Win or Go Home: Bears will fight for life against Texans.

With one more game in the regular season, the Chicago Bears (9-6) hope to add another win to their three-game winning streak when they visit the Houston Texans. A win, along with a Minnesota Vikings lose, will make Chicago the NFC North champion. But if the Vikings win this week, the Bears will need to win and have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys to lose in order to capture the final wildcard spot.

Though not at the top of his game because of a nagging ankle injury sustained midseason, Kyle Orton, as well as the rest of the Bears, will have to play mistake-free ball from start to finish. In doing so, rookie Matt Forte, the team’s most productive player, will have to be a major part in the game plan. Devin Hester, who seems to be the Bears’ best wideout this season, will have to continue on his improvement as a receiver while going up against Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson, while Greg Olson will have to come up big on third-down conversions and in the red zone. At the line of scrimmage, the offensive line will have to find a way to contain the AFC’s third leading sack-artist in Mario Williams (12).

The defense took a big blow last week when veteran safety Mike Brown re-aggravated a calf injury, which has put him out for the rest of the season. Third-year safety Danieal Manning, who has been spectacular on special teams as a kick returner, will fill in the void a free safety. Lovie Smith can only be optimistic that this change in the secondary won’t be exploited by the NFL’s leading receiver Andre Johnson. Up front, the Bears will have to keep a close eye on rookie Steve Slaton, who is one of the top rushers in the league, as well as continue to be more consistent at getting to the quarterback.

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All of the last-minute victories and close defeats come down to this do-or-die game. Unfortunately, the Chicago Bears don’t have total control of their destiny. They can only control the game that they are playing in. With that being the case, looking at the Bears’ previous 15 games, many can say that this may be a microcosm of their entire season. The question is will Chicago win from some miraculous act, or will they once again self-destruct after a good start?

By Clyde A. Speller
ProFootball-fans.com Chicago Bears Correspondent