[TomWilkinson]

It has been four years, but the Chicago Bears still remember. The Bears had a first round by and a home game after winning their division four years ago, but lost to Philadelphia 33-19.

"I didn't like how we ended the '01 season," general manager Jerry Angelo said Thursday. "It made us look weak. I've got that taste in my mouth, still."

"We just didn't look like we were ready to play," Angelo said. "We didn't play well, and we got beat in our backyard. We got our butts kicked. That leaves everybody with a bad taste. You can't have that happen in your backyard."

The Bears collapsed after that playoff appearance going 4-12, 7-9 and 5-11 last season, Lovie Smith's first as head coach.

This year’s Bears won eight straight and 10 of their final 12. They finished 11-5 and won the NFC North.
"It's the next step on the rung," Angelo said about a possible playoff victory. "It's an important one. We're real excited about being in a position to do it, but we've got to go out there and take it."

A lot of my critics were very hard about not having a veteran quarterback in here, but we felt good about Kyle and what we saw in the preseason," Angelo said. "It was very gratifying to see him come in, show the maturity that he did. He played with a lot of moxie. It was a good story.

"Then having Rex come back alive again — it's not like Lazarus," Angelo continued. "We felt like he was going to be OK."

Will the Bears be able to get rid of that sour feeling that has lasted four years? We will know soon enough.