Well, they arent pretenders but they also arent real good. That being said, fortune favors the bold, and the Bears continue to take advantage when they need to.
I'll be ecstatic with 10 wins, even if they miss the playoffs. It would also be so typically Bears to get to 10 wins and be 2 of like 3 for 10 win teams that dont make the playoffs, and thats why I dont think it will happen. Ben Johnson seems to be kryptonite to "typical Bears".
For the last 65 years, the Bears have been thought of as a Defense First team , but it hasnt always been that way. For a long time, it was offense offense offense, and in fact, thats when they won the most Championships in overall team history. Maybe the long slow pendulum of time is coming back the other way. I would like to see a good D backing up the O, however.