Bear down

After looking pretty weak in their opening game, the Bears turned everything around for their home opener, burying the Lions 38-6 in a game that saw the most total points the Bears have posted since, if you can believe this, a 47-17 defeat of Tampa Bay twelve years ago. Twelve! (The high water mark during the 2001 season, easily the Bears' best of the last 12 seasons, was 37 points in the 37-31 OT win over San Francisco - a game in which, coincidentally enough, Mike Brown returned an interception for a touchdown as he did today.)

Kyle Orton looks like he might be the next Ben Roethlisberger - he doesn't put up the gaudiest stats on his own, but combined with a solid running game (Thomas Jones erased thoughts of Week One with 139 yards on just 20 carries and two scores) and a strong defense, he could get the job done. 14-of-21 for 150 and a score is nothing spectacular, but it's plenty effective, and he's certainly a confident passer (though this is sometimes his undoing, as with the interception he threw into quadruple coverage in Week One).

Next week is a big test. Which week was the fluke, the ugly loss to Washington or the blowout of Detroit? Does this win just mean that the Bears could dominate what has the potential to be football's worst division in the NFC North, or could they maybe turn into legitimate sleeper NFC contenders? Stay tuned when the Bengals (2-0 and fresh off a destruction of the Vikings) come to town.