Ron Borges

The Bears are coming off an 11-5 season and seem to be the only team in the division that didn't come out of the offseason worse than they went into it. But are they better?

Not if they can't decide who their starting quarterback and lead runner should be.

Coach Lovie Smith has all 22 starters from a year ago back, but he also has an offense that was ranked 29th in total offense and a dismal 31st in passing yards per game. For a team that relies on defense to win, the offense was 25th in time of possession as well, which means that defense was under intense pressure in nearly every game.

The reason Smth and GM Jerry Angelo stood pat is based on two beliefs. First, that defense is young and capable of duplicating last season's efforts, when it allowed the fewest points in the league and was second in fewest yards allowed. That in itself takes a lot of pressure off an offense Smith hopes will be a safety-first, run-oriented, ball-control attack. His second reason was supposed to be the return of quarterback Rex Grossman. Again.

Only problem is he was outplayed by his new backup, veteran Brian Griese, whom the Bears thought they had signed as insurance.

The way things have gone, they might need that insurance unless Grossman can rouse himself from the doldrums when the season begins.

The Bears believe if Grossman can stay healthy he will make such a difference in their passing game that the offense will be startlingly improved. Perhaps so but Grossman has suffered three freak injuries over the past three seasons that have limited him to seven starts in three seasons and never more than three in a row and in eight career starts his completion percentage is only 53.8, well below an acceptable norm these days.

The signing of Griese means Chicago is not in that vulnerable position of a year ago, when rookie Kyle Orton had to step in for the injured Grossman for most of the season. Orton led them to 10 wins, but his play was predictably shaky as the season wore on, hence the signing of Griese.

Quarterback is not the only place where questions abound as the season opener approaches. Same is true at running back, where the coaches favor former No. 1 pick Cedric Benson while the players support Thomas Jones. The Giants' Tiki Barber was the only running back to account for a larger percentage of his team's offense than Jones did a year ago. Jones rushed for 1,335 yards in the conservative Chicago offense and wants no part of sharing the position with last year's bust, Benson, who held out, carried only 67 times and produced just 272 rushing yards.

Despite that, Chicago wanted to see if Benson could share enough of the load to split the position. His teammates didn't think so and its caused a fracture in the locker room Lovie Smith will have to watch carefully. Behind the two of them is the explosive but seldom-used Adrian Peterson, who averaged 5.1 yards a carry when he did touch the ball.

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Normally issues like these are settled by the end of training camp.

In Smith's mind perhaps they are, but his players might not agree.

Hot seat
Rex Grossman. Unlike the past three years, the Bears are not likely to be as understanding if he's hurt again and misses a long stretch or if he continues not to throw with better accuracy because Griese is more than insurance. He was 5-1 as a starter in Tampa last year until he was lost for the season and replaced by young Chris Simms. He signed a five-year deal with the Bears to bring his accurate passing arm and a starter's experience to Chicago. Griese is 39-33 as an NFL starter. He completed 69.3 percent of his throws last year and his career QB rating of 84.8 and 16,344 career passing yards both are better than any quarterback in Bears history. Including Rex Grossman.

Overheard
The Bears believe they have more firepower in their passing offense than people think because they are hoping second-year wideout Mark Bradley will have a breakout season. Bradley was playing well when he tore his ACL last Oct. 30. He has undergone two knee reconstructions, so until he shows he's fully recovered, he remains suspect. The Bears believe he'll be a good enough No. 2 to help free Muhammad, who was unhappy with the conservative offense that led to him making only 64 receptions for 750 yards. They also like the speed of Airese Currie, a speedy former fifth-round pick who missed all of his rookie season with injuries. The Bears look at Currie and Bradley like redshirt freshmen — unknown but ready to play.

Outlook
Grossman's health or Griese's passing accuracy will be the key to the offense, but the Bears will still live or die with their defense.

They retained all their starters and believe they improved by adding free-agent nickel back Ricky Manning, Jr. and Dante Wesley in free agency, plus two fast but raw recruits at cornerback in the second round of the draft.

They needed them because although the Bears intercepted 24 passes, they showed in that playoff loss to the Panthers they remain vulnerable to the deep ball. The defensive line is so efficient it allows the Bears to drop seven men into coverage regularly, thus creating turnover opportunities, but the secondary still was destroyed by Steve Smith, which is why Manning and the rest were added. One serious concern is the health of strong safety Mike Brown, who's missed 18 games the past two seasons. When he's out this is a different, and less formidable, defense but overall it's young (average age 26, no starter over 29) and will be relied on to carry the team again.

Prediction
First.

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