Bear Down

Chicago Bears - NICE

I was wrong. The Bears are...good...

While I still think the Bear's are a Paul Bunyan step away from being a "great" team, I can't help but be excited about how the season is starting. There are enormous differences between great, good, solid, lucky, bad, and horrible teams...with that said, I can confidently say the Bears fall in the "good" range.

They realize their strengths and deficiencies and they cater to them. They play smart (maybe not always, but often enough) to win games...at least at the early stages of the season. Are they a playoff caliber team? Probably. The way the NFC currently looks there is no reason they should not be considered a wildcard (at minimum). Are they a potential playoff threat? Most likely not, but they are a team that plays with no memory. Meaning they take each snap without recollection of the previous. They play each down separately which  fits them perfectly; Cutler is allowed (read: able) to gamble (which comes naturally to him), and the defense can continue to do the same, risking turnover opportunities for extra yardage. Though these traits may cost them a game or two in the regular season, they are also the same traits that allow them to win games they shouldn't, i.e. playoff games.

While the comparisons to the 2001 & 2006 Bears are evident, this team has their own identity (hopefully with a different outcome), and should be allowed to establish it without memories of past seasons.