Un-beaten Bears look to continue roll

If it were possible to score a touchdown in the pre-game warm-ups, the Chicago Bears would have done so against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. The score was 10-0 before San Francisco even took a snap on offense, and it was an astonishing 41-0 before the Bears kicked off to start the second half. "We played really well today, and I definitely don`t think they played their best game," said quarterback Rex Grossman, whose Bears finished the game with a 41-10 victory that improved their record to 7-0. "I was just happy as an offense to execute and go out and score points. The defense and special teams gave us great opportunities, especially early to capitalize on the turnovers." The defense was its usual self, forcing five turnovers and stifling Alex Smith and the 49er passing game. And the special teams did its job, highlighted by Devin Hester`s 42-yard punt return and Robbie Gould extending his consecutive field goal streak to 22 dating back to last season (he`s 20-for-20 this year). That being said, the brightest spot on the field Sunday was Grossman. After turning in a disastrous six-turnover performance two weeks ago on Monday night, the fourth-year quarterback showed a lot about his football character in the way he bounced back. Grossman completed 18 of his first 22 passes, including three touchdowns. He finished the day 23-of-29 for 252 yards and the three scores. More important was that he did not turn the ball over once, or even take a single sack. "Any time you don`t play as well as you would like, you want to come back and have the type of game that you`re capable of having," said Bears head coach Lovie Smith. "And that`s Rex. All quarterbacks will have a bad game here and there, but the good ones don`t have a lot of bad games. Rex is a good quarterback, and we thought he would come out and play the way he did today. He played an outstanding football game. He made the right decisions. He took what the defense gave him most of the day." Against Arizona, Grossman - perhaps feeling the pressure of playing on national television with unfamiliar expectations of leading a high-powered offense - forced throws down the field and virtually ignored the underneath routes that make up the backbone of Chicago`s passing attack. But against the Niners, he was patient and precise, evidenced by the combined 11 receptions and three touchdowns for possession receiver Muhsin Muhammad and tight end Desmond Clark. "That`s the key in this league and the key in anything you do, just learn from your mistakes and try to apply them to the next time you do it," Grossman said. "We got some first downs and got into a rhythm pretty quick. That always helps, but it was just a different game and learning from some of my mistakes and getting better." MAJOR TRAP GAME AWAITS CHICAGO The Bears have a huge showdown coming up in the very near future. They take their unbeaten record on the road to face the NFC East-leading New York Giants in the first flex game on NBC`s prime time Sunday Night Football schedule. But first, they`re staying home to play the 1-6 Miami Dolphins. "The road is going to get tougher," Lovie Smith said Monday. "I don`t know how it`s happened, why it`s happened. ... We would like for games to happen like they have a few times this year, but it`s not going to be like that most of the year." In other words, with the Giants coming up (and road matchups against the Jets and Patriots to follow) Chicago cannot expect to continue to win games by 26 or more, which they`ve done five times already. It will be interesting to see what their margin of victory is against the Dolphins this weekend, or whether there even is a margin of victory. At this point, thoughts of a Bears loss to Miami seem preposterous, but consider this is the NFL and Week 9 epitomizes a trap game for Chicago. They`re playing on prime time on Sunday night in Week 10, meaning they`ve already had to acknowledge the schedule and, for some in the organization, rearrange their plans for the Giants game. This is the first flex-schedule game in NFL history, making it impossible to ignore the hype surrounding it. If taking their undefeated record on the road to Arizona in front of a prime time audience was tough, just imagine the hoopla that will accompany a trip to New York City. And the one-win Dolphins are not the one-win Cardinals. Miami has good veterans to rely on and a very good coaching staff as well. Furthermore, this is Chicago`s best start since 1985, when they won their first 12 games before falling fall to the only team to have an undefeated season in NFL history, the Dolphins. All the talk about this week`s game will center around comparing these `06 Bears to Ditka`s 85 Bears and chasing an undefeated season that is not even halfway complete for this club. But what`s the difference? After all, next week, the Bears have a huge game against the Giants! WHO`S HOT Back in April, there was an outcry when the Bears did not select a tight end in the draft. Not anymore - veteran Desmond Clark is having a career year, leading all tight ends with a 15.0 yards per catch average. On Sunday against the 49ers, Clark had six receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns. WHO`S NOT The Bears are 7-0. They just won by 31 points or more for the third time this season. Against San Francisco, Chicago led 41-0 at halftime, won the turnover battle five to zero, and stymied the 49ers offense save for a few good runs by Frank Gore. Who`s not hot? You try to figure out which player on this team is currently not performing well. NEXT UP The Bears stay home to face the 1-6 Miami Dolphins.