You must be registered for see images
David Haugh
Bears' schedule doesn't offer many pitfalls
But charismatic team must cope with many demands off the playing field
Published October 4, 2006
Peeking at the upcoming schedule, the Bears' toughest opponent until they play New England on Nov. 26 might be … the Bears.
So while some longtime observers are calling Rex Grossman's 46-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian between two Seattle Seahawks defenders the prettiest they have seen at Soldier Field, his comments later Sunday were even more on the money.
Minutes after leading the Bears to their biggest victory in Lovie Smith's tenure, his adrenaline still pumping, Grossman showed as much accuracy from the podium as he did in the pocket because he kept it all in perspective.
"We're off to a great start, [but] that's all I'm going to say right now," Grossman said. "Thirty-seven-6 just shows what we're capable of, but we're a lot better than that."
It would be hard to play much better than the Bears did against the Seahawks, but that's beside the point. The more team leaders such as Grossman keep saying they need to improve, the more the other players in locker room will believe it.
The Bears' ability to motivate themselves and create artificial challenges matter more than ever given the next stretch of the season. If the schedule were a torso, the next six games would be the beer belly. It's soft, with the next six opponents, beginning with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, compiling an aggregate 8-15 record.
Staying grounded just became as important as finding the ground game. The way the early season has developed with the Giants and Dolphins disappointing, the Bears realistically could be favored in every game and 10-0 when they head to Foxboro Stadium to play the Patriots.
Forget Nov. 26, circle Jan. 14 on the calendar. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only eight of the 46 teams since the NFL expanded the postseason to 12 teams in 1990 have missed the playoffs after starting 4-0.
Sure, flaws exist. Punt returner Devin Hester needs a compass to remember what north-south means, and it would be nice for the Bears not to need kicker Robbie Gould as often as they do inside the 20.
But while the rest of the NFC teams are tying tourniquets to stop the bleeding, the Bears are reaching for Band-Aids.
It will be up to Smith and his coaching staff to hold the team to a higher standard beyond the scoreboard.
As much as anything, Sunday night's nationally televised shellacking of the Seahawks served as an infomercial aired across America to sell the idea that the NFL's second-biggest market again has a football team worthy of the hype.
That means beyond the media room at Halas Hall getting more crowded as a result, possibly so did the calendars of the team's stars. The Bears are among the league leaders in charisma too.
After the Seahawks game, for example, linebacker Lance Briggs typically was looking for laughs with the rhyme, "If you need time, it's going to be hard to find with our defensive line."
Defensive tackle Tommie Harris speaks like someone brought up in an evangelical setting and possesses the star power to command a media and marketing pulpit.
Wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad co-hosts a weekly TV show and was nominated for an Emmy. Nathan Vasher has a radio gig. Affable Alex Brown deserves one.
Adewale Ogunleye is as eloquent as his royal bloodlines suggest and a must-get for any out-of-town reporter or curious marketing rep.
Grossman, the down-to-earth Midwesterner who cooperates too much to be compared with any ***** QB, will only see his popularity grow. Likewise, the stage figures to get bigger and brighter too for Briscoe High's own Brian Urlacher, the team's resident national pitchman.
The NFL's agreement with NBC to keep schedules flexible for prime-time games also creates a possibility that upcoming dates against the Giants, Patriots and Vikings could be moved from noon to 7:15 p.m. kickoffs.
By January, America will be as used to seeing Smith work on Sunday nights as it is Morley Safer.
Smith is not Mike Ditka, so nobody at Halas Hall worries about a clash of egos between the head coach and players competing for the same entertainment audience. This is not 1985, and it helps that sports marketing experts will tell you that athletes rarely turn success into national endorsement deals the way they used to anyway.
Bears hysteria only bears monitoring at all because this team did not handle increased national acclaim well before last year's NFC playoff game.
When they weren't putting their feet in their mouths, they were basking in the glow of a football city that got carried away with a rare meaningful January game. Players say they learned from that.
It was after the fifth game last season that the Bears reacted to safety Mike Brown declaring, "We suck!" by winning eight straight games. How the Bears begin to respond this weekend after a totally opposite kind of start will be just as significant.
Celebrity looms. But maybe it's no accident center and attitude enforcer Olin Kreutz's locker is near the locker-room door at Halas Hall. The Bears' resident bouncer can spot bull a mile away.
Any player who loses focus enters at his own risk.
[email protected]
