Jim Flanigan

Cornerback Jeremy Lincoln's first training-camp memory this year wasn't a blackboard with X's and O's. No, it was a chalked-out chart that soared to the heights and dived to the depths. Perhaps some millionaire players could have misinterpreted it as the...

The Bears aren't natural-born killers, or else they would have won by at least double their 25-6 margin Sunday against Tampa Bay. But they are great party poopers. They aren't ready yet to win a Super Bowl, not going to pieces near the end zone the way...

It's called rationalization, and at this, the Bears are terrific. They may, in fact, lead the league. At this point, they say what they must, hear what they want, and after losing their last three games, do what they have to do. Abandoning the season...

There is no telling the kind of free-fall a defeat could have generated. No telling the kind of damage to the Bears' psyche, the loss of confidence and the self-doubt that could have resulted had several improbable events not occurred in the Metrodome...

Technically, the Bears and Green Bay share first place in the NFC Central Division. Realistically, the Packers hold the mortgage to the penthouse and the Bears are just visiting. The Bears apparently will be on the street with their furniture in no...

The thought that occurs to them now is that this thing is finally getting to be fun, a warm, almost overpowering emotion exceeded only by the sinking realization that this thing is also almost over. Talk about your major dampers. An otherwise...

Sudden death has given sudden life to the Minnesota Vikings' playoff chances. Two plays after the Bears' Kevin Butler missed a 40-yard field goal attempt in overtime, the Vikings' Warren Moon passed 65 yards to Cris Carter for a touchdown and an...

They never said what would happen if they lost. A victory Sunday over Tampa Bay, the Bears readily admitted all week, was essential. It would serve to carry them into a productive off-season, and give them optimism as well as a .500 record. It would...

Dave Wannstedt can't match Mike Ditka's lava flow. But if the Bears' coach didn't blow his top Sunday, he nonetheless allowed some unaccustomed steam to seep out. He was so annoyed by the media tilting his seesaw team's 35-32 victory against the...

The Bears have come out of the closet, where one of their biggest hangups was facing the pressures of "Monday Night Football" and not wrinkling up like a cheap suit. Not only are they alone at the top of the NFC Central at 6-2 with their regular season...

Winning isn't everything. Wouldn't you know it, a Green Bay Packer said that. And we'll skip the second part of the well-known cliche right now. Too depressing for the Bears to hear. Vince Lombardi's famous words were given an entirely different spin...