What are some of the big questions heading into this week’s action in the NFL?

1. Can the Bears survive without Cutler?
In a word, yes. Remember, this was the same team that once went to the Super Bowl with Rex Grossman at the controls. They have a physical, unrelenting defense led by Brian Urlacher and Julius Peppers, a star at running back in Matt Forte, and the most dangerous returner in the league in Devin Hester. But the biggest question is whether or not Mike Martz will adjust. Leopards don’t change their spots and Martz is a leopard thru and thru. If he wants to run his offense with Caleb Hanie the same as if Jay Cutler were under center then the Bears are going to die a very quick death. But if Martz relies on Forte and the running game and allows Chicago’s defense and special teams to win games, then there’s no reason the Bears can’t still make the playoffs with Hanie under center.

2. Can the Lions bring down the Pack?
This is the moment the Detroit Lions have been waiting for all season: To finally be able to punch the bully back. The Packers have been abusing the Lions for years but now Detroit is bigger, better and meaner. The way to beat any elite quarterback is to pressure him using only the front four because it allows a defense to drop the rest of its defenders into coverage. And thanks to guys like Ndamukong Suh, Willie Young and Cliff Avril, the Lions have one of the best pass rushes in the league. Aaron Rodgers will make plays; that’s just what he does. But the Lions certainly have the pass rushers to make his Thanksgiving a little uncomfortable if the secondary can hang with guys like Jordy Nelson in coverage. The biggest question is whether or not Matthew Stafford can avoid mistakes. Turnovers will kill the Lions but otherwise, they have the tools to slay the dragon. Now they just have to go out do it.

3. Can Leinart keep the Texans moving ahead?
The Texans own a two-game lead over the Titans in the AFC South but Matt Leinart hasn’t taken a snap in a regular season game since 2009. And when he did have his opportunities to start, he flubbed things up pretty good. But from Kurt Warner to Rich Gannon to Kerry Collins, there have been plenty of quarterbacks who prospered after first facing adversity in their careers. Leinart has first-round talent but. he wasn’t ready to lead in Arizona. That said, he’s older, wiser and hopefully more mature. Armed with a great running game and a defense playing at the top of its game, the Texans are playoff-ready. All Leinart has to do is manage games and not muck things up but can he do it?

4. Can Sanchez restore what little confidence he has?
The Bills are a wounded animal lying on the side of the road right now and all the Jets have to do is come by and put it out of its misery. But knowing Mark Sanchez, he’ll probably shoot the Bills in the leg and try to finish them off with a shovel, leaving his defense to clean up the mess. What? Sanchez has lost whatever confidence he once had and is playing not to lose. The Jets don’t need that right now. They need a leader to take charge and get them back to the playoffs because Rex Ryan’s defense is a Super Bowl-caliber unit. But this team doesn’t have a running game so it’s up to Sanchez to make plays with his arm. Thus far, he hasn’t shown the ability to do that on a consistent basis. Now is the time though. Again, Buffalo is finished. Fred Jackson is hurt and Ryan Fitzpatrick is an even bigger mess than Sanchez is right now. This is a perfect opportunity for Sanchez to right the ship and start playing with a little confidence.

5. Which Harbaugh has the better team?
All three Thanksgiving matchups bring something to do the table but the NFL Network may have saved the best for last. Jim vs. John makes for a nice fluffy storyline for the cable news networks (since fluff is all they are these days), but the real story is whether or not the 9-1 Niners can knock off the 7-3 Ravens playing a Baltimore-brand of football. San Francisco likes to pound the ball on the ground and play great defense, not unlike its counterpart on Thursday night. It’ll be interesting to see if the Niners’ stout defense can fluster Joe Flacco and the inconsistent Raven offense. Baltimore has a habit of playing up to its competition though, so this should be a great game throughout.

6. Can the Eagles get back into the playoff chase?
All the Giants had to do Sunday night was beat the Eagles and send them away but they couldn’t do it. Now Philly has a chance to get back into the NFC playoff picture with a win against the Patriots on Sunday because the Giants play in New Orleans on Monday and Dallas has a tough match against a red-hot Miami team on Thursday. Of course, beating Tom Brady is easier said than done. The Eagles’ defense looked great against Eli Manning and the Giants but they’ve been inconsistent all year. Also, if Michael Vick can’t play again will Vince Young be able to win two big games in a row? Young has always been good in small doses but the more a team leans on him, the more likely he’ll fall in the end. This will be a great matchup on Sunday evening.

For those wondering, no, Brian Urlacher wasn’t yelling at teammate Lance Briggs on the sidelines during the Chicago Bears’ Week 5 loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night.

“Everyone asked me what happened after the game: ‘Was I yelling at Lance on the sideline?’ I said: ‘I wasn’t yelling at Lance on the sideline. He didn’t do anything wrong,” Urlacher said. “We were both mad because we aren’t used to this. As long as (Briggs) and I have been here, we haven’t played like this.”

It’s been a frustrating year for the 2-3 Bears, who rank 29th in yards allowed per game (419.6) and 17th in points allowed (24.4). Chicago’s play has been down all season, from a poor pass rush to a suspect run defense that allowed Detroit’s Jahvid Best to rush for 163 yards on just 12 carries. In four games prior to his performance on Monday, Best had yet to total more than 72 yards in a single game, which came back in Week 1 against Tampa Bay.

Julius Peppers’ knee injury that he suffered against the Lions only compounds the Bears’ issues on that side of the ball. Peppers has yet to be ruled out for this Sunday’s game against the Vikings, but a sprained MCL usually takes weeks to heal. Briggs also requested a trade at the beginning of the year, so things aren’t going the way the Bears expected they would, especially considering they hosted the NFC Championship Game a year ago.

“When was the last time Brian Urlacher got off a block?”

That was Bengals linebacker Dhani Jones after leaving Urlacher off his list of top 10 linebackers for the NFL Network – a list in which Jones ranked himself No. 7.

Always willing to confront his critics, Urlacher responded with this gem (courtesy of the Chicago Tribune):

“I think we were drafted in the same class, right? … I haven’t heard anything about him since then,” Urlacher told “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on WMVP-AM 1000. “I saw him on a TV show with a bow tie on, though. So I know him better for the way he dresses than what he does on the football field. Look, guys are going to talk. I’ve definitely had a lot worse things said about me publicly from guys, so I can live with it.”

It never ceases to amaze me how much criticism Urlacher has received throughout his career. Does he miss tackles sometimes? Yes, as does Ray Lewis, Clay Matthews, Patrick Willis, DeMarcus Ware and the rest of the top linebackers. Play enough downs in the NFL and you’re going to blow your fair share of assignments. But that doesn’t mean that a player is overrated like some have suggested Urlacher is.

Urlacher’s critics should bone up on the Tampa 2 and what the middle linebacker’s responsibilities are in that defense. Then consider how Urlacher has played 11 seasons, has gone to seven Pro Bowls and was named the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2005. Nick Roach proved in 2009 that not just any linebacker could play the middle in the Tampa 2 and have success. And that’s not a knock on Roach – that’s a testament to how good Urlacher has been throughout his career. (2009 was also the year that the Bears defense fell to No. 16 overall, largely because Urlacher was lost for the season following a Week 1 injury suffered against the Packers.)

Jones and everyone else who think Urlacher is overrated have the right to their opinion. But I have a hard time believing that Jones could play the middle in a Tampa 2 even half as well as Urlacher has.

Here are five quick-hit thoughts about the Packers’ 21-14 win over the Bears in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

1. The Packers’ improbable run continues.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate what the 2010 Green Bay Packers have been able to do. They entered the season as legitimate Super Bowl contenders, only to see their hopes seemingly wash away because of injuries. Needing two wins in the final two weeks just to qualify for the postseason, they crushed the Giants and edged out the Bears to clinch the No. 6 seed in the NFC. Against long odds, the Packers then go on the road and knock off the Eagles, the No. 1-seeded Falcons and the No. 2-seeded Bears to reach the Super Bowl. It’s hard enough to win on the road, nevertheless do so in the postseason when home field advantage is so paramount. The Packers are red-hot and match up well with either the Jets or Steelers.

2. Capers deserves a lot of praise for the play of his defense.
Rex Ryan has earned a lot of attention this postseason for his defensive game plans, but Dom Capers deserves some of the spotlight after what Green Bay did on Sunday. His defense is the main reason the Packers won today – not Aaron Rodgers. The Bears made things interesting in the fourth quarter and the Packers did catch a break when Jay Cutler left the game with a knee injury, but let’s not take anything away from Capers’ game plan. The Bears could do nothing offensively for the first three quarters and their offensive line couldn’t stop Green Bay’s pass rush. Matt Forte had a couple of nice runs and Caleb Hanie made some clutch throws in the fourth quarter but again, domination was on display. The Packers held the Bears to 218 passing yards and 83 rushing, all while forcing three turnovers. On a day when Rodgers wasn’t at his best, the Packers needed a strong defensive effort and that’s exactly what they got.

3. Shields played the game of his young career.
How good was 23-year-old Sam Shields on Sunday? His interception (or semi-interception depending on whether or not you believe he had possession of the ball) right before half stopped Chicago from taking some momentum into the locker room and his second interception sealed the game. He was also a major factor as a blitzer, accounting for one of Green Bay’s two sacks and supplying the pressure on B.J. Raji’s pick-six in the fourth quarter. Kudos must be given to Capers for throwing a new wrinkle at Chicago’s offense by turning Shields into an unexpected X-factor. The undrafted rookie free agent was all over the place on Sunday.

4. This loss doesn’t hang on the Bears’ defense.
There’s not much more Chicago’s defense could have done to win this game. They gave up a touchdown on the first drive but they rebounded nicely after that. Thanks to the offense’s inability to move the ball, Chicago’s defense was constantly in poor field position for most of the first half but it managed to keep the deficit to just 14 points at halftime. Then when the offense showed some life by cutting the score to 14-7 early in the fourth, the Bears’ D once again came up big with a couple of huge stops. In the end, Chicago was done in by its offense but there’s no doubt that its defense came to play. Brian Urlacher was all over the place and for this unit to hold Rodgers to only 244 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after what he did to the Falcons last week was impressive.

5. A truly disastrous day for Cutler and the Bears’ O-line.
There’s nothing that Cutler can do about getting hurt. It’s football – injuries happen. But sorry Cutler supporters: he was awful in the first half. He missed an open Devin Hester early in the game that could have given the Bears a first down and set them up in great field position. He also looked for the Packers’ pass rush instead of anticipating it and he just never looked sure of himself. Give Green Bay’s defense credit for its play, but Cutler had to be better. Of course, it’s not like his offensive line did him many favors. He was constantly under duress and he didn’t have time to survey the field and go through his reads. Even if he was able to finish the game, his O-line wasn’t prepared for the pressure that Green Bay brought. I also thought Mike Martz panicked a little in the second quarter by trying to move the ball through the air instead of staying balanced. Forte was about the only offensive player for Chicago that’s deserving of praise. He and the defense kept the Bears in the game when it looked like all hope was lost in the third quarter. Give Hanie credit for breathing life into Chicago’s offense after Todd Collins’ pathetic performance, but it just wasn’t the Bears’ day offensively.

If Bear fans were presented with this question before the season started, half of them would have probably said that Lovie Smith would have to win the Super Bowl this year and the other half would have given an empathetic: “No.”

If the hated Packers wax the Bears this Sunday at Solider Field, it stands to reason that Chicago fans will return to the same mindset they had before the season and wish Smith the best as he heads out the door. But what if the Bears win? Then what? Even if they lose to the Steelers or Jets in the Super Bowl, Smith would be responsible for taking the Bears to the title game twice in the past five years. Doesn’t he deserve a contract extension because of that?

Smith has one more year left on his current deal and at least one of his players thinks that he deserves an extension (from ESPN.com):

“I believe he has done a great job here. He’s the reason we’ve won,” [Brian] Urlacher said Wednesday on “Mike & Mike In The Morning” on ESPN Radio. “I think he’s been here seven years and this is our second NFC Championship [Game], and it hasn’t been that way around here in a long time. There were a few years where we were 7-9, 8-8 and that was good. People were excited about that because it meant we were getting better.

“Now if we’re not in the playoffs or the NFC championship people are disappointed, and that’s because of him. That’s how he makes people believe around here, and that’s what he expects out of us. I believe in him. I don’t see why he wouldn’t get an extension. He’s earned it, and I don’t want to play for any other coach.”

Urlacher makes a fair point but fans aren’t going to forget how Smith has struggled with game preparation and in-game management over the years. Good coaches put game plans together that take advantage of their opposition’s weaknesses throughout the course of a game. The better ones are not only good game-planners, but they make solid halftime adjustments to win in the second half.

The best head coaches, guys like Bill Belichick, Sean Payton and even Rex Ryan from a defensive standpoint, can make adjustments on the fly. They don’t stray from their game plan, but they can attack opponents series-to-series and strike when the iron’s hot. Whether fans like to admit it, Smith can put together a good game plan more times than not. But he doesn’t always make sound halftime adjustments and he rarely makes in-game adjustments to attack his opponent when they’re not looking.

That said, this doesn’t make Smith a bad head coach. The players believe in him and he treats them like men. They want to play for him and most of the time his teams play hard. He also understands the value of special teams (of course, it helps having players like Devin Hester and Robbie Gould) and his defenses pride themselves on turnovers (even though sometimes it leads to missed tackles, which drives fans nuts). Some fans loathe the Tampa 2, but if it keeps Aaron Rodgers in check this Sunday or better yet helps the Bears win a Super Bowl, then how can anyone complain?

Personally, I wouldn’t give Smith a contract extension regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s game. He was on the hot seat coming into this season and probably would have been fired had the Bears not made the playoffs. His team was rather fortunate to play a 7-9 Seahawks team at home in the opening round, but that doesn’t mean the Bears are lucky to be where they are. I think the remaining year that he has left on his contract is like an extension. He earned the right this season to see what he can do next year.

With the threat of a labor lockout looming, it doesn’t make sense for any team to extend their head coach right now. The Bears should sit tight and if the time is right next year, then they can extend Smith’s contract.

It’s the playoffs, where team matters more than individual players. But there are several key players that hold their team’s hopes in their hands this weekend and we’ve listed eight of them (one for each team) below.

In no particular order…

1. Terrell Suggs, Ravens
The Ravens have been waiting for this guy to return to form and he finally has. Suggs looks hungry, motivated and determined to get the Ravens to a Super Bowl. If Baltimore’s front seven is able to take away Rashard Mendenhall and force the Steelers to be one-dimensional this Saturday, then Suggs needs to get after Ben Roethlisberger. Mike Wallace is a true homerun threat and can score from anywhere on the field, so Suggs and Co. can’t give Big Ben time to throw. Getting pressure on the quarterback is always vital in football, especially in the postseason where one or two plays can decide the outcome of a game.

2. Troy Polamalu, Steelers
I realize this is an obvious one but I don’t care: Polamalu is the key to whether or not the Steelers will be playing in the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks. He’s vital to their defense because when he’s not on the field, it’s a completely different unit. When the Steelers and Ravens met in Pittsburgh late in the season, it was his forced fumble of Joe Flacco that set up Pittsburgh’s offense to score the eventual game-winning touchdown. He’s a playmaker in every sense of the word but he’s also been battling an Achilles/ankle injury so he’s not 100 percent. If he’s able to fly around the field and create havoc like he normally does, then Baltimore will have a tough time moving the ball this weekend.

3. James Starks (Packers)
The football world is now enamored with this young man – and for good reason. The past two games, Starks has given Green Bay something it’s been searching for all year: balance. The Packers have already proven that they can win when Aaron Rodgers has to throw the ball but it’s much tougher on a defense when they can’t sit back in coverage on most downs. In the first meeting between the Packers and Falcons, Atlanta didn’t have to respect the run. But after Starks rushed for 123 yards on 23 carries last weekend against the Eagles, the Falcons may not have the luxury of dropping extra defenders into coverage.

4. Michael Turner (Falcons)
While many people concentrate on the Matt Ryan vs. Aaron Rodgers matchup, the real key to the Falcons’ success this weekend is Turner. The Saints game proved that if Turner can’t get rolling, the Falcons’ offense is vulnerable. If Atlanta can’t put together a few long drives where it grinds out yards, chews up the clock and keeps Rodgers on the sidelines, they could be in trouble. The last thing the Falcons want is a shootout.

5. Raheem Brock, Seahawks
Brock continues to be one of the more underrated defensive linemen in the game. Last week against the Saints, he had four solo tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss and one QB hit. The key to slowing Mike Martz’s offense is to rattle Jay Cutler. As everyone knows, when he’s constantly under duress he will make mistakes. He may take a sack or two at first, but it’s his nature to want to make a play by throwing the ball. A couple of turnovers could be the difference in whether or not the Hawks can pull off another upset. Brock and Chris Clemons need to be active all day and they must get to Cutler to disrupt his rhythm.

6. Brian Urlacher (Bears)
Urlacher is the key to Chicago’s success on most Sundays but he’ll especially be vital this Sunday against a veteran in Matt Hasselbeck who understands what it takes to beat the Tampa 2. Urlacher is by far the most important piece of the Tampa 2 scheme because of the position he plays. The middle linebacker is responsible not only for stopping the run, but for also dropping back into coverage and allowing his safeties to spread out in deep halves, and the outside linebackers to cover underneath. In the Bears’ first meeting with the Seahawks, Hasselbeck threw for 242 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. If he has that kind of success again, Seattle could pull off its second straight upset. He knows how to attack Chicago’s weaknesses, which is why Urlacher needs to play a perfect game so that those around him can be where they need to be and not give Hasselbeck easy passing windows.

7. LaDainian Tomlinson & Shonn Greene (Jets)
The Jets and Falcons have the same mission this weekend: run the ball and keep the opposing offense off the field. For the Jets, that’s where Tomlinson and Greene come in. The pair combined to rush for 152 yards on 35 carries last weekend against the Colts. They wore down Indy’s smallish front seven in the second half and frustrated Peyton Manning by leaving him on the sidelines. The Jets want to limit the times that Tom Brady can burn them and the only way they can do that is by keeping him off the field. They must grind the tempo of the game down and as usual, win an ugly game.

8. Danny Woodhead, Patriots
Woodhead is the ultimate weapon in New England’s offense because he’s so shifty that he often gets lost in the chaos. Then all of a sudden he’s running past you for a five or seven yard gain. Perhaps his biggest attribute is that he can be utilized as a runner or receiver. If the Jets account for him as a running back, then Tom Brady can motion him outside and then he becomes yet another receiving target to beat New York’s 3-4 outside linebacker coverage. If the Jets account for him as a receiver, then Brady can slide him into the backfield and force New York to make adjustments quickly. It’s no wonder why Rex Ryan is kicking himself for letting this lighting rod get away.

Things are getting interesting in the “Windy City.” After Gale Sayers ripped his former team earlier in the month for their poor play last season, current Bear Brian Urlacher discredited Sayers by pointing out that the running back never won in his career.

Now Dick Butkus is getting into the mix.

From the Chicago Tribune:

On Thursday, Butkus responded from his Southern California home, telling the Tribune: “It’s a real reach to say: ‘What did Gale do?’ (Shoot), Urlacher wasn’t even born yet, what does he know?

“I say things to other people, too, about the Bears. It’s total frustration. You think (Sayers) is saying it because he hates the Bears? You get so tired of sitting there watching them.”

“Gale is absolutely right when you talk about a linebacker who has played nine years and he is coming back off an injury,” Butkus said. “There should be some concern whether he can reach his ability again.

“I’ve gone through it. To go nine years and come out with knee injuries … you know your ability is going to be hampered a little bit. (Urlacher) is dead wrong right there. Maybe that’s why he was trying to deflect that part of it by saying: ‘Well, what does he know? He never won.’

“It’s a little defensive move on his part. His pride got hurt.”

Urlacher looks like a child here. He didn’t like what Sayers had to say, so he decided to make this situation into a Sayers-vs-the-Bears thing. It’s not. Sayers was asked about the Bears, he gave his honest opinion and that should have been the end of it. Whether Urlacher, Jay Cutler or Lovie Smith agreed with him or not, there’s nothing for them to say. Urlacher should have viewed the situation as if Sayers was a part of the Chicago media and was just voicing his displeasure with the way the Bears played last season (which, by the way, wasn’t very good).

Butkus is right – Urlacher is being defensive because he was called out and his pride hurts. Instead of proving his mettle on the field, he jumped into a war of words with a former Chicago great, which wasn’t too smart.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
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