The Bears' Sky Isn't Falling. Yet.

You might think it was, though.

Coming off what is, at best, a terrible offensive performance in prime-time against the Giants, it may seem like all hope for the 2010 Chicago Bears is gone.

The offensive linemen are "turnstiles". "The Matadors of the Midway" JC6 was batted around like a toy in Sid's bedroom. He's roughed up so bad that he can't make the start against the Carolina Panthers. Lifetime back up Todd Collins makes his first start in a very long time. 

So it may seem like things are over, after a 3-1 record. But let's take a quick glance forward to see that doom and gloom need not necessarily be the automatic outcome.

As it's been mentioned, there's little chance that they can truly be as bad on offense as they were on Monday night. Changes are already being made to see if there are tweaks. With Webb at RT, we could see a little bit of a different dynamic. Additionally, they don't have to face anything quite like the Giants' front four for a while, so there's still 12+ games to sort some of those items out.

Additionally... this team still has a defense that can make some plays. As bad as the game with the Giants was, this team was still in the game in the fourth quarter. It's asking a lot of the defense to do that all season, but the offense has already shown that when it sparks, there's the potential for fireworks.

Looking into the future:

Carolina Panthers 0-4- Struggling to establish an identity on offense, missing their star WR. 

Ranked 18th in yards allowed per game.
Ranked 30th in offensive yards per game.

Seattle Seahawks 2-2 - Playing somewhat solid if unspectacular ball in a sucktacular division, in a three way tie for first. Got a new toy at RB, but still inherently beatable. 

Ranked 25th in yards allowed per game.
Ranked 28th in offensive yards per game.

Washington Redskins 2-2 - They look good, then they look bad. Still working to establish their own footprint. Could cause some matchup problems, but I'd expect Cutler to be back and fully ready to go, along with Williams. 

Ranked 31st in yards allowed per game.
Ranked 17th in offensive yards per game.

Buffalo Bills 0-4 - This team is going nowhere, and they're doing it in spectacular fashion. Currently ranked 27th in yards allowed.

Ranked 27th in yards allowed per game.
Ranked 32nd in offensive yards per game.

--All rankings courtesy of nfl.com, as of Oct. 7th, 2010

So what does that say? The next quarter of the season is very favorable. The Bears will be playing four teams with a combined four wins. Even with Cutler out, a split at 2-2 coming out of this stretch is very easy to comprehend. Quite possibly, it will be 3-1 or better coming out of it. 

There's still an amazing amount of football left...don't let the Debbie Downers ruin it for you.