[Joey Slugs]

From ESPN Insider Everyone knows the Chicago Bears have the best defense in football right now. But with QB Kyle Orton leading an anemic offense, few believed they could make a long playoff run. Now that QB Rex Grossman has assumed the starting role, the question is whether he gives them enough offense to be a playoff threat. I believe he does. With Orton at the helm, the Bears could count on their offense scoring somewhere between seven and 14 points per game. With Grossman, they can count on an extra touchdown, or 14-21 points per game. With a defense as good as theirs, the Bears feel they can win every game with that type of offensive production. While Grossman isn't Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, he is confident. And that confidence is infectious. The Bears might have been on the verge of a mutiny if Orton was left in at quarterback. In our meetings for "NFL Live," Mike Golic always talks about how divided the locker room was when he played for the Eagles in the late 1980s and early '90s. Their defense was awesome, but their offense couldn't do a thing. Confidence might be biggest difference between the two quarterbacks. Somewhere along the way this season, Orton became afraid to make mistakes. Thus, almost all of his throws became check-downs. Even when receivers were open, Orton wasn't confident they were open enough and threw the short pass instead. No one is happier about Grossman's taking over at quarterback than wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, who was becoming more and more disgruntled with Orton's unwillingness to go vertical. On Grossman's first play against Green Bay, he threw a deep fade that was incomplete. That throw was a statement, both to the opposition and to his own team that things were going to change with the offense. Muhammad is one of the best possession receivers in football and, with Bernard Berrian as a speed burner, is finding more space to move the chains. The Bears like to line up Berrian and Muhammad on the same side, have Berrian run a deep pattern to clear out defenders and run Muhammad underneath over the middle in the vacated space. Unlike Orton, Grossman is willing to make that throw, and he trusts his arm to get it there and his receiver to come down with the catch. In terms of actual plays the Bears are running, they are still a simple offense with Grossman, but because he presents the threat of going deep, the scheme is more effective. The Bears are not asking Grossman to survey the entire field and make a lot of progression reads. What they are asking is that he trust where the play is supposed to go and not immediately check down. This passing game, or even the threat of it, will back the defense's safeties off, which will make life easier for the ball-control running game. Before, teams were playing eight- and even nine-man fronts, with both safeties in the box and single coverage on the outside. Now teams will have to respect the pass a little more and drop their safeties back in coverage more often. This will open up the running game a little more for Thomas Jones, who after seeing stacked fronts for so long will probably think he's in heaven if he sees only seven defenders playing the run. During the first eight games of the season, Jones averaged 20 carries per game and 4.5 yards per attempt. Over the next six games, as teams started crowding the line because they weren't threatened by Orton and the passing game, Jones' numbers fell to 3.8 yards per carry on 18 attempts per game. Against the Packers Sunday, with Grossman under center, Jones carried 25 times for 105 yards, his first 100-yard game since Week 7. Grossman's numbers weren't spectacular against Green Bay (11 of 23, 166 yards, one touchdown, one interception), but the throws he was making -- accurate and decisive, with good velocity -- were a clear indication that the Bears are better off with him at quarterback.

And another thing: New England WILL be the AFC champs this year & they will be playing either Chicago or Seattle.