For a team that is 3-3 and coming off a 29-point win over a divisional opponent, the Bears do not seem all that happy. Perhaps the fact that Brian Urlacher declared Chicago the team to beat in the NFC before the season started has taken its toll. With the way the Packers and Lions have played thus far, the Bears will have their hands full trying to secure the second NFC wild card slot. Whatever the reason may be, they seem on edge.
Offensively, Chicago is still shaky and Jay Cutler is obviously unhappy with some of the play calls that have been made. As far as the defense is concerned, Urlacher believes the problem lies with trust issues among the players. Fellow linebacker Lance Briggs thinks the problems stem from a divide between the players and management.
“In the past, things have just worked themselves out. I think there’s a big transition going on right now in Chicago,” Briggs told CSNChicago.com via Pro Football Talk on Tuesday. “The players and the management are not seeing eye-to-eye on a lot of different issues and a lot of different player’s situations. I don’t know where it’s going to go and how it’s going to pan out.”
There are a number of different “situations” Briggs could be referring to. His contract situation, the recent Cutler-Martz issue and the Matt Forte contract situation are obvious ones. Whatever the case, Chicago is a team that has won enough games to remain in the hunt but has enough unhappy superstars to fall out of it. With a .500 record only six weeks in, it’s alarming that players are so quick to point out problems and seem so concerned with the distant future. If the Bears don’t rediscover their winning mentality when facing tougher opponents than Minnesota, they could give themselves something more serious to complain about.
