like they'll be glad to return to shopping at Sears back here instead of Harrods over there.

Forte not only fits that style just fine, but he exemplifies it, too, and not just because of his modest salary by NFL standards. As good a running back as he is, he still does it more with dash than flash.

Smith, the Bears' head coach, preaches the steady, the stable, the same-same. If the Bears lose he says they'll be all right; if they win he says they'll be all right.

If the schedule moves a Tampa Bay home game to a neutral site, the Bears aren't ashamed of taking advantage of the Buccaneers' misfortune.

“It felt like we kind of made it our crowd,” Forte said with the hint of a smile.

So get used to it. This is what the Bears are now. They're a collection of lunch pails in search of a construction site at noontime.

If you're looking for the '85 Super Bowl champions, look somewhere else. These Bears aren't nearly as wild and crazy as those guys.

Twenty-five years ago the Bears were showtime in London — how could an athlete nicknamed Refrigerator not be? — just as they were around Chicago and in New Orleans and everywhere else they happened to land.

These Bears' odd quarterback-coordinator spats notwithstanding … well, they move around less conspicuously.

Like him or not, you can credit or blame Smith for that blandness. You can definitely credit him for not letting any Bears' season quite get away from them.

A couple of weeks ago the Bears looked dead in the dome — Ford Field that is — after playing sloppily in a loss to the Lions.

A couple of weeks later the Bears' record is back to 4-3, exactly where it was at this point last year when they finished 11-5.

Suddenly so many of the minuses are pluses again — the defense isn't giving up big plays, the offensive line is improving, Roy Williams is making the occasional play … heck, the coaches didn't even squander timeouts against the Buccaneers.

As a bonus the Lions lost their last two games, enabling the Bears to move within a game of them for second place in the NFC North.

Two victories in two weeks against conference opponents also bolstered the Bears in the event of playoff tiebreakers.

Not that the Bears do more than peek at that sort of thing. It wouldn't be businesslike.

“Right now,” linebacker Lance Briggs said, “we have to take the season one game at a time.”

My goodness, that's directly out of Rev. Smith's Bathroom Bible of Sports Clichés.

The Bears have a bye this weekend and then it'll be back to business as usual.

If all goes as planned they'll remain more efficient than spectacular.

mimrem@dailyherald.com