The Chicago Bears enter the second half of the season in first place in the NFC North and ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in four vital categories: points scored (ninth), points allowed (eighth), yards gained (10th) and yards permitted (seventh).
The last time Chicago accomplished this feat? It was 1985. Surely we needn't remind you how that season ended.
The point of this exercise, stemming from colleague Marcus Mosher's interesting statistical analysis earlier this week, isn't to inflate fan expectations and drum up February 2019 tourist revenue in Atlanta. No, it's hopefully to illustrate that an organization long stuck in a state of being formidable on one side of the ball while feeble on the other now has balance making it more competitive in the short term and, who knows, perhaps ready to compete for that elusive second Super Bowl sooner than some think.