[eMarkM]

Life long Chicagoan and Bears fan here. This team only looks like a bad team because Orton is just plain awful. They are winning in spite of him. During this streak he's keeping his mistakes down, and he has had some good moments, but they run whenever possible because the coaches can't really trust him to carry them in any way.

The offense isn't too bad, just the passing game. They have a solid running attack, great run blocking and great pass blocking. Orton has all the time in the world back there to sail it ten feet over the receiver's head on his longer passes. Of course, besides Muhammad they have nothing much in terms of receivers, but Orton is the main reason people are saying they are a "bad" 8-3 team. Any time this guy throws for more than ten yards I start to cringe.

I think everything else is in place for this team to really contend for the SB, but I don't think it will be this year. The D is shaping up to be one of the great ones for a single season. I haven't been this excited to see the Bears punt so I can watch the D since the days of Da Coach. You double team Ogunleye, and Brown goes off. The Bucs got sick of that and started doubling Brown and Ogunleye gets the sacks. No one can stop both of these guys at once, the Bears don't need to blitz to get pressure.

I don't know if Grossman is the answer either. We don't really know how healthy he is, so the point now is moot. He certainly has the better arm and knows the offense better since he's been through three training camps. But his lack of game experience and his fragility are a concern. Short of Orton getting hurt (I'll give him credit for at least being healthy, something Bear QBs have had terrible luck with) or him actually blowing a game with a truly awful performance, I'm afraid this is who we're going to the playoffs with.

I don't think any modern team has had a passing attack this poor and made it to the Super Bowl no matter how awe inspiring their D was. Unfortunately, I don't think this year will be an exception. It seems like every game the Bears are one big play away from losing. If the Bears D doesn't hand Orton the ball in the red zone, they can't score touchdowns and they're going to have trouble beating playoff teams even in the weak NFC.

This team kind of reminds me of the Bucs prior to winning the Super Bowl (where Bear GM Angelo was before) when they had a good running game with Alstott and Dunn, a terrific defense, and a poor QB in Shaun King. It was enough to get them to the playoffs, but with unreliabiltiy in the passing game, they couldn't take that final step. When they went with the journeyman Brad Johnson they went on to win it all. He didn't need to be spectacular, just solid. Same for the Bears, a solid QB will do, but not mediocre.