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This story reminds me of Baltimore a few years back, win itwith defense and keep your offense on the field long enough withtime of possession to score enough to win with a sub-par quarterbackand excellent coaching. I am looking at this team hard but yetpassed against them against an overrated Tampa Bay team this weekendand I am still kicking myself. Lets take a hard look at the NFCNorth leading Bears and see what's up with these guys. Are theyfor real or not? Do they mirror the Ravens when the won it allwith Trent Dilfer at quarterback? Read me with as I do some researchhere.

The defense stands out more than anything andit should, ranked #1 in total yards allowed and scoring defense,and #6 against the rush. With a steady stream of great DB's thatare opportunistic and talented, most teams have trouble throwingthe ball because the Bears can stack the line against the runand play man coverage, which in the NFL is a huge advantage. DidI mention Mike Brown and Nathan Vasher at cornerback or BrianUrlacher at linebacker yet? Three of the best at their positionsin the NFL, blazing speed, hard hitters and all leaders who makebig plays when they count. This defense is disruptive and hardto gameplan around with so many players that make big plays, noteam is going to light them up. Sound like a Ravens a few yearsback yet?

Lets look at the offense now, and it is not atall pretty except one glaring statistic, and that is 6th in theNFL at running the ball. They rank dead last in throwing it at128 yards a game, and 28th in the NFL at scoring, yet they are8-3 and clearly in demand of the NFC North, with Green Bay ontap in Chicago this weekend and the Pack are back on their heelshere, cannot run it and Brett Farve throws interceptions aroundlike none other right now, 19 to date. Good luck to the Pack,on the second leg of back to back road games off a loss to theEagles.

Kyle Orton is not impressive at QB, but onceagain comparing these guys to the Ravens when they won the SuperBowl with Trent Dilfer at QB, Dilfer was no Joe Montana either.The ONLY concern is if the defense lapses here for the Monstersof the Midway, because this offense is not geared to score pointsin bunches or play from behind with a QB with a rating of 63.2and a completion rate of 54% and 12 picks to 9 touchdowns, however,they can run it, and will have Cedric Benson back for the Playoffsat running back to add depth. Once again, not a prolific offense,but once again, they do not have to be. Does this sound like theRavens yet, when they won the Super Bowl? The answer is YES, theBears are for real and still somewhat undervalued by oddsmakersin my opinion.

The remaining schedule is favorable as well,with Green Bay at home and the other home game against Atlantain 2 weeks. You definitely want the Falcons on the road in thecold December air in Chicago, a huge advantage. Road games atGreen Bay and surging Minnesota are very winnable, while a truetest lies in Pittsburgh next Sunday. Assuming they can go 3-2or 4-1 SU in those games. and get some homefield advantage throughthe first round of the Playoffs, the Bears end up at Seattle ifit goes according to the plan for a possible NFC Championship.We all saw what happened to Seattle against the Giants defenseon Sunday, the Bears have a real shot of landing an NFC Championshipbased on what I saw the it comes down to Seattle and Chicago.Are they better than the 1985 Bears you ask? No they are not,especially on offense, and the defense while good, lacks the skillof Buddy Ryan calling out the schemes. All in all, do not be surprisedat this team going deep into the Playoffs, winning money on theunder's and if the opportunity is there, laying some short numberswith them and raking in some cash.