Caleb Haney made the end of the game worth watching, though it looks like he may have some facial hair issues (he looked as if he was sporting a 1970's-era stache).  Catch him later this year as the unchallenged backup QB and also in the next Smokey and the Bandit remake.

But as they have all season, our Bears kept us guessing until the end.  Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

So, I guess I get two weeks extra prep for my fantasy baseball draft. 

But the best thing I take away is knowing how well this team has turned around in our 4-head-coach setup.  I hope we can keep them together, tweak the O-line a little, and start the process of getting younger on Defense this offseason.  Our guys have some mileage, and we need a smooth transition into our next generation of beasts - best to get that started now with our promising young Offense in place and growing into their greatness.

Looking forward to the 2011 Chicago Bears.

Thanks for checking in with us.  It has been great serving you (chili).

 - CHILI DAN

It's HANIE!!!

And he's in!  We have a chance yet. 

Our priest predicted Bears 20-Packers 17.  It's still possible.  Go Mr. Hanie!!

 - CHILI DAN

First things first - it has been quite awhile since we've published.  Had a bit of a "work situation" in early November that ended up being our focus for the next six weeks.  Unfortunately, something had to give, and that something was the site. 

No matter.  We're back for the remainder of the playoffs.  And here's our guarantee to you - WHEN the Bears beat the cheese curd lovers, we will come back before Super Bowl Sunday with TWO BRAND NEW CHILI RECIPES.  One for our Bears, and one for the team that is destined to lose this year's Super Bowl.  I think it will be the Jets, but only because I want to yell "FEET!!" at the screen one more time.

Back on the NFC front, the first time we played the Pack, we were in their cheese-heads so much that they committed 16 penalties.  And they barely eked out a win in "the game we didn't really care about".  But now, every "expert" in the world has the Packers as an unstoppable juggernaut.  Well, juggernaut ends at 5pm Sunday, my friends.  It may take until the last minute or two before you can quit holding your breath (our Bears always allow the other team, and me, to think that we'll give it away).  But they'll be partying on Rush Street Sunday night.

About the game itself, Safety Chris Harris says he's going to play.  Not really sure that will happen, but if it does, then the primary pieces of the team are all in place!  And not just on our side.  Them too.  Which is just the way I want it to be.  I'm not saying the Bears-haters (like, say, Joe Buck) won't manage to come up with some excuse.  But we'll know it was their best versus ours.  And after that it's just about playing some football. 

So let the game begin, baby!

But in the meantime, here's a few random NFL notes to keep you busy til kickoff:

From Yahoo:  "Though Ben Roethlisberger keeps the Steelers winning, he doesn't get the same recognition as other elite QBs. " ---- yeah, except in police lineups.

"Bills hire Wannstedt as assistant coach" and "Browns name Jauran defensive coordinator"  ---- note to Carolina Panthers, Jack Pardee and Neill Armstrong are still available

"SF 49ers hire Jim Harbaugh to replace Mike Singletary" ---- and they'll bring Brad "Colonel" Muster out of FB retirement next.  Then Vestee Jackson.  Every 1988 Chicago Bear will eventually coach this team.

Go BEARS!!!

 - CHILI DAN

So off we go to the Great White North ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot70G4wSQi0 ) where the Bears face Buffalo in, of all places, the Rogers Centre in Toronto.  Home of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts.  As a Hamilton Ti-Cats fan, myself, I can't really support the location.  You know, I've been there, but FOR A BASEBALL GAME!  It's just wrong to play football on baseball fields, I'm sorry.

And while I'd like to make some "worst thing out of Lake Erie since Swill Mineral Water" observations - no link to the Bill Murray SNL Swill commercial here because NBC is fascist enough to actively shut it down anywhere in public domain - I am really, and rather conservatively, holding back on my Bills-bashing.  Mostly because the Bears are unpredictable enough to make me worry.  The Bears defense alone should win this game, but when our offense is on the field, we run the risk of losing points.  We'll call that the "Martz Paradox".  So, I just don't have the swagger this week that I should.

Still, the law of averages dictates that we should still be the flawed 1st Place team we are right now once the 60 minutes have ticked.  And while the method is nothing to be admired, you still have to love the results. 

Beauty, eh?

 CHILI DAN

But before I wax too philosophically, let me remind you of the outcome.  The Bears won 73-0.

No, wait, that was 1940.  In the Championship game.  Bears beat the Redskins 73-0.  My bad.  And I'm not just bringing that up randomly to divert attention away from the real issues.  It was an honest mistake (by election season standards).

No, I believe Todd Collins led the 'Skins to a 24-16 victory over a Brian Griese-led Bears team.  Rex must have had something better to do that day.  Benched, injured, does it matter, really?  Washington continued to roll after that, winning their next 3 to finish the season 9-7.  The Bears were 5-8 after the loss, which effectively ended any chance of them returning to the Super Bowl after making it there the previous season. 

(sigh)

Did I mention we once beat these guys 73-0?

So this time we have a theoretically dynamic quarterback who can air it out (which is good when it hits the right jersey).  Wait.  Wasn't that the book on Grossman, too?  No, no, Grossman had the perennially-injured thing, too.  OK, I'm sorting it out.

So, big-armed quarterback.  So big in fact that the whole organization has forgotten how to throw a short pass.  No screens.  No tosses to the open TE.  Just "maybe if I wait a little longer, someone will be open in the endzo...OOOOOF!"  It's a bit frustrating.  Forte can't carry the team every week, so we need to figure this out and quit blaming the (guilty as charged) O-Line.  Yeah, they're a big part of the problem.  But we know that and we still aren't adjusting for it.  That needs to change.

As for Washington, they are still on pins and needles with Chicago native Donovan McNabb.  Superman?  Not?  They bring a 3-3 record to Soldier Field, so it's not a decided issue yet.  They've played well against most teams, beating the Cowboys, Eagles, and Packers (which we appreciate, by the way), but somehow managed to take a beating from the Rams along the way.  It's sketchy, but they might have something there. 

For this week, anyway, let's hope they don't.  The Hogettes (http://hogettes.org/) are back in the Beltway, so the only roar of the crowd should be the 4th Phase (http://fanclub.chicagobears.com/).  We need this one as a statement.  The schedule doesn't get easier for us - well, next game is the Bills, so after that I mean - so we need to get a couple of these in our pockets.  5-2 is a nice way to head into the Bye.

GO BEARS!

 CHILI DAN

I've got my sunglasses ready for Sunday's game against the Seahawks, because you just don't know what kind of bright and gaudy gamewear they'll be bringing.  Last year we were blinded by the lime.  I would hope that it couldn't get worse, but I've been wrong about that kind of thing before (like during the Giants game a couple of weeks back).  Either way, we cut 'em loose like a deuce, and sent them runnin' in the night (yeah, I went Springsteen instead of Manfred Mann, but for the record I prefer the Earth Band to the E Streeters on this one).

The Seahawks aren't the Panthers, but I've got a good feeling about it.  For starters (paradoxically), Todd Collins will be on the bench.  So that's good.  Cutler should be ready to prove himself vertically after the NY debacle, and will want to make the most of that for any reality show chicks watching the game that he might want to impress.  We may not have big Briggs, so that could be an issue, but we won't know until gametime.  Adjust your fantasy rosters accordingly.

We have two brand new dishes in store for the Redskins game, and we'll be publishing early in the week, so there will be plenty of prep time for you.  Both are comfort food-related, hearty meals that you'll be enjoying big time in this fall weather.  Remember, cold air is neutralized by a warm belly!

 CHILI DAN

NBC did a close-up of Jay Cutler near the end of the first half, and he had this look on his face that I hadn't seen in seven years.  Specifically, on the face of Mark Prior, the Cubs pitcher on the mound when Steve Bartman interfered with a baseball in play in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series.  He just had this look of victim disbelief, like the world was conspiring against him, and he just wanted escape.

Like Prior, Cutler was not necessarily doomed.  Just like the Cubs were still winning when that non-play occurred, the Bears were within striking distance deep into the second quarter.  We were just down 3-0.  It was a winnable game.  I've said it a lot lately, sometimes it's better to be lucky than to be good.  And when you're down 3-0 after 9 sacks, you are (believe it or not) lucky.  Sore, yes.  But lucky.

Admittedly, I wasn't thinking concussion.  Until today, when it was announced Cutler would be sitting out the game against the Panthers, I was pretty sure he was pulled for mental health reasons.  In either case, there's something wrong with his head, and I guess the same can be said for the coaching staff, because...

THEY'RE STARTING TODD COLLINS!

Insert your own "Caleb Hanie is better" commentary here.

So, we need to talk game plan for the Panthers.  They're not a great team.  They're beatable, maybe even by Todd Collins.  But we need an edge.  I say we get Jimmy Clausen drunk.

That's right, the Notre Dame alum has had some issues around the land of alcohol in his time.  Whether getting busted for having a legal-aged person buy him beer as a freshman QB for the Irish, or just getting busted in the face when leaving a bar just a couple of years later, it's clear the youngster manages to find trouble whenever he's near the brew. 

So if you see the little pickle-man this week, buy him a pint or three.  Because until we work out our offensive line problems and throw to the correct jersey color, we need all the help we can get.

 CHILI DAN

And now the Bears are 3-0!  Which apparently is such a freakish thing that on Tuesday, in my Bears regailia, I was accosted at Walmart by a naysaying non-believer.  As he passed the other direction, he expressed his disbelief and assured us that they really suck. 

That's not so pleasant. 

Why no love for our triumphant Bears?  Packers fan, perhaps?  It's not like he was wearing green and yellow.  Still, he may have had green and yellow blood. 

The Chicago-based Cheesehead, as a species, is not a good-humored sort.  Not really a problem on the other side of the cheddar curtain - Wisconsinites are a lovely lot, and their fandom is quite refreshing, but the Northern Illinois version has this unseemly nastiness to them when they feel cornered.  Which, incidentally, is always. 

Except on those occasions when they beat our Bears, of course.  Then they become loud.  Which, in fairness, is customary one-week behavior for any my-team-beat-your-team scenario.  Forgivable for seven days.  But the level of their too-pleased-with-themselves attitude, paired with an unhealthy need to make others unhappy becomes a stench that, like a ripe Limberger, lingers.  Why, I ask, is there this need to fester?  And the older the Chicago Packer fan is, the worse it is.  Proof that not all cheese ages well.

I try to nod and understand.  Heck, I even have forgiven the Chicago-born-and-based Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan I met a few years back (that particular fandom this far north makes no sense to me whatsoever, but hey, live and let live).  But I return to the immortal words of Rodney King when I ask, "Can't we all just get along?"  Maybe not on game week, but you know what I mean.

Granted, and I know this will not come as a surprise, I dislike the Packers every day of the year.  I'm even prone to mention on occasion, perhaps sometimes when it's not appropriate (it's not topical in June, particularly at Weddings, and when it has no connection to the conversation in progress - sorry, honey).  So I recognize my less-than-100% record on this.  But at least I've come to recognize the societal disruption that wearing it on your sleeve brings.  And I feel a bit ashamed when I slip up. 

A little. 

Sort of. 

Sometimes.

But in the meantime, and with only a hint of harmless and timely sporting gloatiness, let it be said that this week, on Monday Night, the Bears beat their rivals from Green Bay.

So, in your face.

 CHILI DAN

Thankfully, there are two things that drive excitement for the pre-season for us.  First, Dawn and I have a hobby that lends itself well to any game - making new chili.  We have to stay a couple of weeks ahead of the website, so pre-season gives us the opportunity to really look forward to the real games. 

Someone once asked us if we have the whole season planned out ahead of time.  Um, no.  That would be an awful lot of chili-making over the summer.  We usually start the pre-season with a few ideas for some of the match-ups, but the deadlines keep us on our toes and lets us operate more creatively than methodically. 

Second thing that drives our excitement level - Caleb Hanie will get some snaps.  Woo-HOO!!

See you soon with some new recipes!

 CHILI DAN

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

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

More later...

 CHILI DAN

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

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

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

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

And those rings are just so dang bulky.

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

 CHILI DAN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go Bears!

 CHILI DAN

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

Gotta say I'm a little worried.

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

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

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

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

So, now more than ever - Go Bears!!

 CHILI DAN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 CHILI DAN

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

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

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

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

Why, beating the Packers, of course!

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

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

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

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

It's fun to hear stuff like that.

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

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

But before that, we have some games to play.

Now let's go beat the Pack!

 CHILI DAN