I'm sure this doesn't come as news to any of you.  And I maintain that the Bears need to go deep into the postseason if for no other reason than to shorten the amount of time between Bears games.  Riding the sweet victory of running the leading edge of smashmouth American football might be a reason, too, but that probably goes without saying.

We at chicagofootballchili.com are, of course, THRILLED that our pleas to the McCaskey's to bring in Julius Peppers did not fall on deaf ears.  We have yet to convince any existing players to change their names to help promote our website, so the signing of Peppers was quite a coup for us.

More later...

 CHILI DAN

And while I'm generally an advocate of getting to the Super Bowl (if you are a Bear), I would be remiss if I didn't remind folks that the Super Bowl is not really EVERYTHING it's cracked up to be if you're a player.

For instance, between possessions as you're rehydrating and getting taped up, you are missing all of the cool commercials.

Oh, and instead of just being able to check out alternate halftime entertainment (say maybe, the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet - the Chili Dogs are big fans) you're stuck watching the ever larger and yet somehow less substantial ACTUAL halftime show.

And, tourist season in Miami is busy enough without all the football activities, thank you very much. 

And those rings are just so dang bulky.

So, cheer on the Vikes if you must, but remember, if there are no Bears in the Super Bowl, then really, what's the point?

 CHILI DAN

I know, I know - the naysayers want to point to this as just an example of the December Favre-lessness of the past few years.  But Favre is one player.  We beat all of their players.

I'm going to have to rub it in to Fred M. - this was just plain sad, Fred - when I get back into town.  His Vikings are swooning, but as I'm sure he'll remind me, at least his team is in the playoffs.

To close the book on the last post - the Greg Olson touchdown put me over the top, as I finished seven points ahead of "The Shield" in my fantasy football championship game.  "Brody Loves Chili" wins!  So, for all of the grief I have given Sasquatch, I do have to to give him his props here.  Thanks, Greg, for the TD.  And also, don't think I didn't notice that you ran for several yards after your first catch - nice to see that you read part one of "My Bears Fan Christmas List."

Thanks also to the Lamborghini Lightning league for the annual invite.  I always have a lot of fun, even when I'm losing, losing, losing (as I have done for each of the last 10 years in their fantasy Baseball league).

For the record, I stunk so bad in my OTHER fantasy football league that my team "THE Spagghedster" failed to even make the playoffs.  Funny, but the team went south at the beginning of December when my starting QB (Brett Favre) all of a sudden couldn't find the endzone.  Go figure.

So, this Sunday, in an otherwise meaningless game, our Bears ride a Favre-beating high into a game against a puttering Detroit team.  As a result of that Vikings win, this Lions game may actually be fun to watch.

At any rate, even when things aren't going well, I still love watching the team.  And this is our last chance for several months.  Savor it (and, I recommend, some chili).

Go Bears!

 CHILI DAN

Big on my mind today - my Fantasy Football season rests on tonight's game vs. the Vikings.  I have a one point lead over my gradeschool pal Mike "the Shield" R., and I have to somehow squeeze more points out of the Greg Olsen and Robbie Gould combo than he does out of Adrian Peterson (yes, the Minnesota one).

Gotta say I'm a little worried.

I haven't won the "Lamborghini Lightning" League (thanks to Lance Briggs for inspiring the title, by the way - try to take a cab this New Years, would you please, Lance?) since, gosh, was it 2007?  So the shame of failing two years in a row might be too much to bear.  So I go into the Monday Night game with more gusto then I could have otherwise anticipated, and am cheering for our Sasquatch Tight End with much zest. 

Team name, by the way, is "Brody Loves Chili", which honors both our Golden Retriever and a fine bowl of red, while at the same time harkening back to the "Happy Days" spinoff "Joanie Loves Chachi."  Not intentionally, of course, but there's just no denying the similarity.  For the record, I promise all of you that I never actually watched an episode of that Scott Baio / Erin Moran classic.  I swear.

One final note on this:  My opponent, "The Shield", was voted Most Likely to Succeed back in high school.  I finished 2nd.  This does not bode well for tonight's matchup.

At any rate, this is the final item on my Bears Fan Christmas List - the championship!

So, now more than ever - Go Bears!!

 CHILI DAN

But even I have my limits.  For instance, there's a relatively modern Christmas tune called "My Grown-Up Christmas List" that has me reaching for the dial every time.  It's cloying.  Entirely too sappy for me to waste my time on. 

So it's back to sports radio and more Bears talk.

I've done this so many times now, that in my head I've connected the two things.  That's right - now I have a Bears fan Christmas list. 

It's a simple list from a simple man.  And if Santa is reading (we know he loves chili) here's what we're looking for:

A rabid tirade by Coach Lovie in which he verbally pummels his non-performing team.

A GPS system for our Quarterback that tracks ONLY our receivers.

A veteran receiver who is not flashy, but who has a reputation for being very very good at running his routes.

And one forward step for Greg Olsen, because he can't seem to find one after he makes a catch.

There is so much more I could ask for (there are several items on the Defensive side of the ball that come to mind), but 'tis not the season to be greedy.  Besides, I'm sure you have some items of your own that you'd like to see, and I want to be sure there's room in Santa's bag for them.

Tough game in Baltimore this week, but we're crossing our fingers and putting on the Orange and Blue.  GO BEARS!

 CHILI DAN

If you aren't familiar with the movie "What About Bob?", you should look into it.  Very funny movie about a very anxious man (Bill Murray).  I find myself quoting it much more than is healthy.  Say for instance, while watching Sunday's game, I found myself repeating this mantra:

"I feel good.  I feel great.  I feel wonderful."

Sad to say, though, I didn't.  Not really.  You see, I want to be happy about the St. Louis win, but how happy can beating the Rams really make you?  There's a good chance that some 8A High School teams could give them a fight.  Maine South, Downers Grove, Lockport - THAT would be competition. 

Rams don't make me happy.  But really, what is the true meaning of happiness anyway?

Why, beating the Packers, of course!

"...if the craft is seaworthy..."

So the Rams merely serve as an opportunity to right the ship.  But the Bears aren't sailing just yet.  To be sailors, the Bears have to beat the Packers.  It would go a long way toward building some goodwill if QB Cutler can guide us to victory against the team we most want to beat.

Speaking of building goodwill (and yes, I'll stop with the movie references now), I don't take enough time here to thank the folks who support our site.  Chiliheads from around the country who pop in to visit us every week.  Thanks for taking an interest.  We have a lot of fun doing this, and it's always fun to hear from the folks who are looking in.

True story - my mother-in-law flags down a neighbor she doesn't really know to help her with something at her house.  Person is wearing a Bears shirt, so she tells the neighbor about the Chili site.  Neighbor says, "I know that site.  My son tailgates, and he's always trying out the new recipes!"

It's fun to hear stuff like that.

So this week, I just wanted to make sure to say thanks.  You'll notice on the front page that we've posted a couple of pictures from site visitors.  Rick L. and his wife Susan have made a lot of our chilies the past couple of years, and Rick supplied a lot of great photos for us this season from his sideline experience during week 2.  John D. and his family are former Chicago area residents who have moved South, but who have been following our Bears (and our site) faithfully.  Just wanted to say congratulations to their daughter and son-in-law on the new Bears fan in the family!

We're glad you check in every week.  All of you.  And if you stick around for a few more, you will have two full seasons of Bears chilies right there in your back pocket for your next neighborhood block party chili cook-off (talking to you, Cheryl L.), or your weekly Sunday game-watching parties (that's you, Ben E.).   

But before that, we have some games to play.

Now let's go beat the Pack!

 CHILI DAN

First things first...I've been very unhappy with our starting Quarterback.  And no, it's not just because he's blocking the future of this franchise, a certain Mr. Caleb Hanie, who, yeah, I still have my man-crush on.  (Well have you seen him thread the needle during the pre-season - the guy hits his targets!).

I've been annoyed with Cutler's lack of accountability.  And I don't care if his receivers are inexperienced and running the wrong routes.  And I don't care if the O-Line is letting everything through.  What I care about is a Quarterback (and a Coach) with an inability to say "we're not playing well".  I've spoken about it before and I'll not belabor it.

But in another, altogether different case of a leader not being a leader, this week injured Linebacker Brian Urlacher took it on himself to make an unflattering, albeit indirect, comparison. 

"Kyle Orton might not be the flashiest quarterback," said our Captain, "but the guy is a winner..."

Now really, how are we SUPPOSED to read into that, Brian?  The front office made a mistake in trading Orton?  Cutler is all flash and no substance?  Cutler's a loser?

I mean, really - say what you will about Rex Grossman, Mr. Urlacher, but the guy was a winner.  Or, perhaps more correctly, the team he played on had a tendency to win. 

Think about Super Bowl champion QB Mark Rypien of the Redskins, about 20 years back.  He won a Super Bowl.  He was not, however, a winner. 

In one of life's great ironies, winning does not make you a winner.  It's a quality that is somehow separate from your actual results.  And to suggest we'd be better off with Orton is short-sighted at best (and then, only if you are not actually ON the team you're talking about), and at worst, well, at worst it would be proof that you are not, in fact, a "winner".

You're frustrated.  We get that.  We're frustrated too.  And you have the extra frustration of potentially having had the ability to fix some of it, had the injury not happened.

This doesn't help.  When Tank Johnson was in trouble, you stood by him.  You were a teammate.  Cutler, in his own way, is in trouble.  He's in a rough spot and trying to right the ship.  You HAVE to support him, because there are so many like me who will not.  Your team needs you. 

And Kyle Orton is not on your team.

 CHILI DAN

First, I wonder how much time and thought Brett Favre put into being a Bear.  When he decided that he really didn't want to be retired and then got all mad at the Packers for having moved on, he was hinting that he'd like to stay in the division.  You have to assume that the Vikings were his preferred choice, given the pre-existing relationships.  You also have to assume that the Lions were never seriously on that list.  So how much think-time was spent on the Bears?

And (perhaps more tellingly), how quick were the Bears to shoot down that notion?

So, there was hubub last week because Jay Cutler did not want to speak to Bob Costas for an interview before Sunday Night Football.  It worries me a lot that our quarterback is afraid of Bob Costas.

And furthermore, if you can't step up and say "I haven't played up to my contract" when the whole world can see that you're not playing up to your contract, well, then the terrorists win.  Please, PLEASE, take some accountability while we still have a chance to finish with dignity.  Please!

Coach Ditka used to hate playing in Minnesota, famously labeling their home venue "the Rollerdome" for the annoying noise level.  Well, I guess now it's the "Mall of America" Rollerdome.

I hated when the Bears played Minnesota because we could never figure out a way to contain Tommy Kramer.  Sad, sad days, those.

You have to think that the Bears' Adrian Peterson is a little sick and tired of having a namesake in the Vikings' Adrian Peterson.  It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode in which Elaine's boyfriend has the misfortune of sharing the name of serial killer Joel Rifkin, and she tries to convince him to change it.

Well, whattya think, Adrian (of Minnesota)?  How about Deion?

 CHILI DAN

On Dec. 31, 1988, the Bears played the Philadelphia Eagles in what was to become "the Fog Bowl".  With one quarter played, the air on the field took on that pea soup quality.  Thick, thick, thick, with maybe 10-15 yards of on-field visibility.  It was great television.

What the viewers didn't see was a 400-yard passing day from Eagles QB Randall Cunningham.  What the Eagles didn't see was the endzone.  The Bears won 20-12, despite the low-vision arial attack.  And a legend was born.

Fast forward to now, and the entire fandom of our beloved Bears are walking around in a fog.  Could this season really be over?  How can we be below 500 at this point in the season?  It's hard to see a light at the end of this tunnel.

But the Eagles of today are not the consistent winners of old.  They are 5-4, which is better than what we're posting, but not by any means intimidating.  This is a winnable game.

Last week, the Packers beat the Cowboys shortly after the coach and the quarterback just took responsibility for the previous week's loss to the Buccaneers.  It's a good lesson.  Face up to it.  Then take the victory.

The Chili Dogs are counting on you.  They HATE the Philadelphia Eagles.

 CHILI DAN

Well, as if to spare me the existential angst of being unhappy about a Bears win, Jay Cutler threw that last-second pass to a red jersey.  A suiting end to an awful, awful game.

To his credit, the first thing our QB did in his post-game press was to thank the defense for keeping them in the game.  Unfortunately, everything he said after that was a waste of our time.  We got an "it just didn't work out", and a "we gotta lead better."  Really?  IT just didn't work out?  WE gotta lead better?

And Lovie, as you might expect, said that SF "made plays".   

Shouldn't SOMEONE on this team be angry?  Shouldn't SOMEONE on this team be unable to keep quiet about how rotten they're playing?  Where's the passion?  WHERE'S THE PASSION?

Normally, after a game like this, I'd take a day to cool down a bit before putting fingers to keyboard.  I love the Chicago Bears.  I always want them to win.  And I always want to believe that they WILL win.  But they are really testing my generally optimistic nature the past few weeks.

Well, we get a few extra days rest before Philadelphia - an entirely beatable team.  The team needs to do some soul-searching.  And someone needs to bring some fire.

And yeah, Lovie, we have to make some plays.

 CHILI DAN

Heck, the only thing more impressive was how quickly Harris got tossed from the game.  And while I understand the appeal of pounding on an idiot talking smack to you, I gotta say, there's a right time and place.  And it's NOT in the first sequence of the game.

Harris has since apologized.  And it's nice that someone on the defense has apologized for something.  Because when you give up 40+ points in two out of three games, you should probably be feeling some remorse.

Coach Lovie, not one to say much of anything, much less "I'm sorry" is feeling some media heat these days.  The Coach's best press conference to date is still his first one.  The one in which he said what Dick Jauron would not - we will beat the Packers.  We'd like to see that candor again, for old time's sake.  Say out loud what we're thinking.  "We haven't played very well." 

Saying it does not mean the season is over.  It means you understand the situation.  It means you recognize that coddling and minimizing is not a good course of action.  It means you accept that you are accountable to this team, and that you respect them too much to offer false praise.

And once you've done that, you can shut up.  Because we don't need any more than that.  We don't need "I'm Sorry."  As the great philosoper George Costanza once said (well, three times actually), "You can stuff your sorry's in a sack, Mister!"  Because the words don't mean as much as the actions.

Next opportunity for actions is Thursday night.  Take that opportunity.

 CHILI DAN

Admittedly, you want to go into games like last weeks expecting to win (which we did), and more importantly, not NEEDING to win.  Well, we needed that win.

Whew!

I don't know about you, but I watched the early part of that game with a degree of dread.  Chili Dawn and I mentioned it briefly but couldn't dwell on it - if they lose against Cleveland, the season is over.  Not mathematically, of course.  But it's hard to recover your heart and soul.  Those games are harder to watch (of course we'd watch them anyway - we love our Bears).

Thankfully, the Bears won.  Logically, we knew they should.  The key thing was, they did.  For a moment, I even thought Caleb Hanie was going to get in some significant playing time.  Alas, it was not meant to be.

So, the monkey's off our back, and we get to start fresh this week.  While the Cardinals aren't the explosive, unpredicable, and good-enough team that moxied their way into the Super Bowl last year, they are still a team who can win.  And we need to re-prove that we can beat teams like that.

We beat the defending AFC/Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2.  We get the bookend in week 8.  You seem like a good fellow, Kurt Warner.  After this weekend, we'll go back to wishing you well again.  Until then...

Go Bears!

 CHILI DAN

I always hate to see our Bears lose, and the blowout nature makes it exponentially worse.  But worst of all was the opponent.  You see, my boss is in Cincinnati.  Two of my peers are in Cincinnati.  And all of my peers heard me proclaim that the Bears would beat the Bengals in a conference call last week.

INSTIGATOR ED FROM NEW YORK - "So Steve (from Cincinnati), who do you think is going to win the Bears/Bengals game this weekend?"

STEVE FROM CINCINNATI - "I don't know, but I think the Bengals have a chance to win this one"

CHILI DAN - "The Bears WILL win this game."

MACK FROM CINCINNATI - "So, Dan, you think the Bears will win, huh?"

CHILI DAN - "No.  I said WILL win.  As in, I KNOW the Bears will win."

(Sigh)

So I go into the work week knowing that lunch will be several courses of crow.  And while that would be bad enough over the phone, I actually had to face these people on Thursday.

"So, Dan - did ya see the game last weekend?"  "Who ya pickin' this week - I need to know who to bet against!"  "When you said you know they WILL win, did you mean the coin toss?"

(Shudder)

Well, water under the bridge.  The nice thing about life in America is that you always get second chances, and there's nothing like a game with Cleveland to get your hopes up and running again.  So I've settled into my "Go Bears!" mentality again, and am getting jazzed for the Browns game.

And hey, we can still finish 13-3.  GO BEARS!! 

 CHILI DAN

As in:  Happy Halloween!

As in:  That may have been the worst game I've ever seen.

You decide.

 CHILI DAN

It was harsh.  Had a hard time watching that game, and I'm starting to think that the Bears just don't play well on NBC.  The good news is they only have one more Sunday Night game (vs the Eagles on Nov. 22nd).  Does this mean we finish 13-3?

Fact is, we gave that one away.  The opportunities were there, but we didn't capitalize.  Team gets into the Red Zone three times and doesn't even come away with a field goal - hate to say it, but when a team can't convert those, it deserves to lose.  Even our team.

We'll call it a learning experience.  A character-builder.  A bump in the road of our 13-3 season.

Speaking of which, the first step is to get to 4-2, and we have the Cincinnati Bengals to help us along with that goal this week.

I have two cousins in Columbus, Ohio.  One is a Browns fan, the other a Bengals fan.  And while the Bengals have been the better team in the course of my cousins' collective fandom, you'd never know it from the sour football attitude of the Bengal-backer.  The Browns fan is inexplicably happier.

Likewise, I have a friend who works in Cincinnati who says "yeah, they've been doing good, but it can't last".  I agree.  Bengals fans should be a dour bunch.  Because we have some angry Bears who will be looking to make a statement.

So, for the Bears expatriots (the exiled Tank Johnson and the equally exiled Cedric Benson), it will be nice to see you eat crow for not respecting the GSH on your ex-sleeves. 

For the ex-Chad Johnson, we have a Peanut for you.  You won't be able to miss him, as he'll be all over you.  Perhaps you can tweet "Help Me!" during the game.  Gotta do something with that iPhone app of yours, since bragging won't be taken seriously.  Grade school children will be tweeting back to you - "Ocho-STINKO!"  It won't be pretty.

So in short, the Atlanta game sucked.  But it's over.  The 4-2 Bengals are next, and they are another (sordid) story altogether.  Their slide starts this week.  Let's just hope they make bail in time for the game.

Go Bears!

 CHILI DAN