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An examination of four hot issues from the Chicago Bears’ 40-32 loss to the Detroit Lions:

Run defense: The Bears allowed Reggie Bush to gain 112 yards in the first half, then held him to 27 yards in the second half. With Henry Melton out, the Bears played Stephen Paea at the 3-technique spot and moved Nate Collins to nose tackle. The Bears might want to consider trying Collins at the 3-technique and Paea at nose.

After the game, Paea wore a walking boot due to minor turf toe on his left foot, and maybe that injury diminished Paea’s effectiveness.

“I’ve played some 3 [technique] before, but it’s just a matter of time, repetitions and practice,” Paea said.

Jay Cutler: This could come off as odd, but despite Cutler’s horrid performance (65.6 passer rating with three interceptions, plus a fumble returned for a touchdown), this game might have shown growth on the quarterback’s part.

Detroit scored 17 points off turnovers, and Cutler appeared to be the culprit on every giveaway but one (his first interception). How the quarterback handled himself in the heat of battle and afterward gives reason for optimism. Despite the mistakes, Cutler held up well and nearly brought the Bears back. After the game, Cutler showed accountability for his contribution to the loss and told it how it was, which signals he’ll take the appropriate steps to correct the issues.

“I have to give us a better chance to win. I mean, three picks. It’s hard to come back from that,” Cutler said. “[I] have to play better.”

Third-down conversions: The Bears converted just one of 13 third downs, and no matter how well the defense plays, it’s difficult to overcome that deficiency. It’s not all on Cutler. In the second quarter, Jordan Mills was whistled for a false start on third-and-10. Two series later, Cutler was in a third-and-21 situation after a 9-yard sack on second down. In the third quarter, a 27-yard gain on third down was negated by a Kyle Long penalty. Then, on the next series, Cutler was sacked and fumbled for Nick Fairley’s 4-yard touchdown.

“The big thing was third down,” Bears coach Marc Trestman said. “We did horribly today [on third down], and that starts with me.”

Too much pressure: Cutler was sacked three times and spent most of the day under duress. This team has invested too much into protecting Cutler for this to continue.

"Either we didn't execute on the play or we didn't give Jay enough time to throw the ball," running back Matt Forte said. "Give credit to them for giving a great rush, but we didn't do our part."

An examination of four hot issues from the Chicago Bears' 40-23 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers:

Front four still not pressuring quarterback: The Bears sacked Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger twice, but they were only able to do that when they manufactured pressure by blitzing linebackers. One hallmark of Chicago’s scheme is the ability to generate pressure with the front four. The Bears did that on occasion, but not enough to where they weren’t putting the secondary in a bind by forcing them to cover receivers too long.

“We got good pressure from the pressures we called,” defensive end Julius Peppers said.

But the Bears wouldn’t be forced to make those calls if the front four was pressuring sufficiently.

Too many explosive plays: Going into the game, the Bears had surrendered eight completions of 20 yards or more through the first two games, only to allow the Steelers to more double that in one outing. On the way to throwing for 406 yards and two touchdowns, Roethlisberger completed 10 passes for gains of 20 yards or more, while receiver Antonio Brown caught nine passes for 196 yards and two scores.

In addition to those completions, the Bears surrendered a 25-yard run to Jonathan Dwyer in the second quarter.

That’s too much. Turnovers, obviously, offset some of those gains. Still, the Bears can’t always rely on takeaways to bail them out of trouble.

“Our goal is always to be plus-2 [in turnover ratio], but if you can get three more it’s always a bonus,” cornerback Charles Tillman said.

Overly conservative with lead: Major Wright’s 38-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter gave the Bears a 24-3 lead. But from there, the Bears took a conservative approach that nearly allowed the Steelers to rally.

“It was just that type of game to get up that quickly like that,” quarterback Jay Cutler said. “We were sitting pretty good early on, and we didn’t want to give them anything easy.”

Injuries to key players: Already slowed by a sore knee, Tillman suffered a groin injury that forced him out of action. The Bears also lost defensive tackle Henry Melton for the season with a torn ACL. So that’s two starters on defense. Obviously, the pass rush -- which was already struggling -- will be weakened significantly by the loss of Melton. Then, with the Bears set to take on the Detroit Lions, it’s probably fair to ponder whether Tillman can be effective against receiver Calvin Johnson.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The emotional high Lovie Smith envisioned the Chicago Bears ending the regular season on eluded the team Sunday in a 10-3 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

That won't prevent the team from hitching a ride on a new one.

The last time Smith put the tighten-things-up phrase on repeat, the Bears responded with a five-game winning streak, anchored by the same dominating defense and amplified by the seemingly continuous evolution of the offense. All that started with a week off in October for critical self evaluation, combined with training-camp style workouts designed for augmenting strengths, eliminating weaknesses and single-minded focus on making the minute details as crisp as possible.

This time around, though, the Bears don't need a five-game tear. Two wins get them to the Super Bowl.

"It's gratifying to have this week where you can sit back. We're all excited about watching others play, trying to figure out exactly who we're going to play this round, and just kind of being a fan of pro football this week," Smith said. "But at the same time, though, [we have] a week to really tighten up on some things. Now [that] we've gone through an entire year, we kind of see some of the things we need to improve. We've been looking at it throughout the course of the year, but now that it's all over you can concentrate a little bit more on certain things."

The last time the Bears received a week off and extra time for preparation and self evaluation, most of the changes the team made manifested themselves on offense.

In the seven games prior to the week off in October, the Bears had given up 31 sacks. But upon return, the re-tooled offensive line surrendered 25 over nine games, including Sunday's six-sack night by the Packers.

"We obviously didn't execute as well as we should have [against the Packers]. But we're gonna learn from it," Bears guard Roberto Garza said. "We're gonna take a week off, recharge, and come back ready for playoff football. [Smith's message after the game was] we're still a good football team; 11-5 is a hell of a year. All of the work is done [for the regular season]. So now it's time for playoff football."

During the first series of major changes on offense devised in October, the Bears shifted their focus with regards to the pass-run ratio. Averaging 22.3 rushing attempts and 88.6 yards through the first seven outings, the team came out of the break averaging 28.7 attempts and 110.7 yards over the last nine contests.

Think the rushing numbers don't matter? In the two games the Bears lost after the bye, they ran the ball 14 and 20 times, which was not only off the team's average during that span, but also its two lowest totals in terms of attempts over the last nine games.

"We see going into the playoffs that you've got to rely on the run," Smith said. "There will be times where you'll have to be able to run the football, and we see that we can do that."

So it's no coincidence that after the Bears made sweeping change offensively, their third-down conversion rate of 17.9 percent in the first seven games improved to 44.1 while the touchdowns per game increased from an average of 1.8 before the bye to 3 for the remainder of the season.

The players expect the team's evolution to continue into the postseason. Over the final nine games of the regular season, it seemed every week questions remained as to whether the offense had reached its full potential.

Continued inconsistency on offense indicates it hasn't.

"You want to look at things things like, ‘What could I have done to help my team win,'" Bears tackle Frank Omiyale said after Sunday's loss at Green Bay. "So that's what we're gonna do when we go back and look at the film: Find ways to win. That's what we get paid to do."

The coaching staff falls into that category, too.

"To have this bye week is important," Smith said, "to rest up as much as anything. At the same time, it'll be good to have a couple of practices, training-camp-type practices getting ready for whoever we end up playing in our first playoff game."

The Bears will face either the Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks or New Orleans Saints at noon on Jan. 16 at Soldier Field.

After a brief slide on defense, the unit regained some of its swagger in limiting a high-powered Packers offense to 284 yards (just 60 rushing) and 18 percent on third-down conversions, in addition to sacking Aaron Rodgers twice. Bears linebacker Lance Briggs considered Sunday's game "good preparation going into the playoffs," adding it was encouraging to see the defense perform well against an explosive offense, indicative of what they'll face in the postseason.

"We're looking forward to the game because this is a new season," defensive end Julius Peppers said. "This is what we play for: a chance at the ultimate goal."

Will the Bears reach it?

Their chances are good if the team uses the week off to make the same type of progress they made during the regular-season break in October, and the team's track record certainly indicates them doing so.

"That's why these practices this week are so important, too," Smith said. "Every day you go out on the practice field you can get better. That's what we plan on doing this week."

Bears coach Lovie Smith must have pre-programmed his team Monday. When his players gathered in the locker room, melting ice sliding off uniforms after a sizzling performance on a frozen field, they all said the same things in the wake of a 40-14 clobbering of the Minnesota Vikings.

We’ve still got a lot of work to do.

We have a ways to go.

We have to stay focused on the main prize.

Like their coach -- who describes his temperament as a “five” on a scale of 1 to 10 -- the Bears have propelled themselves to No. 1 in the NFC North this season for the first time in four years with an even-keeled approach to success and failure.

So it’s not surprise the team basically repeats in postgame press conferences what Smith tells it behind closed doors. But if anything, that single-minded approach between the coach and the 53 men on Chicago’s roster serves as a bonding agent and source of strength for the team that could ultimately lift it to a deep playoff run.

“Chicago is the kind of city that if you’re not doing well, they’ll let you know about it,” linebacker Lance Briggs said. “It’s nice to be successful because Lovie really is a great coach, and I really can’t imagine playing for anyone else. I’ve always enjoyed my time with him and everybody here. Chicago is a great place, and they’re lucky to have him.”

By trying to be him, the Bears -- like Smith -- simultaneously wow and frustrate their supporters from time to time.

Having lost three of four heading into the bye week after starting the season by winning three in a row, Smith and his team drew criticism for what appeared to be a blasé attitude and a blind optimism about their prospects, despite what transpired on the field in back-to-back home losses to Seattle and Washington.

At the time, Smith said, “You can’t get too high or too low; a lot of football left to go. [A] 4-3 [record] says, to me, you’re a good football team [and there are] some things you need to tighten up on. We’re right in the thick of the [NFC North] race.”

Little did anyone know the Bears would win it with two games left to play.

“It’s satisfying, but by no means am I completely satisfied with that we have done this year,” said quarterback Jay Cutler, who has thrown for eight touchdowns in his last four outings. “We can be so much better offensively.”

The team has shown certainly shown glimpses.

The Bears generated national buzz after the bye by reeling off five wins in a row, including a 31-26 triumph over a red-hot Philadelphia Eagles team, before falling 36-7 on Dec. 12 to the New England Patriots at Soldier Field.

During the winning streak, Smith refrained from getting overly jazzed about the team’s success, maintaining that outside “opinions really don’t matter a whole lot. We’ve beaten a lot of good teams; no more than that.” The team echoed Smith every day in the locker room.

Everyone did it again after the loss to the Patriots, acknowledging disappointment, but resisting the urge to push the panic button and embodying an even-keeled approach that played a role in the club bouncing back in resounding fashion against the Vikings.

“It’s hard to win in the National Football League. There’s parity in the league, [and] our players realize that,” Smith said. “You also realize how hard you have to work to stay there, and that’s what we’ll continue to do. After you make [the playoffs] the first time, you assume you’ll be back there every year. It doesn’t work like that, so that’s why this is special. The second time around we realize how hard it is to get there.”

Perhaps that explains why the team so easily adopts the coach’s consistent approach in dealing with the good times and bad on the football field. Chicago’s current roster features 16 players from the 2006 Super Bowl team, including seven starters from that defense who are still in the starting lineup.

New addition Julius Peppers shares the deflating experience of losing a Super Bowl with the 16 Bears from the 2006 team. Drafted by Carolina in 2002, Peppers played in the Panthers’ loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVII. Peppers and the Panthers returned to the playoffs twice more, but never made it back to the championship game.

So Peppers, like Smith and the rest of the team, wasn’t overly excited Monday about the Bears clinching the NFC North.

“It feels good to win it, but that is just one of our goals,” Peppers said. “I didn’t come here to lose. This is what I came here for: to win games, win the division, and ultimately win the whole thing. We are going to celebrate, but at the same time we have to stay focused on the main prize.”

Smith couldn’t have said it better.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Lovie Smith watched his team trot off the sun-baked practice fields at Olivet Nazarene University in August, placing one hand on a hip, using the other to pull back his Bears ball cap to wipe off beads of sweat.

In a brief moment of pure candor, the coach dropped his guard.

Smith would never admit it now. To do so would come off as, “I told you so”. But the coach knew exactly what he had all along, and explained it that hot day at training camp in Bourbonnais. Asked why he was acting almost giddy during the dog days of camp, despite the team having yet to play in an exhibition outing, constant hammering about the perception he was on the hot seat and the fact his team was coming off a disappointing 7-9 season, Smith smiled and kept it simple.

“If you could just see what I see,” he said.

It’s undoubtedly right in everyone’s face now, after the club clobbered a hot Eagles team, 31-26, on Sunday for its first four-game winning streak since 2006. Tied with the Saints for the second-best record in the NFC at 8-3, the Bears could legitimately clamor for national respect. Within the walls at Halas Hall, the Bears knew all along what many are just finding out.

This team is for real.

“The way we’ve gotten respect is we’ve been in first place in our division just about all year,” Smith said Monday. “So opinions really don’t matter a whole lot. We put a lot into them, but they really don’t [matter]. Our football team, nothing’s changed for us. We beat a good team yesterday. But we’ve beaten a lot of good teams, just like yesterday. No more than that.”

On the practice field at ONU back in the summer, the coach pointed out why he didn’t put stock in the low national perception of his team at the time. Smith explained he’d seen the defense play at a high level. Eight starters from the 2006 Super Bowl squad – Olin Kreutz, Roberto Garza, Desmond Clark, Tommie Harris, Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher, Charles Tillman and Danieal Manning -- remained, and despite them being four years older, the coach sensed urgency in their preparation, dating back to the offseason conditioning program.

The four years of experience, Smith explained that day, imparted wisdom among the vets about the difficulty of making it back to the Super Bowl, and how easily they could finish their careers without ever again ascending to that level. The prospect for such a grim scenario created a sense of hunger and urgency, in addition to a heightened focus among the veterans that Smith could already see rubbing off on some of the younger players in the offseason.

For Smith at the time, the questions came about the offensive line -- which had subjected Jay Cutler to a career high in sacks in 2009 -- and whether the entire unit could transition quickly enough into the system brought over by newly-acquired coordinator Mike Martz. Smith had faith in the team’s young receivers.

But as Smith usually says -- which he also said that day at ONU -- all those things work themselves out.

That appears to be exactly what’s happened, especially since the team’s Oct. 31 bye.

“I just know we go back to the practice field each week. We watch the video. We have the same routine,” Smith said. “The mistakes that are made, we point them out, correct them, try to take another step and try to be honest with the players always as far as what we need to do. They take coaching. Guys have confidence, but you should make improvements this late in the season. You should take care of some of those problems you had earlier in the season.”

The offensive line seemed to be one of the main areas plaguing the Bears, who had lost three of four games heading into the bye, as the club’s entire defense remained steady. Prior to the bye, the unit -- which had lined up with four combinations of starters over seven games -- allowed Cutler to absorb four sacks or more in four of his six starts.

The line moved to its fifth combination of starters after the bye, and has kept it intact for the last four outings, with the unit allowing four sacks or fewer in four consecutive weeks. The better protection seems to translate into better accuracy for Cutler, whose completion percentage has risen in each of the past four contests.

“Jay is as good as it gets in an NFL quarterback,” Kreutz said after Sunday’s game. “As long as you perform around him he’s gonna keep showing what he is. We definitely feel that we’re better and that we can get better. We won today, but if we lose next week, this game doesn’t mean [expletive]. We understand that. We’re nowhere near where we want to be. We don’t want to be satisfied. That’s the last thing you want to be at this time of year. You’ve got to stay hungry. There’s so much more we can do with the talent we have.”

Martz realized that coming out of the bye week, after evaluating over the first seven games the strengths and limitations of the club’s offensive personnel. After pass-heavy game plans in the first seven contests, Martz tweaked the system to cater more toward the rushing attack. The Bears passed more than they ran in six of the first seven games before the bye.

Since then, the Bears have run the ball more than they’ve passed in four straight.

“Since we came out of the bye, we’ve said each week we just need to continue to take another step and get better. I think over these last four weeks, it’s pretty safe to say that we’ve done that,” tight end Greg Olsen said. “From the beginning, we said it wasn’t going to just be a switch turned on and everything was easy. It was a lot of adjustments and new personnel and new scheme and coaches and whatnot, and I think it’s starting to kind of all come together.”

The solidification of the offensive line along and tweaks to the game plans directly correlate with the club’s success. The Bears achieved a red-zone touchdown percentage of 50 or better in only one game (Sept. 19 at Dallas) prior to the bye, and have since scored touchdowns in the red zone at least 50 percent of the time in every game.

The club also improved from 17.9 percent on third-down conversions before the bye to 52.5 percent since.

“We haven’t peaked yet. We’re still rising, as far as what I think we can be,” Smith said. “They take coaching. We’re a good football team; I’ve been saying that quite a bit.”

Ever since training camp.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Eight games in means it's time to take inventory on where the Bears stand at the halfway point of the season, in addition to what needs to be done across the board for the club to reach the playoffs.

Chicago escaped the Bills 22-19, showing nary a hint Sunday of the playoff-caliber team the coaching staff envisioned at the start of the season. That doesn't mean the Bears aren't capable of developing into that. Bears coach Lovie Smith says the team hasn't peaked.

Certainly, it needs to.

"As we said -- I'm talking about the group within -- we're a good football team, and I think in time we'll prove that more and more," Smith said. "I like our position. We talked about October [as the time for] getting in position. We just finished up the halfway point of our season. But in November, that's when that playoff run begins. For us, we're in pretty good shape."

That appears to be the case, with the Bears -- 5-3 -- in an ideal position to seize back control of the NFC North, with the first-place Green Bay Packers on the shelf this week because of a bye. The club pointed to the importance of gaining momentum with a win after its own bye, which was used to correct several issues.

Still, the club knows it didn't fix everything.

"The bye week wasn't what we expected, but we highlighted some areas -- it was pretty well documented what they were -- and for the most part, we took a little bit of a step," tight end Greg Olsen said. "For this final stretch with the teams we're playing, we have to continue to improve each week. That's going to be our focus when we get back to practice Wednesday, learning from yesterday and getting ready for a huge home game against a division rival."

At the halfway point of the season, we take a quick position-by-position look at the Bears:

Quarterback
Jay Cutler gave the team a Week-1 deadline to master the complicated scheme of offensive coordinator Mike Martz. But clearly multiple extensions were in order. The break-in period for the new offense has come and gone.

It's time now for production, which starts with No. 6.

"Everyone is getting more and more comfortable with the system, and how to line up, and our motions are more crisp, and guys are just getting into a rhythm," Cutler said.

Although he produced a near error-free ballgame -- only one turnover and a passer rating of 97.6 -- against the Bills, Cutler still shows slight hints of distrust in the system, which translates into hesitation at the top of his drop that throws off the timing of the entire offense. Cutler also continues to throw off his back foot, and make a few questionable decisions.

Moving forward, Cutler won't be able to eliminate all the kinks in his game. But he'll need to refine some of them, while playing with more trust in Martz's system for the offense to reach its capabilities.

Running back
The team can point to only one signature game -- Carolina -- all season for running backs Matt Forte and Chester Taylor. Such production won't cut it when the Bears start to rely on the rushing attack in the coming weeks as the temperature starts to drop and affect the passing game.

"We need to run to control the clock, keep the other offense off the field, and help our passing game go," Forte said. "When we get back to Chicago for those home games, it's going to be too cold to throw the ball a lot."

Forte and Taylor have each run for more than 43 yards in the same game only once -- Carolina -- all season. While it's not expected for the duo to put up 100 yards apiece on a weekly basis, Forte and Taylor need to put forth a significant enough of a contribution for the Bears to show real commitment to the rushing attack.

Chicago did that against the Bills -- the league's worst at stopping the run -- but each of the Bears' next three opponents -- Minnesota, Miami and Philadelphia -- rank in the top half of the league in run defense. All but one -- the New York Giants -- of the club's previous eight opponents currently rank 18th or worse against the run.

Receivers
They can't all force it, but the receivers need to continue to develop chemistry with Cutler because the club faces three teams -- the Vikings, Dolphins, and Eagles -- ranked in the top 15 against the pass. Philadelphia and Green Bay, who the Bears face again Jan. 2, are tied for first and third, respectively, in interceptions.

Communication issues continue to fester between the quarterback and receivers, and there haven't been any signs of them diminishing. Despite the Bills playing a significant amount of man coverage Sunday, the Bears still struggled on occasion.

"They were either going to press us and play on," Cutler explained, "[to] make us beat them through the air a little bit."

Johnny Knox remains on pace for a 1,000-yard season while Olsen, a tight end, has become a more prominent target in the passing game, along with Earl Bennett. The club still needs more production out of No. 1 receiver Devin Hester, who hasn't posted more than 30 yards receiving in seven consecutive games.

Offensive line
For once, the offensive line seems to be one of the club's bright spots.

The Bears rolled out their fifth combination of starters up front against the Bills, and it appears the current group -- comprised of Frank Omiyale, Chris Williams, Olin Kreutz, Roberto Garza, and J'Marcus Webb -- is the one the club wants to focus on developing the rest of the season.

"We're not there yet," Kreutz said. "But we'll keep trying to improve. It's coming. We've been saying as a line all year [that] we'll take the criticism we deserves, but if we improve every week we'll be where we want to be by Week 10, 11, 12. That's when playoff football is played, and that's when we want to be playing our best. That's what we want to get to."

Such a goal isn't unrealistic. Cutler's sack numbers have gradually decreased in his each of his last three outings, from 9 to 6, 4 and 1 on Sunday against the Bills.

Defensive line
Sacks aren't coming in bunches for the Bears, who are tied for 25th in the league with just 12. But don't let the statistics deceive; the Bears are putting plenty of pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Although the club posted just one sack of Fitzpatrick on Sunday, the Bears were credited with hitting him 12 times, led by Julius Peppers and Israel Idonije, who landed 4 and 3 hits, respectively.

"We could have all the sacks in the world and [not be] winning games," said Idonije, who leads the team with five sacks. "On the other hand, we could just get a lot of pressures, win games and have a defense that's ranked high. I'll take the pressures and a team that's winning over having all the statistics, and not the team performance. We're moving in the right direction."

The front four has proven stout against the run, allowing just 83.9 yards per game, which ranks as third in the NFL. Defensive tackle Tommie Harris, who struggled early, also appears to be coming on while Matt Toeaina and Anthony Adams continue their steady play.

Linebackers
The Bears deploy one of the most active and disruptive linebacking groups in the NFL, headlined by Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, who lead the team in tackles. Pisa Tinoisamoa, who beat out Nick Roach for a starting job at camp, has also emerged as a playmaker.

"I wish we weren't 5-3," Urlacher said. "I wish we were 7-1, 6-2, or 8-0, but we're not. We're 5-3, and we've got to keep playing well."

To do that, though, the trio needs to remain healthy. Urlacher fought through a groin injury recently, and Briggs has missed practice time with an ankle injury dating back to the team's Oct. 10 win over Carolina. Injuries have plagued Tinoisamoa in the past, too. But he's remained healthy so far this season, and that needs to continue for the entire group.

Secondary
Struggles in the secondary allowed the Bills to convert 63 percent on third downs as Fitzpatrick rolled up 294 yards through the air. The Bears currently rank 21st in the league against the pass, but surely the team can live with the yardage if the unit continues to make clutch game-defining plays.

"Some of the [yardage given up] we were doing to ourselves," safety Danieal Manning explained, "maybe out of misalignments, not making tackles."

The Bears rebounded though to turn a fumble recovery by cornerback Charles Tillman and one of Tim Jennings' two interceptions into 15 points against the Bills. Each of the turnovers proved to be game-deciding plays.

Still, Smith wants to see the unit play more consistently in the coming weeks. The group should also get a boost with the return of rookie safety Major Wright, who saw his first action since Week 2 against the Bills, and cornerback Zack Bowman, who has missed the past two games with a sprained foot.

"All players make mistakes," Smith said. "I can think of very few players who have gone through a game without making a mistake. You want their big plays to stand out more than some of those not-so-good plays, I'll say that."

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Crushing defeats allow dissention to seep into the cracks of a team’s foundation, similar to what occurred Sunday in the minutes following Chicago’s 17-14 loss to the Washington Redskins.

At least one player privately questioned whether Jay Cutler -- who played a direct role in five of the team’s turnovers -- would be held to the same standards of accountability as the rest of the team, leaving open the possibility the quarterback could be losing the support of teammates.

Yet Bears’ coach Lovie Smith squashed the notion Monday, stressing the organization wins and loses as a team.

“Well, I can understand why you would ask that question. But you guys had a chance to talk to our team,” Smith said. “What I would say is that [what] they would say is, ‘No, [Cutler isn’t in danger of losing the team].’ Jay, of course, would like to have some of those throws back. There are so many things all of us would like to do differently. But our team is just that: a team. We lost as a team yesterday. Everybody had an opportunity to make plays. Maybe some had more opportunities. But we’ll tighten those things up, and everyone around -- and everyone involved -- will do a little bit more to correct some of those things.”

The bye week seems the perfect time to do that. Having dropped three of their last four outings, the Bears -- which once led the NFC North comfortably at 4-1 -- find themselves, as Smith said, evaluating “everything we’re doing from personnel to scheme to try to tighten up on some things that have caused us to lose.”

Chicago's schedule intensifies after the bye, with contests against the Vikings, Dolphins, and Eagles, in addition to a month-long stretch to end the year with second meetings against the Vikings and Packers, and outings versus the Patriots and Jets.

We take a look at some of the team’s most daunting challenges likely to be addressed during the bye as the Bears prepare for a Nov. 7 matchup with the Buffalo Bills in Toronto:

Offensive line

Although the line fared better in the second half (one sack) against the Redskins after giving up three in the first half, expect the Bears to continuing moving around the pieces up front. In fact, the club -- depending on how it decides to deploy the personnel -- may opt for its fifth starting five in eight games.

“We’ll take our bye week and as an O-line we’ll try to get to know each other better and improve on little things,” said center Olin Kreutz.

Remember, the Bears started the season with a starting unit comprised of left tackle Chris Williams, left guard Roberto Garza, Kreutz, right guard Lance Louis, and right tackle Frank Omiyale before injuries broke up the group. Because Garza underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Oct. 15, the club utilized Omiyale and Chris Williams at left tackle and guard, respectively, in the last two games, while lining up Edwin Williams and rookie J’Marcus Webb on the right side.

Edwin Williams left Sunday’s game because of tightness in his back, and was replaced by Louis.

Kreutz described some of the chaos that ensued on the sidelines Sunday in between possessions after the second-year guard left the game.

“A lot of swearing, but mostly [us] trying to just figure out what the guy next to us was doing. ‘Why did you do that?’ Just stuff like that,” Kreutz said. “You’re trying to get to know the guy you’re playing next to. Edwin went down in the first drive [and] Lance came in. That was a whole other piece we put in. [We’re] just trying to get to learn each other and play together.”

The Bears expect Garza to return in time for the Nov. 7 game at Buffalo, along with Edwin Williams. But Smith hasn’t given any indication as to what the club’s plans are in terms of the starters.

“I think the bye week is coming at a great time, period,” Smith said. “There was a period of time there [against the Redskins], overall, that the offensive line made improvements and did some things better. We’re disappointed with some things, but I think we’ve been able to identify them, and now it’s what we’ll do this week.”

Either way, it’s imperative the club cuts down the sack numbers (31 overall, including 27 sacks of Cutler), in addition to the hits teams are delivering to Cutler. The quarterback took responsibility for his five turnovers against the Redskins, but it’s difficult to ask Cutler to consistently fire accurate passes with constant pressure in his face.

“It was a lot better this week,” Chris Williams said. “But we still have to get it done, you know.”

Communication between QB and WRs

Cutler pointed out “itty-bitty things here and there” as hindrances to efficient communication with the club’s young receivers, who shared some of the blame in the interceptions against the Redskins.

“As far as who’s at fault with the interceptions, we all have to take part of that. Jay would tell you some of them were on him. Receivers can help out on some of the routes,” Smith said. “Some of our calls can help out too. It’s kind of all of the above a little bit with it.”

Offensive coordinator Mike Martz, meanwhile, once said to “put it in granite” that Chicago’s receivers would be the strength of the offense. Such hasn’t been the case thus far, which is alarming, considering the offensive system relies heavily on precision that can only be achieved by Cutler and the receivers almost knowing one another’s thoughts on the field.

But how do Cutler and the receivers get to that point? Smith couldn’t offer up a clear answer.

“In our offense, that’s very important, and that has been the case,” Smith said. “But again, these are all things -- if you turned on the TV at any time last night, I heard the guys saying some of the same things -- sometimes you’re just not quite on target, whether it be a quarterback with a receiver, whatever. Yesterday, we weren’t on in critical situations. If you don’t get it taken care of, you lose the football game the way we did.”

From our vantage point, most of the communication issues fall on Johnny Knox, the club’s most targeted receiver, and Devin Hester. Interestingly, Cutler seems to possess a better rapport with tight end Greg Olsen, Earl Bennett and Devin Aromashodu, who aren’t normally the quarterback’s No. 1 targets in a given route.

Bennett and Knox entered Sunday’s game as two of the NFL’s best in terms of catch percentage (94.7 percent and 94.1 percent, respectively), according to ESPN Stats and Information, with only one drop apiece. Hester (81.3 percent), meanwhile, had dropped three passes going into Sunday’s contest.

So trust in the receivers’ consistency wouldn’t appear to be at issue as much as their ability to read coverages and adjust routes accordingly. Most of the communication problems stem from Cutler and the receivers reading coverages differently, and in many cases the receivers have been the ones making the correct reads.

“We’ve got to focus on ourselves,” Olsen said. “We pretty much need to do everything better. We need to take however many practices we have this week and make the most of them. We can’t just go through the motions. We have to get better.”

Play calling

Smith called for balance on offense after the Bears lost to Seattle on Oct. 17 with a pass-run ratio of 39 to 12, yet Martz responded by calling 40 passes and 15 runs against the Redskins.

So much for balance.

Still, the club needs to achieve some level of it moving forward to prevent the offense from becoming one-dimensional, which in many ways leads to more punishment for Cutler because without the threat of the running game, opponents tend to remain in pass-rush mode for long stretches.

Running backs Matt Forte and Chester Taylor averaged 4.1 and 6.7 yards, respectively, in the loss to the Redskins. So it appears the duo could’ve been productive, had Martz provided the opportunity.

“You’re reluctant to do some of things when we’re trying to keep things a little simpler at times [for the offensive line],” Martz said last week. “That’s the wrong thing to do. We need to do what we do and just go play.”

Martz said the club needed to run the ball more against the Redskins, yet it didn’t happen. Twice in the game, the Bears opted to call runs designed for Hester instead of the backs, resulting in the receiver rushing for just five yards.

“I know there’s a rhyme and reason for everything we do. It’s not my job [to question it],” Kreutz said. “I play center. I just execute what’s called. The play calling had nothing to do with us winning or losing. It was just our execution, our ability to not block people, our ability to not hold onto the ball, just stuff like that [which] loses games.”

Third-down conversions

The Bears rank last in the league in third-down efficiency (17.9 percent), finishing 2 for 10 against the Redskins. Prior to Cutler converting a third-and-2 from the Redskins’ 33 in the third quarter on a pass to Devin Hester for a 7-yard gain, the quarterback had led the team on a streak of 28 consecutive third downs without a conversion.

Interestingly, Martz pinned the club’s neglect to the running game to its inability to convert third downs, which means there could be somewhat of a symbiotic relationship between two of the Bears’ most pronounced shortcomings.

“When you’re converting on third down, you’re more apt to run the ball,” he said. “When you’re not, when you’re struggling on third downs, you feel like you’ve got to make something happen on first and second downs -- at least I do. We’ve got to fix our third-down issues and mix our runs in there. That’s really the crux of it.”

The problem the Bears continue to encounter is the fact there’s not an easy practice fix for their third-down futility. The club can’t simulate on the practice field the wrinkles it will see against most opponents. So Chicago’s best option is to significantly shore up all the minor details, which could translate into major results.

“That’s where we are right now,” Smith said. “There are a lot of things we would like to do differently, a lot of things I would like to do differently.”


Goal-line production

Instead of breaking their curse of ineptitude with Cutler’s quarterback sneak that should’ve been ruled a touchdown in the third quarter, the Bears moved to 0 for 10 on attempts at punching it in from an opponent’s 1.

So that means the Bears have essentially missed out on 60 points over seven games.

“As you can probably figure out, we’re frustrated after any loss -- especially a loss like that,” Smith said.

But in some ways, the club’s goal line futility can be attributed to Martz’s play calling. The Bears have walked away from goal-to-go situations with field goals or scoreless on seven drives this season, while their opponents have scored touchdowns against them in the same situations 90 percent of the time over 10 drives.

Interestingly, Cutler has a 95.8 passer rating, including two TDs in goal-to-go situations, and he hasn’t been sacked or thrown an interception. But the club has called passes in those situations just six times this season. While it’s fine to show confidence in the rushing attack near the goal line, it’s better to execute what works.

Forte has run the ball six times for 1 yard from inside an opponent’s 3 this season. Despite Taylor being considered the more powerful inside runner, his number hasn’t been called in those situations.

“We have some things we need to tighten up,” Smith said. “We’ve identified them, as you have, too. We’ll work on them to get better. Just keep in mind where we are in the football season. They don’t give out championships in October, alright? You start getting yourself in position to make a run in November, in December. We have to put ourselves in a position to make a run.”

What better place to start than the bye week.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- It's healthy skepticism, that natural tendency to focus on negativity.

But to embrace a superficial viewpoint of Chicago's rise to 4-1 diminishes its significance as potential training ground for down the road when the stakes are highest, given all the challenges faced by the team through the first five games, not to mention the creative methods deployed to overcome them.

"It has to help us later on to have won in different ways, and just how you have to. Each game is different," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "If you talk offense, there's going to be some games where we're gonna have to just pass the ball a lot to win the football game. You just look at what you have to do to win the game at that time. Defensively, we played more man than we normally do [Sunday against the Panthers]. During the course of the season, you're going to have to rely on everything."

Through five games, the Bears seem to have already cornered the market in that arena.

Against the Panthers, the club overcame a horrid outing by backup quarterback Todd Collins (6.2 passer rating and four interceptions) with stellar play in the rushing game and on special teams to win 23-6. Chicago's wins this season come against teams with a combined record of 5-14, which casts doubt on how good the Bears really are.

What's resonates most, though, is the club has been good enough.

"You want to play hitting on all cylinders," said backup quarterback Caleb Hanie. "But in this league, it's hard to get wins on the road, and we'll take them as we can get them. You can say, ‘ugly victory,' but you can also take the good things out of the game."

Like this: a week after sputtering against the Giants in allowing 10 sacks while rushing for just 59 yards, the Bears -- already missing starting quarterback Jay Cutler and starting left tackle Chris Williams -- bolstered the weakest side of their line with a rookie (J'Marcus Webb) at right tackle, and a right guard (Edwin Williams) who had played in just five career games headed into the contest. The duo didn't exactly inspire talk of the Pro Bowl.

Webb and Edwin Williams merely performed solidly in helping Matt Forte rush for a career-high 166 yards and a pair of touchdowns, as the team combined for 218 yards on the ground.

"It shows how resilient they are," Forte said. "Those two young guys, they weren't out there wide eyed and scared of anybody."

Knowing all week Cutler wouldn't be unavailable for Sunday's contest, the Bears tailored the game plan to help out Collins, who would be making his first start since 2007. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz bucked his own pass-happy reputation to make sure the club spent a good portion of the afternoon operating out of double-tight end formations to bolster the ground game, while taking pressure off Collins.

"All along we've said we're going to do what we have to [in order] to win the game," tight end Greg Olsen said. "Our running game has been spotty in the first couple of weeks, and yesterday was a good opportunity with Jay out and obviously some of those factors playing in there [gave us] a good chance to get the running game going."

Ultimately, when asked to throw, Collins faltered.

Yet the Bears picked up the pieces around him in other areas, which is what they've done throughout the season in several different areas when needed. Whether it's been the leaky offensive line, an anemic ground attack or a front seven that can't get to the quarterback, the Bears continue to find ways to hide weaknesses and erase mistakes by highlighting strengths and forcing opponent miscues.

They've done so with coaching adjustments, and clutch plays in key moments in every facet of the game, in addition to a little luck.

"You've got your second-, your third-string quarterback in the game," Devin Hester said. "You know, you want to give him as much help as you can. When you get good field position by the returners, it takes a lot of pressure off. We wanted to get good field position to eliminate some of the stress on the quarterback."

Hester and safety Danieal Manning did that with electric performances on returns. Hester ran back three punts for 68 yards, including a 50-yarder. Manning averaged 44.3 yards on three kick returns. His game-opening return, a 62-yarder, set up Forte's first touchdown burst. Manning returned his second kickoff 37 yards to set up Forte's 68-yard TD on the very next play.

Safety Chris Harris said the club should be able to benefit from all it's been through over the first five weeks.

Facing so many challenges while overcoming the majority of them in a variety of ways gives the Bears confidence about how they'll handle adversity in November and December when the stakes go up and the club's playoff life is potentially on the line.

"We see we can win close games," Harris said. "We can play down the stretch, run the ball when we need it, and play good defense. All of this is very good to get early, so when November and December come around, we can be prepared."

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Of course Jay Cutler wanted to keep taking the beating dished by a relentless New York Giants' pass rush that repeatedly knocked him silly.

Realistically, though, neither he nor the team can successfully continue without a permanent fix to a constantly crumbling line that gave up 10 sacks in a massacre Sunday that ended with two quarterbacks taken off the field by the medical staff.

“There were a lot of things that were unacceptable from that game and of course we’re going to put the offensive line in there,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said.

How could he not?

A hard look at the nuts and bolts of the outing by ESPN Stats & Information shed some light into the depth of the ineptitude contributing to the offensive line’s woeful performance. New York pressured Chicago with four or fewer rushers for eight of its 10 sacks on the night, which means the Giants’ front four routinely beat a Bears' protection scheme that included five offensive linemen, and more often than not, a tight end and a running back.

That’s right: six- and seven-man protection schemes proved insufficient against a defense deploying just four rushers most of the time. Three Giants defensive ends (Justin Tuck, Chris Canty, and Osi Umenyiora) and a defensive tackle (Barry Coefield) combined for 8.5 sacks, while a defensive back (Aaron Ross) and a linebacker (Jonathan Goff) came together for the remainder.

The club now ranks last in the NFL in sack-differential at minus-14, which is six sacks worse than 31st-ranked Carolina.

“We didn’t block people. Football’s not hard to figure out,” Bears center Olin Kreutz said. “They beat us time after time, and we’ve got to get in front of guys and get them blocked. It was man on man. There was a little bit of everything [in terms of being physically beaten and making mental mistakes]. But most of them were those guys just beating us. That’s not acceptable really. We’ve got to go back to work and hopefully we can rectify this week in Carolina.”

The question now becomes how?

Kreutz, Smith, and left guard Roberto Garza, understandably, are reluctant to make excuses for what transpired against the Giants. But it’s worth mentioning that Garza missed practice time leading into the game due to a knee injury, which actually crept up again during the contest and forced him to miss snaps. Right guard Lance Louis couldn’t finish Sunday night’s contest after suffering a bruised knee, and starting left tackle Chris Williams has missed two games in a row because of a strained hamstring.

So in addition to competing with linemen playing at half strength due to minor injuries, the team also continues to deal with a lack of familiarity among the reserves playing significant roles. Starting right tackle Frank Omiyale has played on the left side the last three games and Kevin Shaffer, normally a backup, is shuffling in and out with rookie J’Marcus Webb at right tackle. Edwin Williams, meanwhile, filled in for Louis at right guard after being activated from the practice squad just seven days earlier.

“Nowhere [to go but] up from here,” Omiyale said. “Nine sacks in the first half [were] pretty rough. I think that was a record, but we’re going to get better. That’s our plan.”

Reluctantly, Smith admitted the current situation creates somewhat of a trickle-down effect that wreaks havoc on everything offensively. The discombobulated unit can’t effectively open the holes for the club to consistently utilize the ground game, leading to offensive coordinator Mike Martz -- whether right or wrong -- leaning on a passing attack comprised of long drops that expose Cutler to excessive punishment.

“It complicates it,” Smith said. “But injuries are a part of it. And it’s kind of [a situation where it’s] next guy up with all positions. We’ve had to shuffle the players a little bit more than what we like, especially on the offensive line. But that’s just a part of it. It’s not ideal to have to move to different positions. You want to get guys locked in at one. But sometimes the situations don’t allow you to do that. I’m just glad we have some guys to be able to move around a little bit. Hopefully, eventually, we’ll get guys back. Each day Chris Williams is getting a little bit more healthy to play. So hopefully, before too long, we’ll have a bigger group to choose from.”

Even with that, the Bears still need to choose correctly.

The club entered the season expecting to field a starting line comprised of Kreutz, Louis, Garza, Williams and Omiyale. If the group is healthy enough to play this week, that’s the combination the team needs to adhere to without all the shuffling that eventually disrupts cohesion, leads to anemic rushing numbers, and lands Cutler on the injury list.

If the entire group can’t go, the pickings are slim concerning potential replacements for Louis (his status is uncertain for this week), Chris Williams and possibly Garza. Edwin Williams and Webb are the only reserves on the active roster while practice squad members Johan Asiata, Levi Horn and James Marten are possible candidates for promotion, depending on the significance of the injury current injury situation.

“We see our options, and we’ll continue to evaluate, and Wednesday we’ll have a better idea which way we’re going to go,” Smith said. “You don’t want your quarterback to go through that. We just have to do a better job of protecting him. Everybody is looking at themselves, thinking and talking about what they’re going to do -- what we’re going to do -- to the necessary improvements and get back on track. We’re a week away from feeling a lot better. We’ll get it done this week.”

We’ll see.

CHICAGO -- Like an NFL version of Google when it comes to victories, if there’s a win out there somewhere, the Chicago Bears find it.

The club proved that for the third consecutive week in Monday night’s 20-17 come-from-behind triumph over the Green Bay Packers. So credit Chicago’s incredible resilience as the chief factor in it sitting atop the NFC North with two division wins, in addition to standing alone as the conference’s only remaining undefeated team.

Bears coach Lovie Smith struggled to find an apt description for the team's defining characteristics.

Obviously, resilience slipped his mind.

“It’s hard to say after three games,” Smith said. “I just know they are laying it on the line. When you’re down a little bit, you have a chance to show your character. The guys just weren’t going to be denied.”

They haven’t been for three weeks in a row.

After falling behind 10-0 at the 7:47 mark of the second quarter on Mason Crosby’s 38-yard field goal, the Bears appeared to be in prime position for a fall. The Packers had just taken 7 minutes and 47 seconds off the clock with the 14-play drive spanning 73 yards. Green Bay gained additional momentum by forcing Chicago into a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, in which the Bears actually lost 7 yards.

With a prime opportunity to put the game away, the Packers sputtered upon regaining possession. And as insignificant as it seemed at the time -- and to the overall big picture -- Devin Hester’s 28-yard punt return at the end of that drive may have been one of the game-defining plays, because it took a team fighting a 10-point deficit off the ropes, and returned it to attack mode.

Four consecutive Jay Cutler completions later, the Bears crept into striking distance with 26 seconds left in the half on a 9-yard touchdown pass to Greg Olsen.

“We were a little static there on offense and [Hester] gave us some life,” Cutler said. “We didn’t play our best game and won. That’s got to be a good sign.”

Absolutely, it is.

Furthermore, Smith probably didn’t coach his best game, either. Still, the Bears won.

Having established precedent in the first two games for wheeling and dealing on fourth down with the game on the line, Smith pulled the trigger again on a drive in which the club appeared to seize some momentum on a blocked field goal by Julius Peppers.

Down three points with 1:54 remaining in the third quarter, Smith -- after losing a replay challenge of the spot on a completion to Earl Bennett -- gambled unsuccessfully once again on a fourth-and-goal from the Packers' 1.

The call seemed questionable, for sure.

Yet had the coach not made it, would Hester’s 62-yard punt return TD on Green Bay’s ensuing drive have been possible? In fact, if the Bears had opted for a field goal instead of the failed-conversion-later-turned-touchdown, the club likely wouldn’t be sitting at 3-0.

It's the truth, no matter how unsettling.

“We are going to stay aggressive in situations like that,” Smith said. “We went for it because we thought we could get it, and if we hadn’t, we felt we had them backed up, and we would get the ball back. We had plenty of time to do something later on.”

The latter thought seems to permeate throughout the Bears, who appear to play as if they’ve got nothing to lose. They don’t, according to Hester, after missing the playoffs four consecutive years.

It’s a mentality born of hunger, faith, frustration and sheer confidence.

“When you get a team that’s just frustrated and tired of losing, eventually -- sooner or later -- they're gonna come out fighting hard,” Hester said. “That’s what we’re doing now. We went through four seasons without making it to the playoffs. That hurts, you know.”

Perhaps that’s why the Bears aim to transfer the pain to opponents.

Brian Urlacher disregarded the 316 yards through the air put up by Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, saying “Yards don’t really matter, points matter.”

“Don’t care, people can think what they want to,” he added. “We’ll just keep going out there and playing hard every week. We didn’t play good at times, but we played good enough to win.”

That’s what matters most, and it’s what the Bears have proven adept at doing.

The Bears trudged out of the muck of four turnovers in Week 1 to overcome themselves in an escape of the Detroit Lions, after trailing 30 minutes and 43 seconds. Then in Week 2, the Bears conquered relentless pressure with savvy adjustments to upset the Dallas Cowboys.

Against the Packers, the Bears didn’t put up the huge offensive numbers their fans have become accustomed to. The defense wasn’t exactly suffocating, either. Yet it made the play that led to Robbie Gould's game-winning kick when Tim Jennings dove on a James Jones fumble caused by Urlacher with 2:18 remaining.

“The resilience this team has,” Jennings said, without completing the sentence. “Everything was a total team effort today, and that’s just what we needed.”

Count on more of that as the Bears move forward on a schedule that sets up nicely with back-to-back road games against the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers, a pair of teams with a combined 1-5 record.

Offensive tackle Kevin Shaffer considers the Bears' resilience to be their most significant quality through the first three games. It’s a trait the club continues to cultivate, and will likely need to call upon multiple times as the season progresses.

“You’ve just got to stay focused, keep on driving. Things aren’t always gonna go the way you want, but as long as we stick together, things will turn around for us,” he said. “Most games are close. That’s just the way we’re doing it right now: we’re just finding ways to win between all three phases.”

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Frank Omiyale gave himself an internal stay-cool speech.

The entire Chicago Bears' offense seemed to need one with the Dallas Cowboys appearing to kick-start the slow, painful process Sunday of slaughtering Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. Starting left tackle Chris Williams had just gone down with a hamstring injury and all of a sudden the club was asking Omiyale to move from his customary right tackle spot to the left side in a switch-a-roo with Kevin Shaffer, who had just replaced Williams.

“I just needed to get comfortable in a hurry,” Omiyale said.

Credit the coaching staff -- most notably offensive coordinator Mike Martz and offensive line coach Mike Tice -- for making that possible in what could have developed into a chaotic situation on the road in a festive, yet raucous environment at Cowboys Stadium.

“Oh yeah, definitely [it could’ve become chaotic],” Shaffer said.

Omiyale added: “We knew as long as we stuck together that things were going to work out.”

Cowboys’ linebacker Anthony Spencer dropped Cutler for a 7-yard loss on the Bears' first pass of the day. The Bears didn’t fare much better in the second series. Three plays into that possession, officials flagged Shaffer for a false start.

DeMarcus Ware and Keith Brooking slammed Cutler to the turf again on the next play, with Brooking and Shaffer receiving offsetting penalties for unnecessary roughness, and holding, respectively. The Cowboys appeared to seize the momentum after the Bears’ third series, when Williams left the game with the hamstring injury, and rookie Dez Bryant returned Brad Maynard’s punt at the end of the possession 62 yards for a touchdown.

“It was the beginning of the game. Our adrenaline was pumping. Of course we weren’t happy with the way the first couple of plays went,” Omiyale said. “The biggest thing is it was the beginning of the game.”

So rather than allow a Cowboys snowball effect to manifest itself, the Bears settled down and took control of the situation with masterful schematics.

“We knew we were gonna get their best punch early. So we just kind of had to ride the wave a little bit,” Cutler said. “A guy like Coach Tice, he’s been through it all. So he’s able to change on the run and settle those guys down. We just had to get into a little bit of a rhythm, which we did.”

Already gaining a reputation for making on-the-fly adjustments with a dry-erase board on the sidelines, Tice recognized quickly how the Cowboys were attacking. So he tweaked some of the protections, while Martz changed Cutler’s drops so the Bears could get the ball out more quickly.

Martz also tossed in some plays that -- on the surface -- wouldn't seem to mesh with the objective of protecting Cutler. The club used empty formations (formations that don’t feature anyone but the quarterback in the backfield) to spread out the Cowboys defense. Interestingly, though, empty formations provide less protection for quarterbacks because there are fewer blockers.

So when the Bears employ these types of looks, it’s imperative for Cutler to get the ball out quickly. That’s exactly what Cutler did on the play that may have actually turned the game for Chicago when he hit tight end Greg Olsen -- out of an empty formation -- for a 39-yard touchdown with 1:09 remaining in the first quarter. The play gave the Bears a 10-7 lead, and quickly shifted the momentum back their way.

“We had to make a big change early with Chris [Williams] getting hurt,” Olsen said. “Anytime you shift guys in the offensive line, it’s going to take a minute for everyone to get settled in and get comfortable. Once we got everything settled down, and Coach Tice got them running, they played amazing the rest of the game.”

A big part of that stemmed from continuous prep work by Martz and Tice to keep the Bears aware of what the Cowboys might try on the next series. While players making plays wins most games, Chicago’s outing Sunday served as a classic case of one team getting thoroughly out-coached by another.

“You can’t work on every single possible look during the week,” Shaffer said. “So what [Tice] does is he sees something, calls us over, and draws it up; shows us what they’re doing and how we’re gonna block it. Sometimes you change it up because maybe the way we went over it the first time, it didn’t work. So we do it a different way. We make adjustments right there, then the next time out we go out and do it.

"Part of it is the plays we just ran, and what we’re thinking of running -- what we think they’re gonna give us. So we’ll go over it, and [Tice is] like, ‘OK, we’ve got this play, and we’re gonna do this and this and this.’ He gets us prepared before every time we go out there so we’re a little more confident, and we kind of have an idea of what might be coming in the future play-call wise. We did some plays to get the ball out quick so the pressure wouldn’t affect us as much. I think it worked to perfection.”

Bears coach Lovie Smith thought so, too. That’s why he made it a point during opening remarks on Monday to recognize the staff for its performance, saying: “Good job by our coaching staff to make the changes in the course of the game.”

The importance of top-notch coaching often gets dwarfed by the players, and their astronomical contracts. But in this case, the players and the staff seem to revel in a symbiotic relationship of trust. Smith and the staff -- based on many of the calls they’ve made -- have already shown tremendous trust in what the team can do.

The team, meanwhile, appears to be gaining more faith in the staff putting it in a position to succeed.

“We’re all maturing in this offense. We just had to stick in there," Cutler said. "I’ve got all the faith in the world in Mike [Martz] and his play-calling ability, getting us in the right plays and making the proper adjustments. You saw what we can do when we do it right. Whenever some of our stuff is not working, we can rely on some stuff that we’ve practiced down the road.

"[Martz] can dial it up and the guys know exactly what’s going on. We changed some stuff on the run [against the Cowboys], made some adjustments up front, and everyone reacted to it properly.”