Brian Urlacher is fed up with so-called experts fawning over the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.
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Apparently nobody was listening when the veteran linebacker called this year's Chicago Bears team the best he's seen in 12 seasons.
"It's perfect, and just the way we like it," Urlacher told the Chicago Tribune this week. "If you look at what we did last year before Jay (Cutler) got hurt, we won five in a row. When Jay went down, you saw what happened after that. When we're healthy, I don't see a better team in the NFC North.
"Last year, Green Bay and Detroit were in the playoffs, so they should be talking about them. I don't know if they got any better in the offseason, but I know we got better."
Urlacher, in his excitement, has glossed over two talent-rich rosters in Detroit and Green Bay, but he's correct to call this a three-team race.
For the first time in years, the Bears house legitimate weapons at wide receiver. But it's hard to ignore coach Lovie Smith's painful loyalty to a subpar offensive line. If Cutler isn't kept safe this season, the added talent won't amount to much. Urlacher -- facing the tail-end of a long career -- hopes the parts are in place to prove the pundits wrong.
