MVN: Most Valuable Network

I don't know if I can take much more of this.

Two straight gut-wrenching overtime victories in the last two weeks have me ordering this for Sunday's game, because I'm positive the Bears are trying to kill me.

Following this team is like being in an abusive relationship. Every time you find the reason and courage to leave, they do something that makes you remember why you follow the team in the first place, and you stupidly forget all the hell they put you through. Then the cycle repeats itself again.

Better yet, maybe Michael Corleone sums it up best with his infamous "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" line from Godfather III. The Bears have sent my blood pressure through the roof in and caused my heart to stop beating all season long, but I can't tear myself away.

The Bears have shown a lot of heart in the weeks since the Green Bay game, especially the defense, which has stepped up its play considerably as Kyle Grossman Orton has regressed to his 2005 form. But there's no single bigger game than this one on Sunday against a talented Texans team that has plenty to play for. Houston will not factor in to the AFC playoff picture, but they can knock the Bears out of the playoffs AND finish with the first winning record in franchise history with a victory on Sunday, so don't expect them to just lay down for the Bears.

The Texans are strongest where the Bears are weakest on both sides of the ball. Andre Johnson is one of the most underrated receivers in the game, but he can shred a secondary on a moment's notice. The Bears lost Mike Brown for the season this week to a calf injury, and while he has been a bit of a liability in coverage, he has been critical all season long in ensuring the secondary is in the correct pre-snap alignment, acting as an extra coach on the field. To put it in some perspective, remember when Reggie Wayne got behind Danieal Manning and Chris Harris in Super Bowl XLI for that first-quarter touchdown? That blown coverage likely wouldn't have happened if Brown had been on the field.

Johnson is the lesser of the two evils the Texans will have waiting for the Bears on Sunday though. I still have nightmares about John St. Clair's matchup with Jared Allen from the Metrodome Meltdown a few weeks ago. Allen made St. Clair look just pathetic and reminded everyone in sight why St. Clair is considered no better than a reserve player. Houston has Mario Williams and his 11 sacks matched up with St. Clair, and I'm sure Williams has been licking his chops in anticipation of this matchup.

The offense is a bigger concern than the defense at this point in time because they have suddenly regressed in to the type of inept, ineffective unit everyone thought they would be at the beginning of the season. Kyle Grossman Orton has been horrific since coming back from his ankle sprain, Matt Forte looked very tentative last week against Green Bay until the game-tying drive, and the receivers have gotten even worse in the last few weeks, if that's even possible.

More than one Bears player has stated some sort of belief that the defense can be the best unit in the league when it wants to be. If the Bears want to be playing in January of 2009, the defense better want to be the best unit in the league this Sunday. The Bears need to win and get help to get in to the playoffs, and its up to the defense and special teams to drag the offense kicking and screaming in to the post-season.

I think this one goes down to the wire, but somehow Robbie Gould - and whenever someone wants to explain to me how he's not in the Pro Bowl, they can feel free - will kick the Bears to victory on Sunday 20-17. This should put the Bears in the playoffs as I fully expect the Vikings - who should be nicknamed "The Cubs of the NFL" if they blow this one - to choke against New York and be knocked out of the playoffs.

Five weeks ago, Green Bay eviscerated the Bears at Lambeau Field 37-3 to move in to a tie for first place in the NFC North, seemingly positioned for another run at a division title. The Bears seemed badly exposed by the blowout loss, looking bad in every possible way. The playoffs were the farthest thing from anyone's mind that Sunday. Fast-forward to now and the Packers have been eliminated from playoff contention after losing four straight games. The Bears still have the faintest of playoff hopes, but have won three of four since that Sunday in Lambeau. If Monday night's game isn't particularly well-played, it should at least make for high drama on prime-time TV. Green Bay will be aching to end their four-game skid AND dash Chicago's playoff hopes at the same time. The Bears, on the other hand, have to win to keep their post-season plans in play.... Read more

I wonder if the Bears included Dramamine as part of their season ticket package this year, or if they've made it available at Soldier Field for home games. For the cost of going to a Bears game these days, the least they could do is give you a way to fight off the motion sickness this team is sure to induce. The Bears sure opened the game with a bang, with Devin Hester Danieal Manning returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown, the first time that's happened for the Bears all year. Mike Brown picked off Drew Brees on the following possession, and the Bears looked to be in business with a chance to jump on the Saints early. Then Matt Forte - AKA THE WHOLE BEARS OFFENSE - was hurt on the first play the offense ran and left the game. What the Bears try to pass off as... Read more

With the Bears playing two games in four days this week the format will be a bit different, with double doses of offensive and defensive recaps coming after the Bears host the Saints on Thursday night. The game is a must-win for both teams, with the playoff hopes of both teams on life support. Both teams check in with 7-6 records, but the Bears are a game out of first place in their division while the Saints are bringing up the rear in the ultra-competitive NFC South. New Orleans has its back against the wall and will likely need to win out and get help to make it in to the playoffs. At first blush, this game looks like one the Bears are sure to lose. The Bears have habitually made mediocre quarterbacks look outstanding all year long, and Drew Brees is probably the best quarterback the Bears will face all... Read more

An underwhelming matchup between a mediocre and a bad team Sunday was essentially decided on the first possession of the game, when David Garrard mistook Danieal Manning for a fellow Jaguar and hit him right between the numbers, setting the Bears up on the five yard line right off the bat. Even this offense couldn't find a way to screw up such a golden opportunity, and Kyle Orton hooked up with Desmond Clark on the second play of the drive for a 7-0 lead, putting the Bears in front to stay. There's really not much to say about this game. The Bears played pretty much as expected and knocked off the Jaguars, but other than a nice hurry up offense at the end of the first half, to give the Bears a 20-3 lead, there was very little notable about the offense. Matt Forte had 52 yards rushnig in the... Read more

I suppose the "REAL real season" starts this week if you ask Lovie Smith. The Bears' playoff hopes are on life support, could very well not be enough. Minnesota is firmly in the driver's seat in the NFC North, needing only three - and likely only two - wins in their final four games to clinch the division and keep the Bears out of the playoffs for the second consecutive year.Truthfully, the Bears don't belong in the playoffs this year anyways. I'm pretty sure the Vikings don't really belong either, but they're certainly less undeserving than the Bears. But truth be told, I'd rather the Bears NOT make the playoffs this year because it would force the team to recognize that, whether it be personnel or scheme or coaching, SOMETHING needs to change for the Bears to be successful again.But that's a discussion for after the season. This week's opponent... Read more

It'd be easy to say the 99 yard touchdown from Gus Frerotte to Bernard Berrian, following Minnesota denying the Bears on four scoring chances frrom the one yard line, swung the momentum towards the Vikings and forever altered the outcome of the game. But that's probably something of a cop-out, unless you're one of those people that still hates Charles Tillman dating back to the divisional playoff game against Carolina when Steve Smith ate his lunch. But putting this one on all on Tillman is a pretty big cop out, the equivalent of blaming Steve Bartman for the Cubs losing in the 2003 NLCS. Hell, I'm not even that disappointed in a defense that gave up 34 points to the Vikings Sunday night. I'm not a big fan of making excuses for poor play, but considering how much time the defense spent on the field, they played well enough to... Read more

Join Anthony Chergosky and me as we live blog the Bears-Vikings game Sunday, November 30th. Point your browser to Cover It Live tomorrow night before kickoff for blow-by-blow commentary on the fight for first place in the NFC North!... Read more

I don't know if it's possible to overstate how important this game is, in very different ways, for both of the teams playing on Sunday night.For the Bears, it's a chance to put a serious crimp in Minnesota's plans for a division title and playoff spot. A victory here gives the Bears a decisive advantage in the event they tie for the same record at the end of the regular season. While beating the Vikings would not eliminate them from contending for the division title, it would put the Vikings in a big hole with four games to play.For the Vikings, Sunday night's game looms large because of a pair of defenders who do the same. Pat and Kevin Williams, the run-stuffing, field-clogging, nigh-impenetrable duo who rule the middle of the field, are both facing potential - and likely - four-game suspensions for taking a supplement that can mask the... Read more

I intended to run this piece yesterday but between playing my own football game and then driving a couple hours to spend time with my family, I was just wiped out.While the Bears have been a mixed bag this year, there's still a lot to be thankful for, more than I anticipated at the start of the season anyways.As a Bears fan, I'm thankful for Kyle Orton, who has provided solid, steady play at the quarterback position after winning the competition with Rex Grossman in training camp. While it still remains to be seen if Orton will be a long-term solution at quarterback, his arrow seems to be pointing up, and if the Bears ever get him some actual receivers, he might be capable of doing some real damage.I'm also thankful he has mostly proven me wrong about his ability to be an effective NFL quarterback. I felt that, despite... Read more

Shortly after the Bears drafted Matt Forte, I was trolling around some of the message boards Bears fans frequent. While people were generally happy about first round selection Chris Williams, they were lukewarm at best about second-round selection Matt Forte. Now, I don't follow college football very closely, so I had never heard of Forte before the Bears chose him in the second round. Truthfully I don't remember hearing much about him even leading up to the draft as a potential Bears prospect, and for all I was concerned, the Bears could have spent all their draft choices on offensive linemen and I would have been perfectly content. Anyways, after the draft pretty much everyone was very apathetic about Forte, except for one person, who insisted he was going to be the next LaDainian Tomlinson. I rememember the poster making a fairly convincing argument for why Forte would be so... Read more