Rozner: Super Bowl the answer to every Bears question
When last we saw the Chicago Bears - the NFL team, anyway - it was in a devastating loss to the Eagles at Soldier Field.
That's as good a place to start as any as the Bears embark on what is supposed to be a Super Bowl season.
Really, in Year 5 of an NFL rebuild - which, if you pay attention to this ugly era of football, is about twice as long as it need take - the Bears should be planning to end the season in Miami at Super Bowl LIV.
It's an appropriate designation given Livia Soprano's most memorable declaration, that, "It's all a big nothing."
That's how last season concluded. It should not happen again.
Not when they have all the pieces in place - something we heard a year ago - and with another year for Mitch Trubisky to develop into the superstar we've been led to believe he is.
The Bears have been selling this hard for years, insisting they have the right coach, the right weapons and the right man under center.
So there really aren't any excuses this time around.
While the kicker received so much of the blame in January, it should have never come down to that ridiculous double-doink. The 12-win Bears were better than the Eagles and should have won a game that might have led them to the big prize when the NFC looked so gettable.
You never know from year to year if the conference will be as soft, if that opportunity will be there for them again, but Chicago is expecting more at Soldier Field than a public address announcer screaming for fan noise like it's a high school game in Amarillo.
It's an unbecoming look for a charter franchise, for a fan base that doesn't need coaching. To make noise it doesn't need a video board begging and air-raid sirens. It only needs something on the field to scream about.
The fans want more and they're expecting an improvement at quarterback, which has to happen if the Bears are going to reach Florida in February.
Trubisky doesn't have to be great. He just has to be good. And he has to throw it more to the correct jersey color this season.
He could have easily thrown 4 picks in the first half of that playoff game had footballs not been dropped or fumbled out of bounds, and there's little doubt that the awful 30 minutes had an effect on how Matt Nagy managed the contest.
Trubisky played better in the second half, especially in the final period, but he's going to have to play like an NFL quarterback for 60 minutes more often this year.
They're expecting the defense to be great again, though some regression in the turnover department would be natural.
An extraordinary 15% of opposition series ended with interceptions last season, which is quite a tribute to Khalil Mack and his influence on a game.
A new defensive coordinator, Chuck Pagano, replaces the legendary Vic Fangio, meaning a blitz-heavy system and more responsibility for the corners to cover, so adjustments will have to be made quickly.
The Bears also aren't sneaking up on anyone this time around, with much of the league anticipating an elite team.
The first-place schedule seems to be of concern to many, but it's overrated. What passes for good in the NFL these days - including some division winners - is nothing to fear.
Still, the expectations are huge and the schedule is filled with national TV games, an opportunity to display their greatness week after week.
So it won't be as easy as last year, but any team with Mack on defense, an offense with so many weapons and Air Nagy in charge of the operation really has no excuse.
It can't be about a kicker again. It can't be about an inexperienced head coach having a bad game. It can't be about the quarterback making mistakes. It can't be about referees or weather or crowd noise.
The Bears are talented enough that there shouldn't be apologies in 2019.
Five years into a rebuild with five drafts and five chances in free agency, it has added up thus far to 60 minutes of playoff football.
It's just not good enough and they can't end this season without making a run to South Beach.
It's truly Super Bowl or bust.