Let's Step Off the Ledge...For Now...Keep the Window Open Though...

I know, that title isn't exactly sunshine and rainbows but you know, what? 1-2 isn't that great. But it isn't the end of the world. We'll hear all the same things we've heard all along for that, like "There's a lot of football left" and "We just have to go out there and execute" or "We'll watch the film and we'll get better." Is it annoying? Yes. Is it about as bad as me answering my own questions? Probably. But I promise I will stop doing that and try and create a coherent point after the jump.

The biggest reason not to jump off the ledge is, to quote Woody Paige, look at the schedule. The Bears just finished off the most difficult first three weeks in the NFL. To escape that 1-2 is not good but it's better than 0-3. Look at the October schedule, tell me you don't see 3-1:

vs. Panthers - Cam is still a rookie and while he's good, he isn't exactly a guy that we should fear. His OL is decent enough but I feel like we could take care of him like we took care of Matt Ryan in week 1; he'll rack up yardage between the 20s but we can shut them down in the redzone.

at Lions - This one is the toughest game in October; historically the Bears don't always do well at Ford Field, even when the Lions were bad they played us close at home. I worry for Jay's health in this game.

vs. Vikings - The Vikings can't get out of their own way worse than the Bears. They have blown leads in all three of their games! They are becoming choke artists of the highest nature, the Bears can handle them.

at Buccaneers (in London): This is going to be basically a home game. The Bucs don't look like a complete team and it sounds like Aquib Talib could be facing a suspension so that could work for us too depending on the timing of that.

And then you look at November and I see 2-2; at Eagles, vs. Lions, vs. Chargers, at Raiders. We can win one of those home games and another one of those road games, especially with as brittle as Vick as looked this year. Then December/January looks like 4-1 to me: vs. Chiefs, at Broncos, vs. Seahawks at Packers and at Vikings. The Packers by that point could be resting guys and the rest of those teams are among the worst in the league.

The best cure for the poor execution the Bears have shown the last two weeks is some bad teams and they have a few of those remaining. Even if we somehow limp through October and November and enter December 5-6, we could easily finish with five straight and finish 10-6. Maybe I'm too optimistic but I can't help but see at least nine wins on the schedule remaining. We are in a hole right now in the division race, but we've only played one divisional game.

This of course would also mean that somehow the Bears receivers play better, the offensive line blocks and we get healthy on defense. Just my two cents.