Business up front and a party in the back: A hearty welcome to Jared Allen and his magnificent mullet

The signing of Jared Allen makes the Bears a better team. And along with the signings of Lamarr Houston, Willie Young, and Ryan Mundy—and the re-signings of Peanut Tillman, Tim Jennings, and D.J. Williams—it makes me believe the Bears can win the NFC North.

That defense still needs some playmakers. We need another starting safety and another starting tackle. We need young depth at corner and linebacker where everyone that matters for the Bears is too old and everyone behind them too untalented. But if you can stop the run and get consistent pressure on the quarterback it can make all those problems seem like less of a problem. A defensive line that features Allen (Right End) Jerimiah Ratliff (Nose Tackle) Houston (Left End) with Willie Young coming in off the bench looks pretty good.

You take Pitt's Aaron Donald or even Florida State's Timmy Jernigan at #14 in the draft to play the other tackle spot and that line looks scary. That's a line that can bring it.

I don't hate Nate Collins at tackle. I just like him better coming off the bench.

A lot of people will want to take one of the safeties in the draft at 14. I could live with that. But I would rather have the lineman. If you're able to take care of your business upfront it almost doesn't matter what's going on back there.

Right, Jared Allen?

free agency 2014

Goodbye Julius Peppers, Devin Hester, Henry Melton, Earl Bennett, Michael Bush, Major Wright, Corey Wootton, Adam Podlesh, Eric Weems, Blake Costanzo, and Josh McCown.

Hello Lammar Houston, Ryan Mundy, Willie Young, M.D. Jennings, Jorden Senn, Domenick Hixon, Trevor Scott, Danny McCray, Derricus Purdy, Austen Lane.

Welcome back Charles Tillman, Matt Slauson, Tim Jennings, Roberto Garza, D.J. Williams, Israel Idonije, Nate Collins, Jordan Palmer, Kelvin Hayden, Taylor Boggs, and Sherrick McManis.

And all this after signing Jay Cutler to a seven-year contract extension. It certainly has been a busy offseason at Halas Hall.

Are the Bears better or worse than they were last season?

Right now it's hard to say. I like the additions of Houston, Young, and Mundy. It was tough to see Peppers go but I understand the implications of that type of salary cap number.

The one move I really don't understand is why the team prefers Israel Idonije to Corey Wooton, especially after GM Phil Emery's stated goal of getting younger on defense. Are they that concerned about the offseason hip surgery? Vikings didn't seem to be too concerned. Wooton had seven sacks in 2012 … or one more than new high-priced free agent Lammar Houston has ever had. I guess they didn't feel too good about what Corey did moving inside at tackle last season, and they like Idonije's flexibility there a little more. But I think Wooton could go on to have a very productive career at DE.

First place

How different the world looks a day later.

After their convincing win over the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field yesterday, the Bears are 6-3 and in first place in the NFC North.

Before we talk about the difficult road ahead, let's just take a moment to enjoy the game yesterday.

It's always good to beat the Vikings. And, with any luck, that was Brett Favre's last game ever at Soldier Field. Brett Favre may or may not be good for football, but he was definitely no good to the Bears over his career. He owned us for an entire decade. He tortured the Bears, hanging some of the most humiliating losses we've had to endure on our proud franchise. We beat him his last game here. (Knocking on wood right now.)

The offensive line looks better (though still far from perfect), but also Martz's scheme (or the chucking of the Martz's scheme in favor of a more conservative approach) has really helped everyone. Getting the running game going, moving the pocket, getting Cutler to scramble ... those have been the keys to the back-to-back solid performances by the offense.

Defense continues to shine. How 'bout D.J. Moore? The kid has a nose for the ball. And I like what Henry Melton is doing when he gets into the D-Line rotation. Peppers is as good as advertised, and Urlacher and Briggs are consistently rock solid and spectacular in spots.

And thank you, Devin Hester. THAT was how he should be used. Great game.

If anything, that win over the Vikings showed us it's a two-team race in the NFC North, between Green Bay and Chicago. A tough road ahead, but for the Packers too. Nine games into the season, the division title looks to be within our reach. (Knock on wood again.)

A busy (start? to the) offseason

In shockingly untypical Bears fashion, we went out at the start of the free agency period and signed two of the hottest players available in DE Julius Peppers and RB Chester Taylor, plus we added the blocking tight end the Mike Martz offense requires in Brandon Manumaleuna. We've given tender offers to our restricted free agents and signed promising FB prospect Eddie Williams to a one-year contract. The only players we have really severed ties with at this point are RB Kevin Jones and, more sadly, Adewale Ogunleye.

Ogunleye never really developed into the stud outside rusher the Bears envisioned when they traded Marty Booker and a draft pick to Miami for the rights to Ogunleye, but he was a thoroughly solid, dependable player his entire tenure here. He was a team captain, a leader, a good locker room guy, and his presence will definitely be missed.

He'll be missed for about five minutes, until Julius Peppers comes flying out of nowhere and registers his first devastating sack. Until that D-Line with a rejuvenated Tommie Harris and the most talented DE in the NFL team up with Alex Brown and Anthony Adams to strike some fear in the people around the league.

That is something that's been missing from the Bears defense. It was terribly apparent right away last season after Urlacher went down in that first game. Once Urlacher exited, there wasn't really anyone on that defense that struck fear into anyone's heart. A guy you put an eye on every single play to account for him. Sure, Lance Briggs is a great player. But there's just a menacing presence Urlacher brings to that squad that for some reason I don't see from Lance (although I love the guy's playmaking and his motor). Now combine the returning Urlacher with Peppers and an active, healthier Tommie Harris. I'd like to see us get another starter for the defensive backfield, but I think your going to see some real improvement on the defensive side of the ball this season.

That linebacking corps is going to be hot. The D-Line, with Peppers, should be much hotter than in the past. All that will, arguably, make the DBs better when opposing quarterbacks will have less time to make plays down field. But I'd still like to see a new body brought in to start back there. Either a corner or a safety.

I'll live with either, but I'd prefer the safety.

Incomplete pass

Oh, Bears.

Jeremy Bates, the 33-year old rising star who was the quarterbacks coach for Jay Cutler in Denver and last season the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans, has opted not to take over the Bears offensive play calling, reportedly because the chance to join Slippery Pete Carroll's staff in Seattle provides more stability than signing on to a likely one-and-done regime in Chicago.

That was the guy I wanted. He was also the guy that our franchise QB wanted. And if we'd have gotten rid of Lovie Smith for, say, Bill Cowher, we would have had him (although, in fairness, Cowher may have opted to bring in one of his own guys like a Chan Gailey).

But I was also interested in Tom Clements, the Green Bay Packer's quarterbacks coach who has worked wonders with Aaron Rodgers and worked with Favre before that.

Well, the Packers, who have Clements under contract, denied the Bears' request to allow them to speak with him, reportedly because they didn't want him calling plays for an NFC North rival. Now I don't feel bad for taking so much glee in their fall to the Cardinals.

It's looking more and more like Martz. And maybe I'm crazy, but he's the last guy I want. Well, not the LAST. That would be Mike Tice, who's reportedly being considered for some kind of position on the staff (please say it's offensive line coach, at best).

The one guy who's still out there that I really like is Bill Musgrave, quarterbacks coach from the Atlanta Falcons. The guy has done wonders with Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub (while at University of Virginia). Musgrave also has been an offensive coordinator in this league, and he's well generally well regarded.

One other name being tossed around that I find intriguing is Jedd Fisch, currently the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who coached wide receivers when Cutler was in Denver. But there are rumors that Shanahan might come calling on him. And I never liked anyone named Jedd.

Now what?

I predict Lovie and Jerry Angelo stay put, but they replace Ron Turner and relieve Lovie of the D-Coordinator duties.

The free agent market is tougher to predict. No idea what's going to happen with the collective bargaining agreement. But players I predict will not be with the Bears next season include Nathan Vasher, Adrian Peterson, Orlando Pace, Rashied Davis. I think Olin Kreutz stays. Tougher to predict, in my mind are the fates of Adewale Ogunleye, Danieal Manning, Mark Anderson, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Jamar Williams, Josh Bullocks, and punter Brad Maynard. We could lose all those guys. Probably won't lose 'em all, but probably will lose a few.

In my mind top FA targets are a quality offensive lineman and a ball hawking free safety. In my dreams they're Logan Mankins from the Patriots and Oshiomogho Atogwe from the Rams. I think those two guys would immediately make a HUGE impact on this team.

The end is (thankfully) near

One more game to go until that staggering, lumbering beast that is the Chicago Bears 2009 season is finally put out of its misery. After the year began on such a high note with the trade for Jay Cutler (which I would still make every time), to be where we are now, as an organization, is particularly disappointing. There was an article in the papers yesterday in which Alex Brown said that people just don't understand how devastating the loss of Brain Urlacher was to this team and he basically blamed the wasted year on that injury.

I put some credence into that, but I also believe you can't ever use injuries as an excuse. Injuries are part of the game and they happen to everyone. But I believe that Urlacher definitely helped to give that defense a personality and toughness that they seem to lack without him.

Other than Briggs, I don't think there are people on our defense that really instill fear in anyone. Urlacher, whatever you want to say about him losing a step or being overrated, brought the fear. He also brought an maybe held people more accountable than the other defensive leaders did. With Mike Brown run out of town and Urlacher suddenly out of the picture, there was definitely a lack of leadership and an identity crisis that went down on that side of the ball.

So you had a defense in the midst of an identity crisis. On the other side of the ball you had an offense equally confused about who they were supposed to be. You had three new starters on the offensive line. You had a new hotshot quarterback but not a single receiver with any meaningful experience in the league. You had Matt Forte regress and become not much of a factor. You claim you get off the bus running—you've always been that team—but suddenly you can't run. You want to throw but you're not set up to be a throwing team. You're built to run, except you just bought Orlando Pace who can't run block anymore, you have Chris Williams who you drafted to play left tackle playing right tackle, and you're new starting left guard, Frank Omiygale, has never played guard.

There were some good things about the win against Minnesota last week. Chris Williams looked like he can maybe be a left tackle in this league. Cutler reminded us why we like him. Devin Aromashodu looks like he may be a real receiver. On defense I think Zack Bowman continues to improve. Craig Steltz looked pretty good I thought. Tommie Harris had his best game of the year.

But we've still got more questions than answers at this point. And without picks in the first two rounds of the draft and the uncertainty of the salary cap situation looming, there aren't a lot of moves the Bears are going to be able to make to improve in the near term.