Miami 31, BEARS 13: An unexpected result.

Well, that was definitely disappointing.

I wasn’t expecting the BEARS to really run the table – in fact, I said as much when Mike Brown went down. But I didn’t expect the extra loss to come against a team like Miami, a team that came in 1-6 and lost to a Green Bay team the BEARS shut out in Lambeau. And I didn’t expect it to come at home, where the BEARS had won their previous four games this season by 27, 31, 33, and 31 points.

I’d like to say there’s no reason for the dominating BEARS defense not to shut out a team that in seven previous games had scored more 17 points just once. But unfortunately, there is a reason. There’s just no excuse. The reason is six turnovers – which led to all 31 Miami points, despite a mostly valiant effort on defense, and there’s simply no excuse for that. (For all you young punt returners out there, a 31-13 embarrassment at home is the reason your coach always tells you not to even try to field anything inside the 10-yard line.)

And why does it always have to be Miami that ruins a BEARS undefeated season? And why do they always have to do it with a running back no one has ever heard of before or will again running wild all over a normally stalwart defense? In 1985 it was Lorenzo Hampton; this year it was Ronnie Brown with 157 yards in 29 tries for a face-slapping 5.4 average.

Speaking of running, the BEARS seemed to do it quite well at times. Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson finished with modest numbers, but they both broke decent gains several times in the second quarter. I don't understand why the team went away from that strategy, especially as they were well within striking distance most of the second half.

But there’s much more at stake here than an undefeated season. This game completely changes the NFC playoff picture.

The BEARS had been the heavy favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl not just because they were undefeated, but because their two-game lead over the rest of the conference gave them the inside track to home-field advantage, where it seemed they couldn’t possibly lose. Now, they have a one-game lead with their next game at the home of their closest competitor, the New York Giants.

With the Saints also sitting at 6-2, one game behind the 7-1 BEARS, a loss on Sunday could conceivably drop the BEARS all the way from No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, to No. 3 seed and no bye in the first playoff weekend. And don’t look now, but the 5-3 Seahawks have a fairly soft schedule the rest of the way.

I still believe the BEARS will be the No. 1 seed in the NFC when all is said and done. The Giants have too tough of a schedule; the Saints, Seahawks and Falcons all are too prone to taking a silly loss somewhere along the way. Thus, the BEARS should have the best overall record in the conference even if they lose at the Giants and at the Patriots, the two games remaining in which they are likely to be underdogs. But a stupid loss to a terrible team in which the BEARS flat-out beat themselves will make it much more difficult.