North: Chicago Bears have a new swagger
We can finally salute this Chicago Bears team, which had been under siege from the front office to the players while under former general manager Phil Emery and ex-coach Marc Trestman.
Why? Because the new organization has managed to stop the bleeding a few weeks into the season.
First-year GM Ryan Pace, with his hire of John Fox as head coach, has brought some much-needed order to last year's top-to-bottom mess. It looks like Fox is starting to do for the Bears what Joe Maddon has done in his first year as manager for the Cubs.
These experienced coaches bring a certain cachet or credibility or whatever you want to call it to the table.
Don't forget that the Carolina Panthers went to the Super Bowl under Fox with quarterback Jake Delhomme. Fox even won a playoff game for the Denver Broncos with Tim Tebow as his QB, and was also successful there with Peyton Manning.
This win over the Kansas City Chiefs was a huge victory, one of the biggest wins in recent years for the Bears.
Think about it. The team was 0-3, then squeaked out a 22-20 come-from-behind victory against the Oakland Raiders. Then the following week, as 10-point underdogs on the road, beat the Kansas City Chiefs 18-17 with another comeback drive from much-maligned quarterback Jay Cutler.
The team was down 17-6, but I didn't see any quit.
Cutler has brought the team back twice in a row. Even though I have been tough on him, I am very impressed with his last two performances.
The young talent is taking hold and outside linebacker Pernell McPhee, a Pace hire, is playing solid defense and showing leadership. A few guys showing promise on the defensive side of the ball are linebacker Sam Acho and defensive tackles Eddie Goldman and Ego Ferguson.
On the other side of the ball, wide receivers Joshua Bellamy and Marquess Wilson look promising.
Let's remember, the Bears' first three losses were against the best of the NFC with Green Bay, a very good Arizona Cardinals team and a solid Seattle Seahawks team.
Then the schedule fortunately got easier with Oakland and Kansas City. Now the Bears travel to Detroit, which is 0-5 under head coach Jim Caldwell and on life support and desperate for a win.
The Bears won't be able to sneak up on the Lions like they did with their last two opponents, but if the Bears can prevail, they will be 3-3.
Who saw that one coming?
Let's just celebrate the two upset wins and enjoy the improvement by some good young players.
Program notes:
Follow me on Twitter@ north2north, and listen to Fox Sports Daybreak with Andy Furman and myself from 5-8 a.m. Monday through Friday on Fox Sports radio, and check me out on iHeart radio or Foxsportsradio.com. Listen to my postgame Bears show on The Drive 97.1-FM every Sunday.
• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.