Jauron just right for the Bears

Dick Jauron is the best thing to happen to the Chicago Bears in a long time. It's about time General Manager Jerry Angelo finally realized that.

Jauron, who until this past week didn't know if he would remain with the Bears after this season, has led the franchise from the basement of the NFL into bonafide contender status. The sad part is that it took 11 wins for Angelo to jump on board.

Angelo said from the start that wins or losses wouldn't matter as much as having a coach that was on the same page as him philosophically. However, an 11-3 record is impossible to ignore and to dismiss Jauron after such a season would have been unforgivable.

Jauron was on the hot seat from the time Angelo was hired over the summer, and all he did was tie the GM's hands by having the most successful season in seven years. Angelo had no choice but to exercise the Bears' option for 2002 and begin talking about an extension.

This season, the Chicago Bears have been playing with the form of champions. They have had their problems, but nothing like the past two seasons where they finished 6-10 and 5-11.

And now, after destroying the hapless Detroit Lions 24-0, they are poised to win their first division title in 10 years with a victory next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. They can also clinch the division with a Green Bay loss at the New York Giants.

While former Director of Player Personnel Mark Hatley, now with the rival Packers, can claim the credit for bringing players like Ted Washington, Keith Traylor, R.W. McQuarters, Brian Urlacher, Jim Miller, and Anthony Thomas to Chicago, it is Jauron who has shaped and molded this team into a winning group.

Led by a dominating defense, a hit and miss offense, and a good amount of luck, opponents no longer look past the Bears on their schedule. They are winning and expecting nothing less than success. That attitude comes straight from the top, and Jauron has righted the wayward ship that was left him by overrated Dolphins' coach Dave Wannstedt.

The offense has been suspect, ranked 12th in the NFC in yards per game. Insistent on Offensive Coordinator John Shoop's horizontal offensive scheme, the Bears sometime stymie observers with suspect play-calling and the inability to come up with key third down conversions when they need it.

Despite this, the Bears have won 13 games -- thanks mostly to a stifling defense that ranks first in the NFC, giving up a paltry 82.7 yards per game on the ground. This forces most teams to the air early and often, which inflates their misleading pass defense average of 232.2 yards per game.

They may not be doing it pretty, but the Bears are winning. Success is a word that has been absent from Halas Hall in recent years. Jauron is doing his best to reincarnate the Monsters of the Midway and should be a fixture as head coach for many years to come.

Here's hoping Angelo feels that way too.