The playoffs generally are referred to as a sport’s “second season,” a time when a team’s character becomes nearly as important as its talent. For the Bears, that second season already has begun.
They clinched their first playoff appearance since 1994 with Sunday’s 27-3 dismantling of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As in the playoffs, however, what has happened means far less than what happens next, with games left at Washington, at Detroit and against Jacksonville.
Building momentum and keeping it, something coach Dick Jauron has espoused since arriving in 1999, now becomes crucial.
“Everyone says we have so many young guys,” said tackle James Williams, a member of the 1991 and 1994 Bears playoff teams. “But it will be big and keep emotions high to be able to roll for these next three games and the playoffs. That’s going to be big for us.”
The Bears have an excellent chance to assure themselves of a first-round bye in the playoffs, significant because it means needing only two postseason wins to reach the Super Bowl instead of three. But to maintain their one-game lead over Green Bay and win the NFC Central means avoiding some of the pitfalls of youth.
Most Bears are experiencing something new. Rookies such as David Terrell and Anthony Thomas already have played more games than they did in their college seasons, so the physical toll is mounting.
So is the mental pressure, particularly in a city like Chicago that is starved for Bears success. The fan and media attention can become a distraction.
“The key to it is to stay focused,” said defensive tackle Ted Washington, a playoff veteran with the San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills. “It’s going to be a long season, but that’s what we want. So we need to stay focused and just continue to execute and play hard football.
“Don’t get caught up in the playoffs. Take one game at a time and keep playing.”
Now the Bears must be concerned about a letdown.
“That’s where the veterans come in,” said tight end Fred Baxter, who got to within a game of the Super Bowl with Bill Parcells and the New York Jets before losing to a Denver Broncos team that included current Bears defensive tackle Keith Traylor. “You can’t allow [a letdown] to happen. Being in New York, I experienced being in the playoffs and had a great coach in Bill Parcells.
“We can’t let down. It’s too late in the season. It’s do or die. There’s no more coming back next week. We’ve got to get that mentality and pass it on to the younger guys. Hopefully everything will stick.”
The momentum value of wins over the final stretch of games appears mixed. The Bears lost three of their last four games in 1994, then opened the postseason by playing one of their best games of the season in an upset of the Vikings in Minnesota.
The 1991 Bears lost three of their last five, then were upset by the then-upstart Jimmy Johnson Dallas Cowboys. The 1990 Bears lost three of their last four, then beat a physical New Orleans team in the first round.
But the 1990 and 1991 Bears teams still had a veteran core left from the 1985 Super Bowl team. The successful veterans on the current Bears playoff team are mostly recent imports (Baxter, Traylor, Washington, punter Brad Maynard, safety Larry Whigham).
The Bears got their first experience with “playoff” football in Green Bay on Dec. 9 and were not up to the level needed in a game with divisional and playoff implications.
Sunday’s game was another chance to grow up, and the Bears did.
“I think guys were prepared more for what to expect,” said center Olin Kreutz. “When we played in Green Bay, I think it was a situation that was kind of new that we weren’t prepared for. Now I think guys have wiped that pressure off and stepped up. I think you could feel it on the sideline from last week.”
