Mike Mulligan: Two days after the Bears lost in Minnesota and fell out of first place in the NFC North, the NFL presented them with yet another possible path to the playoffs by suspending six players for the remainder of the season, including the Vikings' pair of Pro Bowl defensive tackles, Pat and Kevin Williams.
MINNEAPOLIS -- It was a night of historic momentum swing -- certainly in the game, maybe in the Bears' season. The would-be NFC North champions went from first-and-goal to trailing for good, from the verge of a two-game lead in the division to out of first place, from playoff favorites to also-rans.
Offensive coordinator Ron Turner laughed when he was asked which of the Bears' starting wide receivers from last season -- Bernard Berrian or Muhsin Muhammad -- he most would like to have back. It's not a trick question, even if the Bears are about to get another dose of Berrian tonight against the Minnesota Vikings at the Metrodome.
Mike Mulligan: A longtime Bears observer called the other day to tell the ''true'' story behind the Bears' use of the so-called wildcat formation Sunday against the St. Louis Rams. Credit Lovie Smith, the caller said, for the newfound old-school innovation. Smith, remember, was an All-America linebacker and safety at Tulsa in the late 1970s, when Quinn Jones was an All-America running back. Jones is the uncle of Dallas Cowboys running back Felix Jones.
Mike Mulligan: Championships are ultimately determined by the ability to beat the best teams, but you can’t get to the postseason without loading up on markedly inferior competition, and that’s just what the Bears did with a 27-3 victory Sunday over hapless St. Louis.
Bears coach Lovie Smith returns today to St. Louis, where for three years as the Rams' defensive coordinator he established his credentials for the job he holds.
Mike Mulligan: The charm of a crazy season was all but drained out during one miserable Sunday in Green Bay, but as much as nobody wants to hear it, Bears coach Lovie Smith is perfectly correct in his uncomplicated statement that his team is left with a six-game season. Two straight losses have erased the magic of an unexpected 5-3 first half, but division-wide mediocrity leaves the Bears with a clear path to the playoffs.
Mike Mulligan: There comes a point in every season for every team where you either stand up and make a move or you fade away and die. The Bears reached that point Sunday after a dreadful 37-3 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. It was a wretched game in which nothing went right and a couple of truths were painfully revealed.
Mike Mulligan: You can add envy and jealousy to the turbulent mix of emotions in Green Bay these days. Brett Favre's success with the New York Jets -- after an overtime victory Thursday at New England moved them to 7-3 and alone atop the AFC East -- comes as an affront to some fans in troubled Cheeseland.
Mike Mulligan: here was a time this season when Brandon Lloyd seemed on the verge of emerging as a lovable underdog, a Comeback Player of the Year candidate set to make his old team look foolish and his old college coach look like a genius.
Mike Mulligan: There will be a lot of talk today about what might have happened if Kyle Orton had able to start at quarterback instead of Rex Grossman on Sunday. Grossman failed to turn the terrible field position he faced for most of the day and the Bears became just another victim of the unbeaten Tennessee Titans by a score of 21-14. Presumably, Orton would have fared better.
There's no secret formula, no magic potion, no real blueprint to copy. The success of the Tennessee Titans, the only unbeaten team in the NFL, comes down to the simplest of things: running the football, playing great defense and winning on special teams.
