Bears coaching search: Casting a wide net - Kevin Seifert: None of the dozen or so coaches the Bears have already interviewed or plan to speak with about have defensive backgrounds, which makes clear the focus of Phil Emery's search.
Bears face big decisions on several key players - Dan Pompei: New coaching staff, schemes will determine futures of Cutler, Urlacher, Peppers and others.
Bears’ defense: Don’t break up the band - Sean Jensen: Charles Tillman knows the old saying that change is good. But he’s hoping not — at least as it pertains to the Bears’ defense.
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Bearsss
Phillips understands that NFL is a win-or-else business - Larry Mayer: Bears president and CEO Ted Phillips experienced mixed emotions with this week's dismissal of longtime head coach Lovie Smith.
What the Bears can take away from wild-card weekend - Moon Mullin: The Bears would have been playing this weekend if not for a late-season collapse, but that doesn't mean they still can't learn from the four games that were played.
CBSSports.com 2012 NFL All-Pro Team - Two Bears make the first team and another receives second-team hono(u)rs.
2012 Rusher Rating - Ken Crippen looks back at the 2012 regular season Rusher Rating numbers; Bears were middle of the pack at rushing the ball but excelled at stopping it.
The 2012 Contract Awards - Two Bears feature among the good, the bad & the ugly of the 2012 season from a financial perspective.
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(Search for the next) Ditka
Phil Emery has plenty of work to do in Week 2 of coach search - Brad Biggs: Texans' Rick Dennison and Seahawks' OCs latest candidates to surface.
[Video] CTL discussion - Will the new head coach be tied to Cutler?
Is Sullivan right for the job? - Jim Miller breaks down Tampa Bay OC Mike Sullivan's background and discusses whether he thinks Sullivan would be a good fit for Chicago's head coaching position.
Trestman should be a serious candidate for Bears - Jim Miller: While the Bears are hunting down a bunch of known college coaches and NFL coordinators, Phil Emery should be hunting a little north of the border, where Marc Trestman resides.
College coaches should look before they leap to NFL - David Haugh: The NFL always can offer more green for college coaches, but the grass isn't always greener for men who already make millions.
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Polish sausage
NFP Sunday Blitz - Dan Pompei: Examining the NFL's hot new trend: Moneyball; 2012 awards and all the latest scoop.
Matt Bowen's game notes - Wild Card Saturday: Rodgers, AP, Joe Webb.
Know thy enemies - The Packers reminded everyone of how dangerous they can be when they're at full strength, overwhelming the Vikings 24-10 in an NFC wild-card game that was never really close. NFCN Blog Rapid Reaction. PFF's 3 Performances of Note - Apparently, it is possible to miss Christian Ponder.
Know thy enemy: Vikings - Kevin Seifert: Vikings erred in not adjusting their offense to take advantage of Joe Webb's open-field running ability; they called three read-option plays on their opening drive, netting 33 yards, but ran only three more such plays for the rest of the game.
QBs get a rush out of great RBs - Sam Farmer: They sneak a peek. They steal a glance. They turn around and gawk, sometimes forgetting to carry out their own assignments as NFL QBs.
Selected musical obituary of 2012: Etta James died in January, aged 73.