In 2006, the Chicago Bears rode the right arm of Rex Grossman (NFC offensive player of the month in September, half (10) of his 20 INT"s in just three games, playing as well as Matt Hasselbeck & Drew Brees in the playoffs) the legs of Devin Hester and an opportunistic defense to the Super Bowl.

Since then?  19-19.  Sorry.  That just doesn't cut it.  By definition a team that reaches the SB is a good/very good/excellent team. There are no 'bad teams' in the SB.  Those kinds of teams UNDERACHIEVE when they go 19-19 immediately afterwards.

By comparison the Steelers are 35-20 after their 2005 SB, the Seahawks 25-29 (they have alos underachieved and have a new HC) and the Colts 31-7 after their 2006 SB.

Mike Nolan was 18-37 as the HC of the 49ers. That's a dreadful record.  Mike Singletary took over that sorry team and is now 8-7 with basically the EXACT same players!

That's right, Mike Singletary is one game OVER 500, while Lovie is just AT 500 (since his SB appearance).  That's Singletary taking over a .327 team and Lovie's record with a team good enough to just be in the SB.

To me, that speaks volumes.

Both teams, right now, are 3-3.

Personnel?  You can debate that all day long.  A couple of quick observations.

A).  No intelligent person would say that, man for man, the 49ers have superior personnel than the Bears.  Most would say just the opposite.

B).  In recent years virtually all talk for 49er fans concerning their offense involved these three players:

Frank Gore:  Stud.

Vernon Davis and Alex Smith:  Massive underachievers or complete busts and total objects of scorn for the fan base there.  Basically, those two were/are HATED in the bay area.

C).  If QB is the most important position on a team, the Bears have had one guy (Kyle Orton) that Josh McDaniels WANTED on his team (and who is playing very well) and another (Jay Cutler) who is considered to be one of the best young QB's in the NFL.

By contrast, Mike Singletary has gone 8-7 with a guy (Shaun Hill) who was undrafted and who most know next to nothing about (and who today was benched for 'massive underachiever' Alex Smith).

Included in Mike Singletary's seven losses were two last season to playoffs teams on the road (Arizona & Miami) where the 49ers had the ball at the end with a chance to win the game.  This season they opened up by winning in the dome in Arizona against the defending NFC Champs and losing two road games (Minnesota & Houston) by a combined six points.

Coaches (either through scheme and/or motivational tactics) are supposed to get the very best out of their players.  That's their NUMBER 1 job.  Help make the players better which should, in turn, help make the team better.

I don't see that happening in Chicago with Lovie Smith in charge.  At all.  There's an OLD saying:  The buck stops here.  It stops at Lovie's desk.  PERIOD!  Sorry.  If you want to be the man in charge then you have to shoulder the respsonsibility when things go wrong.

Mike Shanahan had to do just that in Denver.  His defense there was 28th & 30th in the past two seasons.  McDaniels brings in a new DC and so far they are #1.  Shanahan could have done the exact same thing.  He didn't (and he's gone).

There's also an old saying that a team takes on the personality of it's HC (insert own joke here regarding Lovie).  Samurai Mike's team takes on his 'personality' too.    BIG DIFFERENCE!  (Anyone who ever saw Singletary play or saw him lead his defensive teammates as their 'QB' knows what I mean here).

At the very least in SF, Mike Singletary, through sheer force of will and 'old school' coaching has taken a .327 team (18-37) to above 500 in his short tenure there.

Yes, the players and front office are also to blame in Chicago for this HUMILIATING, DISGRACEFUL, PATHETIC exhibition of football as seen in Cincinnati today.  There's more than enough blame to go around for everyone.

But nobody can tell me that, since the SB in 2006, that the Bears should be a 500 team.  Nobody.  And that responsibility falls mainly on the HC and his staff.

BTW:  Carson Palmer today was 20-24 for 233 yards and FIVE touchdowns.  Phil Simms set a SB record for completition percentage (88%) when he went 22-25 for 268 yards and THREE touchdowns in SB XXI.  Carson Palmer (83%) was in Phil's exclusive neighborhood today.   Few ever get there.

20-24 for 233 & 5 TD's!  That's almost hard to beleive.  I had to do a double take to make sure I was reading it correctly.  Who's the DC?   Who's the HC?  (Oh, nevermind).

The Bear defense led by Lovie Smith made Cedric Benson look like Jim Brown, Carson Palmer look like Joe Montana and #85 look like Jerry Rice.  Congratulations!  However, you're suppose to make OUR players look better . . . not THEIRS!  Maybe Lovie just misunderstood the goal here.

BTW II:  For those that are going to bash me for referencing (once again) my good friend, Mike Singletary, fine.  I get it.  After you bash me, however,  at least find something intelligent to disagree with me here.