Bears hoping they have learned from mistakes

By JOHN MULLIN
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
CHICAGO -- The Bears have had to pick themselves up from disappointment and defeat. How well they have learned their lessons may be the deciding factor Sunday in Super Bowl XLI.
When Rex Grossman left the film room after the second Minnesota game this season, he admitted he had difficulty looking teammates in the eye because he had been beyond a disaster. His passer rating of 1.3 that game bordered on a lifetime low in more ways than one.
General manager Jerry Angelo, a native of Youngstown and a graduate of Chaney High, realized after last season's loss in the NFC semifinals that the Bears had not handled the surprising success of an 11-5 year very well and were not prepared for the Carolina Panthers.
Running back Thomas Jones was the seventh pick of the 2000 draft, but he admits he eventually doubted his career would ever get beyond the failures of the Arizona Cardinals.
Now Grossman, Angelo, Jones and the rest of the Bears are only 60 minutes from a Super Bowl ring.
Being successful is rarely about avoiding problems. It is more often about how one deals with them. The Bears have overcome failure in seasons, games and plays. Had they not, they wouldn't be facing the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl.
Was a Bear in 2004 loss
Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye was a Bear when the Colts and Peyton Manning destroyed Chicago 41-10 in 2004. He was fighting through a dismal season of injuries and unmet expectations that came with him, along with a huge new contract, in a trade from Miami.
"[But a loss like that] builds character," Ogunleye said. "After that loss, coach Lovie [Smith] broke us down and saw this as a championship-caliber team. That's coming to a head right now. Hindsight is 20-20. I'm just happy that I went through all of that."
Grossman was excoriated publicly for what he said was a lack of adequate preparation for the woeful loss to the Green Bay Packers in the regular-season finale. But he was not alone and it was not the first time the Bears as a whole were not fully, adequately prepared for a game.
They decidedly were not ready for the Panthers last season, perhaps having become too full of themselves. But they learned from that disaster in a way that now bodes well for their mind-set going into a Super Bowl off a 13-3 regular season and two playoff victories.
"[Something] I learned from last year was handling success," said Angelo. "We probably didn't do that real well going into that playoff game. ... But we learned something and that was the silver lining in that thing."
Veterans persevered
A number of veterans have been forced to persevere under adverse conditions. Center Olin Kreutz was drafted in 1998, didn't experience a winning season until 2001 and then didn't have another until 2005.
One of his lowest points was in 2002 when linemates James "Big Cat" Williams and Chris Villarrial left and Rex Tucker was hurt.
"That was a hard time," Kreutz said. "But every losing season is a low point. You just learn to keep working and believing."
If you do that, it can pay off.
Against New Orleans last Sunday, the Bears were in control with a 16-0 lead approaching halftime. The Saints then glided down the field for a touchdown in the final minutes of the second quarter and Reggie Bush hit the Bears with an 88-yard touchdown catch-and-run early in the third to send them reeling. They roared back to annihilate the Saints.
Chances for demoralizing plays are a given against Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and the Colts. They outscored the Saints this season and had 31 touchdown passes to the Saints' 27.
Defense's goal
Putting Indianapolis in third-down situations is a goal of the defense. But Manning led the NFL in third-down passing with a rating of 119.1, even better than his overall 101.0.
"We just must not get frustrated when we're out there," middle linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "They're going to make some big plays, we realize that."
The angst over Grossman, the defense and seemingly every area of the Bears at one time or another this season was palpable. Bad losses and performances sent confidence spiraling outside Halas Hall and sometimes shook it inside.
"But I thought the intangibles of this team really kicked in," Angelo said. "You saw that at St. Louis, you saw it at Arizona, in the overtime game against Tampa Bay. We were in some real dogfights. I know a lot of people said, 'Well, who is this team? Is the arrow going up, down, leveling off?'
"Nobody knew for sure, and maybe we didn't, but we felt good about our football team. We never wavered on that. We played well when our backs were to the wall."