What To Think?

Did the Chicago Bears beat yet another bad team yesterday, or did they pull out a gritty, gutty, road win against a Minnesota Vikings team that's actually pretty good.

The thought here is that it's a hybrid answer: The Bears pulled out a gritty, gutty, road win against another bad team, albeit not as bad as the Lions and the Packers.

Going into Sunday, what we hoped to find out was how good the Bears really are. learly, the defense is pretty damn good. Only 1 touchdown allowed through three games, two of them on the road, is pretty damn good. The question marks are still all over the offense. An effective Bears running game in 2006 seems as elusive as an alternative to fossil fuels. Rex Grossman, while stepping up big in the final minute, still has the occasional Mike Tomczak moment. Lovie Smith seemed to have no clue as to how to use challenges. All that went through my head when Lovie tossed the red flag on that goal line series was, "You're reviewing over a 5 yard spot? What if you need that challenge with 4 minutes left in the game?" Still a lot of questions surround this team.

Instead of figuring out how good this team is, our answer will need to be deferred until next Sunday evening. As of now, they are no worse than the NFL equivalent of the St. Louis Cardinals: A decent team in a putrid divsion.

After next week's game against the Seattle Waterfoul, we'll know which of those two teams is the NFL's version of the New York Mets.

Beyond the Bears and the Seahawks, the rest of the NFC looks pathetic.