By Will Brinson



Top of the Tebow to you, folks. Monday is the day where the bandwagon following Tim Tebow and the Broncos probably becomes too crowded (and the coverage of Tebow finally reaches a saturation point). Just do not expect Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher to be on board.

Week 14 Recap

Brinson: Sorting the Sunday Pile, Yates booed Judge: Bears badly miss Forte right now Podcast: Time for another change in Dallas? Prisco: Give Eli his due -- kid is clutch Freeman: Ryan's crew taking flight to playoffs The NFL Today: Week 14 video wrap-up

Urlacher, speaking to the press after Denver's miraculous 13-10 victory over Chicago Sunday, said that Tebow as "a good running back."

"He’s a good running back," Urlacher said Sunday. He does a good job for them. They have a good offense with him back there. They do some different plays. I thought we did a good job overall."

The Bears did a great job, really, when it came to defending Tebow much of the game. The problem was they became too reactionary late in the game, which allowed Tebow to succeed through the air, Tebow's receivers stopped dropping every pass, and Caleb Hanie/Marion Barber couldn't put any points on the board.

Back to Urlacher's slight of Tebow, though -- the Broncos quarterback appreciates it. Of course.

"Coming from a really good player, that means a lot," Tebow said when asked about Urlacher's comments.

That cracks me up for some reason. But other players on the Bears defense don't find it quite so funny.

"We missed some opportunities in the game," defensive end Julius Peppers said. "We have to finish better; that’s pretty much it. It wasn’t anything special that [Tebow] did."

Lance Briggs, the linebacker who last week pointed out how mad he'd be if the Bears lost, was a bit more subdued.

"Played hard," Briggs would only say when asked about Tebow's performance.

Briggs is probably the only one who's right about this. Tebow did play hard, but he also did do something special and he did not act like a good running back on Sunday. In fact, he was pretty ineffective on the ground and didn't really get rolling until he turned into an all-world passer -- against the Bears defense -- in the fourth quarter and overtime.

It's OK to be upset about losing but at least give the guy his due.


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If Jerry Angleo retires what would that mean for Chicago's coaching staff? (Getty Images)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

The Bears' roster has experienced some reshuffling in recent weeks: Jay Cutler is out with a thumb injury (and may not return during the regular season), and Matt Forte is nursing a bum knee (he's expected to be out 2-4 weeks). But personnel goings-on could extend beyond the playing field. According to NFL Network's Jason La Canfora, there is "persistent chatter" that Bears general manager Jerry Angelo could retire. The deciding factor could be how Chicago's season plays out. Currently, they're the fifth seed in the NFC, but the Falcons, Lions and Giants are in the hunt, too.

The next question: what does a new general manager mean for Lovie Smith and his coaching staff? Smith, who has been the Bears' head coach since 2004 and took Chicago to the Super Bowl in 2006. In the four full seasons since, the Bears have two sub-.500 performance and qualified for the postseason just once. Smith has also taken criticism for offensive coordinator Mike Martz's early season game plans the last two seasons, ones that included Cutler taking a lot of huge hits.

If the Bears keep winning, you'd think Smith's job would be safe. If they flame out and miss the postseason and Angelo hangs it up, we will probably have to add Smith's name to the ol' coaching hot seat list.

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'I've said my whole career you have to be pragmatic," Martz said when asked about Chicago's offense. (Getty Images)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

The Bears are 7-5 heading into Sunday's Week 14 matchup against the Broncos. As it stands, they're the fifth seed in the NFC but the Falcons, Lions and Giants are all within one game of them. And unless Chicago's offense finds a way to overcome Caleb Hanie, who replaced an injured Jay Cutler in the lineup just in time for the Bears to start losing, missing the playoffs is a real possibility.

There was the hope that Cutler's injured thumb would heal in time for him to return during the regular season. On Sunday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the organization now doesn't expect Cutler back before the playoffs. And even then, there's no certainty he'll be ready because unless he has a time machine, there's no way to advance the healing process.

With running back Matt Forte also on the shelf with a knee injury, and Hanie having thrown six picks in two games, conventional wisdom suggests a conservative offensive game plan that minimizes turnovers, and letting the Bears' defense take care of the rest.

Offensive coordinator Mike Martz has no need for convention or wisdom. Earlier in the week, he said he plans to be "more aggressive" with Hanie. The Bears probably need to go 2-2 over the final month of the season to qualify for the postseason. They're at Denver Sunday, then Seattle, at Green Bay and at Minnesota.

The Denver Broncos have won their last five straight games and hope to make it six as they host the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon. Who has the advantage in this matchup? Jason Horowitz and NFL.com's Pat Kirwan preview this game.

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By Josh Katzowitz

With all the talk about the Bears interest (or lack thereof) of Brett Favre -- he’s never going away people! -- and whether Chicago wanted to take its chances on signing Donovan McNabb, the organization apparently was looking at another veteran quarterback to gauge his interest in returning to the league.

That quarterback, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Dan Pompei, was former Rams starter/Ravens backup Marc Bulger. And though coach Lovie Smith has come out and said the Bears didn’t want to add another quarterback to the mix of Caleb Hanie, Nathan Enderle and Josh McCown, with Matt Forte out for the next few weeks, it makes perfect sense Chicago would want to figure out another way to get some offensive firepower.

The problem, in this case, is that Bulger simply wasn’t interested. As Kurt Warner said last August, when Bulger decided to retire in the first place, Bulger doesn’t want to play football anymore. So, when the Bears called him recently to talk to him about joining the team, he said thanks but no thanks.

Pompei also writes that the Bears DID, in fact, talk about signing McNabb. They obviously chose not to add him, but it’s not because they didn’t think he could still play the game.

Writes Pompei: “The team feels good about Caleb Hanie and did not want to send him a message they were looking to replace him. They wanted to keep Hanie focused on doing his job rather than looking over his shoulder.

“The other issue is it would have been difficult to prepare McNabb. Josh McCown needed less time and attention to integrate himself in the Bears offense because he had played for Martz before. McNabb never had played in any system remotely similar.”

But if Hanie continues his poor production of late (he’s completing 48.3 percent of his passes for six interceptions and two touchdowns since taking over for the injured Jay Cutler), the Bears might have to do something before they’re knocked out of the playoff race for good.

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By Josh Katzowitz

Each Saturday, we’ll take the best -- and most clever -- odds collected by bodog.com for the upcoming week and give our take. This is important stuff, perhaps the most important post you’ll read all week. Because if you can’t lose money while watching a game in which you have absolutely no effect, what’s the point of watching sports at all?

Will the Denver Broncos trail at any point in the fourth quarter and still beat the Chicago Bears?

Yes 7/2

No 1/5

I’m going no, because I don’t think the Broncos will be trailing the Bears in the second half at all. Ah, the power of Tim Tebow (and the deficiency of starting Caleb Hanie).

Who will finish second in NFL MVP voting?     

Tom Brady (NE) QB 2/3       

Drew Brees (NO) QB 3/2       

Ben Roethlisberger (PIT) QB 5/1       

Tim Tebow (DEN) QB 10/1     

As much as I want to say Tebow -- even if it’s just for some good old fashioned CBSSports.com unity with colleague Gregg Doyel -- I’ll go with Brady to finish behind Aaron Rodgers in the MVP race. Brady is too easy a selection after Rodgers not to pick him.

Will Tony Sparano be the head coach of the Dolphins for Game 1 of the 2012 regular season?   
       
Yes -150    

No +110 

Ha, no. But I think Sparano and his team have done the city proud with the way the Dolphins are playing. You have to think Sparano is impressing somebody, even if that somebody is not Miami owner Stephen Ross.

Will Donovan McNabb sign with an NFL team during the 2011 regular season?      
 
Yes 2/1       

No 1/3

If the Bears, who are in desperate, desperate need of a legit starting quarterback, passes on claiming McNabb, you have to think nobody else will be interested. The more interesting question: is McNabb’s career over? For that, I’d say yes.

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Hanie has struggled in two starts but there are no plans to bench him. Just the opposite, in fact. (US PRESSWIRE)

By Ryan Wilson

Heading into Week 14, the Bears are the No. 5 seed in the NFC, ahead of two other teams with 7-5 records: the Falcons and Lions. Three weeks ago, Chicago was playing like one of the conference's top two or three clubs but that all changed the moment quarterback Jay Cutler broke his thumb against the Chargers.

In the two games since, backup Caleb Hanie has thrown six interceptions, been sacked 11 times and the Bears have gone winless. Going into Hanie's first start, the conventional wisdom was that offensive coordinator Mike Martz would be wise to give the ball to running back Matt Forte 30 times a game, give Hanie easy, high-percentage throws (think screens and slants -- or as they're called in Denver: Tebow specials), and let the defense take care of the rest.

Yeah, that didn't happen. (Exacerbating things: Forte injured his knee last Sunday and will be out 2-4 weeks). Good news: Martz later blamed execution, not the play call for one of Hanie's worst interceptions -- a screen pass thrown back across the field that didn't go quite as planned. 

Now, with four games remaining (at Denver, Seattle, at Green Bay, at Minnesota) and a tenuous hold on a wild-card spot, Martz says that he will be more aggressive with Hanie.

The Denver Broncos have won their last five straight games and hope to make it six as they host the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon. Who has the advantage in this matchup? Jason Horowitz and NFL.com's Pat Kirwan preview this game.

“He did a lot of good things in that game [vs. the Chiefs],” Martz said, according to the Chicago Tribune's Bradd Biggs. … “I don’t think [Hanie] is any different than any of our coaches on offense or players so he did some really good things in there and he’s making progress and I am encouraged by a lot of things in there. When you go back and look at that, there’s reasons for everything that happened. He’s not making mental errors, he’s sharp with everything so he’s learning under the gun so to speak.

“We’ve got to get him into the game a little bit earlier, probably a little bit still too conservative with him. He’s capable of probably more than what we’re doing with him. So, we’ll be a little bit more aggressive with him.”

Hanie will get that chance against the Broncos. You might have heard that they're playing well lately. Still, despite all the praise we're heaping on Denver's defense, they're only middle of the pack according to Football Outsiders' metrics (17th overall, 22nd against the pass, 10th against the run). Unfortunately, the Bears' offense ranks 25th (25th in passing, 17th in rushing).

Whatever happens Sunday, this much is certain: head coach Lovie Smith won't bench Hanie.

“That’s going into the game expecting something bad to happen,” Smith said. “That way of thinking, we just don’t have that. I’m looking at Caleb Hanie going into that game having success and doing a lot of good things and leading us to a win. We spend most of our time concentrating on that.”

If Chicago can finish the regular season 2-2 they'll make the playoffs. If they can't muster two wins, there's a good chance the Lions will sneak into the last wild-card spot and the Bears will be on the outside looking in.

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By Will Brinson

In case you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks/months, Tim Tebow took over as starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos and has them squarely in the hunt for a playoff bid.

He's been criticized for not being a "normal quarterback" and received a ton of attention from fans and media alike and now the Broncos quarterback is starting to generate some backlash from other NFL players, some of whom have already lost to him.

"He's obviously doing great things because he's winning football games, and at the end of the day, that's what we're judged on: wins and losses," Vikings defensive end Jared Allen said on the NFL Network Wednesday night. "But still, it just sucks to lose to a guy who's not a throwing quarterback."

The comments aren't just limited to those Tebow has beaten, either. Up this week is Chicago, featuring a defense that is the last bastion of hope for the Bears chances of making the playoffs. And the members of Chicago's defense don't like the idea of becoming Tebow's next victim.

"No, I will be frickin' pissed," Briggs said when asked if he'd be embarrassed if Tebow beat them Sunday. "[Tebow] is one heck of an football player and we're going to have to stop that crap."

Briggs also added, via Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk, that "[Tebow is] not Michael Vick" and that "Cam Newton is a better athlete, faster."


Nothing that Allen or Briggs said is necessarily disrespectful or malicious, but it's certainly not the same sort of words you might hear from them if they lost to Aaron Rodgers.

Oh, wait, both teams have lost to Rodgers, with Green Bay mauling the Vikings 45-7 less than a month ago.

"All I know is he crushed us tonight," Allen said at the time.

Look, Tebow isn't Rodgers, and when Allen pointed out Wednesday that Tebow isn't even a Pro Bowler, he's right. But Tebow keeps on winning, and and that's hard to argue against.

If he pulls it off this weekend, don't be surprised to hear similar comments out of Chicago.

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