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Rozner: Bears good enough to win it all now

The Bears can absolutely win the Super Bowl.

This year. As in next month, just four weeks from now.

And the reason is rather simple.

In a wide-open tournament there is no great NFL team, and the Bears can do something that few teams can do, which is get to the quarterback rushing four.

That is a very, very big deal.

For all of his mishaps, credit GM Ryan Pace with the biggest and boldest move of the year, the acquisition of Khalil Mack. One player has completely changed the Bears and if they can get to the big dance, Pace's decision to go for it now will be the reason.

While Matt Nagy and Mitch Trubisky are being fitted for Hall of Fame jackets, it's really Mack - and Pace's gutsy deal for him - that has turned the Bears around.

It has them in a position to make life miserable for Nick Foles, Jared Goff and Drew Brees, the latter of which - with all due respect - is not the player he was when he won a Super Bowl nearly a decade ago.

The opportunity is there for the Bears to go a very long way. There are no excuses.

Teams don't talk about where their quarterbacks will be five years from now anymore. This is not a developmental league. They play young QBs and expect them to perform.

But those firing up the pompoms want you to believe this is like the 2015 Cubs or the 2009 Blackhawks.

The comparisons are a reach.

Those teams were built for the long haul, and there is no such thing in the NFL. Lose one player, the wrong player, and your Super Bowl hopes can vanish quickly.

Maybe it's more like the 2005 Bears that went 11-5 and won the division after finishing 5-11 the year before - as the Bears did a year ago - replacing rookie Kyle Orton with Rex Grossman - back from injury - late in the season.

They were one and done in the postseason, but a 13-3 season in 2006 preceded a Super Bowl appearance in which Grossman was terrible, and the Bears missed the playoffs the next three years.

By 2009, Grossman was a distant memory.

So while some see this as a beginning, there's no promise of such in the NFL and you can be certain Bears players are not looking at it that way.

This defense is good enough to win a Super Bowl right now and the players know it. And not just Bears players. Those opposing quarterbacks know it as well.

Now, it's up to Nagy to let the defense win games for him, if he can check his ego, run the football downhill and keep a tight leash on Trubisky.

It seems as if he might be starting to get that concept.

When Trubisky threw 3 more interceptions against the Rams in Week 14, Nagy started handing off and punting, knowing Los Angeles had no chance against the Bears' pass rush.

Since then, the Bears' pass game has been conservative and smart, for the most part focusing on short passes and easy completions.

There's no shame in that.

Trubisky hasn't thrown a pick since that Rams game and is gaining confidence with every simple throw, Nagy seeming to take - with some dangerous exceptions - the decision out of the quarterback's hands.

If they can stay with that plan, there's no reason they can't go a long way.

Play it smart, play field position and allow Vic Fangio to capitalize on the nightmare that Mack has become for every offense the Bears face, freeing up the rest of the defensive line to tee off.

In the last three years, only 42 percent of teams reaching the postseason have returned the following season, so there are no guarantees.

No, it's not about the future. It's about today. Right now.

It's a chance to win the Super Bowl if the Bears are smart enough to take it.

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