Bears' shot at No. 1 seed still alive after Saints win

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Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010
1:57 PM

By John Mullin
CSNChicago.com

Well, from the Chicago Bears, thank you very much, New Orleans Saints.

Drew Brees rallying the Saints for a win over Atlanta (only the second GeorgiaDome loss for Matt Ryan) gave a little more life to the Bears outside shot at the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. The Saints and Falcons still need to both lose next weekend, which is a collective longshot because both are home, but anything that tilts the Bears toward playing the Green Bay game like it matters, the better for the Bears.

As I alluded to Monday, the Bears definitely benefit from a bye but not necessarily when they coast with resting starters in their final games of seasons. What that does is give certain key starters a de facto three-week break from intense prep, since the week before the last game isnt spent with the pedal all the way down if you know youre not playing. Thats just human nature. And then you have the actual bye week, and then finally comes the get-back-to-work.

You have to like the Bears chances in any case. And if Carolina and Tampa Bay can trip up Atlanta and New Orleans next Sunday, who knows?

Interesting perspective

FoxSports.com NFL vet and good friend Alex Marvez was in town for the Jets game (and some good jazz with Cyrus Chestnut at The Jazz Showcaseawesome!). He also took an interesting look at the improbable Bears, improbable perhaps only because of some of the second-chance guys that have been instrumental in whats happened this season in Chicago.

Consider the number of key figures that have reinvented or re-started themselves as part of this Bears team: Mike Martz, Rod Marinelli, Greg Olsen (a new way of looking at his play), Jay Cutler, others. As Alex notes, not a lot was expected from this team but part of that was because of perceptions, and some very important individuals made some very important changes.

Rostering

It probably wont happen but putting tight end Desmond Clark on the active roster for Green Bay makes some sense. No one has caught more passes (36) lifetime vs. the Packers. Greg Olsen is next with 22 and Clark and Olsen have combined for 5 TD catches against the Packers...

Deal-watching

The three-year contract for defensive tackle Matt Toeaina sets in place a nice solid piece of the future on the defensive line, much as Israel Idonijes contract and extension did in 2006, even before Idonije emerged as the end he is now. The Toeaina pact give the Bears an obvious alternative to Tommie Harris, who isnt likely to be back after this season and likely just needs a fresh start for himself...

Two other contract situations warrant monitoring. Center Olin Kreutz is the only game in town at that position for the Bears and hell be back with a short-term deal. And Matt Forte, whos now the first back in franchise history to total 1,400 all-purpose yards his first three seasons, is up after next season. Look for the Bears to lock him up long-term before he goes to camp in what could be a very lucrative contract year if they dont.

What Forte and the offensive line have done since the off week, along with Jay Cutlers No. 1 conversion rate on third-down passes (54.7 percent), is have Forte averaging 4.7 yards per carry and stand No. 7 in the NFL with 810 total yards from scrimmage.

Huh?

The Bus was always the one that got away for the Bears, who could have drafted him in 1992 and solved running back issues for a long time. But Jerome Bettis as an analyst is a little harder to solve.

Bettis posits the Eagles as the best team in the NFC because of how theyre winning, variety of weapons, the usual stuff. What makes Bettis analysis a little bizarre is his citing the one Eagle blip as the loss to the Bears in Chicago, which he calls arguably the toughest NFC venue.

Really? The venue where the home team lost three times this season, twice to dud teams? And then theres the Georgia Dome, where Atlantas loss Monday to the Saints was exactly the second defeat the Falcons have suffered there in Matt Ryans career.

As I always stress, I have no rooting interest in the Bears (other than when they make my predictions look clairvoyant), but between Bettis proclamation and NFL guru Peter King ranking the Bears No. 7 on his power list, below the Eagles (No. 3) and tied with the Packers, two teams the Bears defeated, its hard to argue with Bears claiming they really dont get a fair share of respect.

John "Moon" Mullin is CSNChicago.com's Bears Insider, and appears regularly on Bears Postgame Live and Chicago Tribune Live. Follow Moon on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Bears information.

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