Andy Benoit of The Sporting Network somes up fairly accurately what is being said about the Bears after getting a 2 game lead in the NFC North.
After all, Jackson once brought six titles to the town of Chicago, but left as the lucky guy who mooched off of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Never mind the fact that he had achieved the highest level of success in his profession (six times), he apparently hadn't proven anything.
Despite holding a two-game lead in their division, the Bears received more Zen Master-like "yeah buts" and asterisks than praise after traveling to Baton Rouge and beating the New Orleans Saints with a last-second field goal on Sunday. The 20-17 win was perhaps a tad boring. Chicago was average on offense, running well and making just enough plays through the air to avoid the type of criticism that has become a part of the day-to-day culture in Baltimore. Defensively, the Bears were solid, keeping the Saints offense in check and forcing four turnovers. All in all, at the end of the day, Chicago had played just well enough to win the game.
"We didn't play our best game today, but when it was on the line, we made plays," said quarterback Kyle Orton.
The mood around the Windy City is a collective sense of joy, but an even greater sense of apprehensive insecurity. No one is ready to get excited about the first-place Bears holding a two-game lead in the NFC North.
Jay Mariotti's column in the Chicago Sun Times had the headline "Still a lot to prove, but it's OK to be hopeful." In the same publication, Mike Mulligan wrote "Good enough Orton manages to win." Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune titled his column "Smoke, mirrors, luck? So what, a win's a win!"
While it's cliché, ambiguous, and boring, the bottom line is it's true: a win is a win.
It really is that simple. I know the genius sportscasters on TV like to use one sentence exclamatory sentences when describing teams, so the Bears are either "Doing what it takes and will win the NFC North" or the are "Not as good as their record suggests." The fact is we are as good as our record suggests. We have beaten 4 teams(Detroit twice) that we should have beat. Are they really to blame for doing that? We are not the only team that gets to play the Saints or the Vikings. Just let it be. If the smoke clears after 16 games and we are still sitting in first, then they did what they are supposed to do.