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Health & Fitness

Austin Herr: Bears Win, But Huge Test Coming Up

With their record at 3-3, the Bears must decide which direction they will head

The Bears continued their roller coaster 2011 season on Sunday night. After their victory over the Minnesota Vikings, they hold a 3-3 record and remain in third place in the NFC North. With the Detroit Lions falling to the San Francisco 49ers for their first loss of the season, the Bears gained ground on the Lions and are now only two games back of the 5-1 Lions. 

The Bears have been two completely different teams thus far. In their three victories, they’ve won in fairly dominant fashion. They dominated the Vikings Sunday night, and destroyed the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1. They beat the Panthers by five in Week 4, but the game wasn’t nearly as close as the scoreboard would indicate.   

In their losses, though, quarterback Jay Cutler looked like he did when the Bears were crushed in the NFC Championship game last year, the running game was sluggish, and the offensive line was invisible. Mike Martz and Love Smith have been questioned for their play calling after the brutal losses. 

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There is a bittersweet feeling for the Bears right now.  Their three losses have come against arguably the best three teams in the NFC—the Saints, Packers and Lions, as of Week 6.  However, the Bears need to be able to beat teams of their caliber before they can be considered a legitimate contender. They will have a chance to redeem themselves against the Lions in Week 10, and the Packers in Week 16.

If the Bears can beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week in London, they will be 4-3 on the season. That is the same record they had after seven games last season, in which they reached the NFC Championship game. That must be a source of optimism for the Bears and their fans, no matter how many disappointing moments they’ve experienced already. 

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The Buccaneers are coming off a big victory over the Saints on Sunday, so it should be a big test for the Bears to show their fans, as well as the people of London, what kind of team they really are. 

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