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FIGHTING FOR PERFECTION
By THE GOLD SHEET

It's too soon to start talking about perfect pro football seasons, right? After all, with just five weeks into the 2006 NFL campaign, only the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts remain undefeated. Though there are many games remaining in the current campaign, we think there's reason to keep an eye on the Bears.

Rarely have we seen a team dominate its opposition as much as Chicago has the first few weeks of the campaign. Lovie Smith's bunch is an absolute wrecking machine, and has pulled off an impressive parlay by leading the NFL in both points scored and fewest points allowed through the first five weeks. The Bears are rolling over foes by an average score of 31-7. We haven't seen that type of dominance since the 1985 Bears.

Comparisons to the "Super Bowl Shufflers" are inevitable, also because one of the few early challenges the 1985 Bears faced on their way to their 13-0 start was a late-September matchup at Minnesota. If you recall 21 years ago, the Bears spotted the Vikes a double-digit lead that September Thursday night in Minneapolis before rallying for a wild 33-24 win, a dizzying contest that featured Jim McMahon and Willie Gault as the heroes. Similarly, at about the same place on the schedule, the 2006 Bears were in trouble at Minnesota before another late fightback resulted in a 19-16 win.

That the Bears own a defense capable of running the table unbeaten has never been questioned. Entering '06, however, it was the offense that most were questioning, to the point where it was hardly a given that Chicago should even be considered the team to beat in the NFC North. Preseason efforts had done little to convince anyone that QB Rex Grossman, who missed much of 2005 with injury, was close to leading Chicago to the promised land. But Grossman's early regular-season performances have proved perhaps the biggest surprise of all in the Windy City. The emergence of Bernard Berrian as a homerun wideout has meant opposing secondaries can't concentrate too much on Muhsin Muhammad. And Thomas Jones is running better than ever, perhaps because 2nd-year RB Cedric Benson is healthy (as he wasn't in '05) and pushing for carries.

Moreover, the schedule seems to be working in Chicago's favor. Its division, the NFC North, is not strong this year, and almost assuredly the toughest matchup (at Minnesota) has already been overcome. A look ahead doesn't reveal anything too scary until mid-November. Certainly, this week's Monday's trip to Arizona, with new QB Matt Leinart in the saddle, doesn't appear too daunting. After a "bye" week, San Francisco and Miami both figure to be substantial underdogs when they visit Soldier Field October 29 and November 6, respectively. We hardly believe the struggling Dolphins will offer the sort of spirited resistance they did back in '85, when a more dangerous, Dan Marino-led Miami ended the Bears' run at perfection in a memorable Monday Night encounter that preserved the "perfect pedestal" for the Dolphins' 1972, 17-0 predecessors. That 1985 battle, by the way, had been hyped for over a month as the ultimate regular-season "showdown" that season. It hardly seems like any sort of Dolphins-Bears redux is in order for 2006.

The schedule does get rather interesting for the Bears immediately after the Miami game, however. A rare 3-game swing through the northeast begins with back-to-back games at the Meadowlands, first vs. the Giants November 12, then the Jets November 19. The former is already shaping up as a major challenge, less so the latter. Following the Jets game is a trip to Foxborough for what might be the most-dangerous encounter remaining on the schedule, at New England November 26.

If the Bears exit November at 11-0, they'll really start breathing some rarified "perfection" air. That will have put them past the 1962 Green Bay Packers, who started 10-0 before losing a memorable Thanksgiving day game at Detroit, 26-14, vs. Roger Brown, Alex Karras and the Lions, and on equal footing with the 1991 Redskins, who finally tasted defeat in their 12th game, 24-21, vs. Dallas ast RFK Stadium. Three modern-day teams besides the '72 Dolphins have gone as far as 13-0 (the '85 Bears, '98 Broncos, and last year's Colts) before losing their first games, and the Bears, should they handle Minnesota at home December 3, could equal that trio with a win in a potentially-tricky Monday night encounter a St. Louis December 11. After that, a steady diet of likely under-.500 NFC whipping posts (Lions at home, at Bucs, and Packers at home) would be all that stands in the way of 16-0 for the Bears.

Of course, we 're getting way ahead of ourselves here. A lot can happen in the next few months. Injuries, which have yet to hit this year's Bears very hard, are always lurking around the corner, although it's worth noting that the depth is so good with this year's team that we doubt any one injury (even to Grossman) would prove debilitating. Indeed, remember that not too long ago (like a little more than a month ago), a lot of Chicago supporters were clamoring for Brian Griese to start at QB over Grossman. Unlike a team such as Indianapolis, which relies so heavily on Peyton Manning, the consensus around the league is that the Bears wouldn't lose much with Griese at the helm, despite Grossman's great start. Even the loss of a dominant defender such as Brian Urlacher (left) wouldn't figure to slow down the voracious Lovie Smith defense too much.

What about the Colts? Aren't they still unbeaten, too? Yes, they are, but we don't think anyone, even in Indianapolis, is holding their breath for an unbeaten run by the Colts. Nor would they look forward to the accompanying chatter after last year's team seemed to get a bit distracted by all of the comparisons to the 1972 Dolphins before fading at the finish, eventually getting knocked out of the playoffs in the first round in the process. Tony Dungy, in particular, could probably do without all of the distracting "perfect talk" this season. Indy is still pretty good, but has been involved in four rather close calls in its first five games, and was life-and-death with winless Tennessee (at the RCA Dome, no less) before surviving only 14-13 last week. Plenty of challenging dates remain, and observers are wondering just how long Manning is going to be able to carry the team. We suspect the Colts' unbeaten run is going to end before Chicago's.

Of course, all of this regular-season "perfection" talk is just window dressing for the real serious stuff that begins in the playoffs. A perfect 16-0 mark in the regular season will be rendered meaningless if the Bears (or Colts) don't win the Super Bowl.

Thus, taking a cue from ESPN's Monday Night post-game crew, we'll give our updated NFL "Top Ten" after last weekend's action. We'll expand it from the AFC "Top Five" Messrs. Young, Irvin, and Jackson offered after that Ravens-Broncos slugfest in Denver.

1-Chicago Bears...Although the schedule hasn't been too difficult thus far, and we suspect most of the better teams in this year's NFL reside in the AFC, it's hard not to put the Bears on top right now for all of the reasons we mentioned above.

2-Denver Broncos...Never mind that Michael Irvin didn't put the Broncos in his AFC top five, much less the NFL's. That Monday night win over Baltimore was more important than meets the eye, because the Ravens have proven a real irritant (not to mention a bad matchup) for Mike Shanahan's teams since 2000. But beating the Ravens at their own physical game is a big feather in the cap of these Broncos, whose defense takes a backseat to no one (Bears included). In the modern era, only the 2000 Dolphins have matched the 1 TD allowed in the first 4 games that the hot-pursuing Denver defense has recorded. Also, the confidence of QB Jake Plummer (left) is now properly restored after these last two gut-check wins over the Patriots and Ravens. The Broncos are on their way as they were last season when finishing atop the AFC West at 13-3.

3-Indianapolis Colts...Obviously still in the elite class despite that unexpected struggle vs. the Titans. Peyton Manning remains an irresistible offensive force, although the Colts are always an injury to their QB away from dropping down to the middle of the pack.

4-New England Patriots...Nothing pretty last week vs. the Dolphins, but the sort of workmanlike win that has characterized past Patriot title teams. How quickly Tom Brady can integrate his new wide receiver targets into the Pats' offensive repertoire will likely be the determining factor how far this Belichick edition advances. As of now, New England wideouts have caught only 41 passes through 5 games, a pace that has to improve.

5-Philadelphia Eagles...Donovan McNabb is putting up some big, big numbers the first five weeks of the season. Watching T.O. bellow at his team from the other sideline must have given the Eagles a nice, comfy feeling last week (especially since it was Dallas that had to endure Owens' latest tantrum). Why do we get the feeling that Lito Sheppard's 102-yard TD interception return to finally put away the Cowboys last week could loom as one of the big plays of the season when all is said and done?

6-Cincinnati Bengals...The recent loss to New England will probably serve as a nice reminder to the Bengals that they're still not quite as far along as they might have thought. The Patriots uncovered a few holes in the Cincy defense that Marvin Lewis will have to patch, but keep in mind that we probably haven't seen the best of the Bengal offense yet, either. QB Carson Palmer should continue to feel more comfortable on his reconstructed knee as the season progresses, the WR corps is finally healthy with T.J. Houshmandzadeh back in the fold. The team also remains hungry., and the Patriot embarrassment should serve to remind the "stripes" that they can't rest on their laurels (as the Bengals might have after their preceding win over the hated Steelers).

7-Carolina Panthers...After a rocky start, the Panthers look to be getting back on track. With Steve Smith back in the fold, the offense is rediscovering its old menacing look (and Jake Delhomme looks a lot more confident in the pocket), especially with RB DeShaun Foster running extremely well in recent weeks. This week's game at Baltimore looms as a good mid-October measuring stick.

8-San Diego Chargers...The Charger bandwagon is starting to overflow, but we'll wait a bit longer to jump on board. We suspect last week's victim Pittsburgh is more vulnerable than many realize, and would wait before reading too much into that comeback win vs. Steelers (impressive as it was). Philip Rivers, however, is progressing nicely at QB, and the defense is allowing less than 10 ppg. But keep in mind that 2 of the 3 wins were at the expense of winless foes (struggling oakland and Tennessee), and 4 of the next 6 games are on the road. If the Chargers are still flying by Thanksgiving, and there's room on the bandwagon at that time, we'll gladly hop on board.

9-New York Giants...Compared to the Bears' early schedule, the Giants have been through a meatgrinder, but have pulled a couple of clutch wins out of the fire against the Eagles and Redskins. Still, it doesn't get any easier for Tom Coughlin's bunch, which has to travel to Atlanta and Dallas the next two weeks. No matter, the Giants possess a quality OL and truly balanced attack that gives them a fighting chance against any foe. But given the brutal schedule, we're moved to paraphrase veteran actor John Houseman and his old Smith Barney commercials. If the Giants get to the postseason, they'll have done it the old-fashioned way—they'll have e-a-r-n-e-d it.

10-Baltimore Ravens...We don't want to downgrade the Ravens too much for that 13-3 Bronco loss. The defense remains ultra-nasty, and it took Denver over 58 minutes to finally put that game in the freezer (literally, considering the wintry conditions in the Mile High City). Nonetheless, we have to wonder just a bit about QB Steve McNair's ability to lead the team to the next level. Although the consummate leader, and a big upgrade from the erratic Kyle Boller, we suspect there's an air of truth to what ESPN's Tom Jackson was hinting at the end of the game, that something just seems to happen to these QBs in the Brian Billick Ravens offense. Some of McNair's passes were inexplicably bad Monday night and cost the Ravens the game, and we wonder if more of those throws could be in store.

GAMES TO WATCH THIS WEEK: Seattle at St. Louis...Here's a chance for the rejuvenated Rams to take early control of the NFC West, and they get the Seahawks at a good time with Shaun Alexander (as mentioned above) out for another week. Seattle's recuperative powers will be tested after the lopsided 37-6 loss in Chicago and a "bye" last week. Carolina at Baltimore...A needed "statement game" for both sides, as the Panthers have clawed their way back above .500 after that 0-2 start, and the Ravens look to rebound from their first loss last week. Kansas City at Pittsburgh...It's not too soon to say "must win" for the Steelers, who are close to losing contact with AFC North pacesetters Baltimore and Cincinnati. The Chiefs could also figure in the AFC playoff logjam and are looking to keep the Broncos and Chargers within touching distance in the AFC West. NY Giants at Atlanta...Something tells us there's a chance one of these sides won't make the playoffs, and the loser of this game might eventually get that unwanted prize. Philadelphia at New Orleans...The re-charged Eagles are starting to turn the screws on their opponents in the NFC East. Let's see how long the Saints can continue the emotional high that's made them one of the feel-good stories of the first five weeks of the season.

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