Chicago Bears: Coming off of an impressive win against the Philadelphia Eagles in week 12, most of the critics are starting to become believers. I know I am. Notice I said becoming because I am not sold off of one game. Yes it was a solid win against a good NFC team but memories of the Giants game linger in my mind. The final analysis is the team is very up and down. You either have them soaring like they did against the Eagles or they lay at rock bottom being stepped on by the Giants. This is not the inconsistency you want to see from a team that is trying to make a play-off run with a hard upcoming schedule and their rivals just one game back. Two top AFC teams, the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, are going to be in Soldier Field trying to stop the Bears and the next three away games will be against division rivals. It’s going to be a difficult and fun stretch of games to watch but I guarantee the Bears playoff hope will be decided in the last game of the season against the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field.

Chicago Bulls: The Bulls have had an impressive season thus far. Sure their record is 9-6 but they are on top of their division and have been without there biggest off-season signing Carlos Boozer. The injury to Carlos Boozer may have been a blessing in disguise for the Chicago Bulls because the players have grown and improved so much just in these few games. With that said, the return of Boozer is sure to bring nothing but good. This team’s defense is nothing to play around with under Coach Tom Thibodeau’s system. Also, as Boozer gets back, Thibodeau will have an easier time making substitutions with the emergence of Taj Gibson and the impressive play of Luol Deng.

Chicago Blackhawks: The Blackhawks hype has sure died down since winning the Stanley Cup last season. This can be blamed on all the players the organization had to get rid of but is the current general manager and I say not. The past general manager signed contracts with most of last year’s players that were difficult to maintain. On top of the poor contracts bonuses had to be given for not only winning the Stanley Cup but also for the individual awards players won. So even while staying under the salary cap the team is still struggling to pay the bonuses. Although the team has been downsized to nothing but rookies and a few stars they are staying afloat with their record being above .500. Think of the Blackhawks as the Miami HEAT of hockey and as you can tell these kind of teams are not successful.

Chicago Cubs & White Sox: It’s not often these two bitter rivals are grouped together but for this sports update, there’s not much to report on. As the off-season progresses there is sure to be rumors and signing to report on.