Over the last three games there has been a different looking Bears team taking the field. The offense is running a more balanced attack, and the defense is shutting down the opposition. But don’t expect this defensive unit to gain any confidence from these last few games, they’ve had that all year.

“Confidence has never really been something that this defensive group lacked,” Brad Biggs said on the Mully and Hanley Show. “What I don’t get is these comparisons to 2006. Some people have been trying to make these, and I don’t really see that. For starters, they didn’t have a player on the 2006 defense that was anything like Julius Peppers, that’s number one.

LISTEN: Brad Biggs On The Mully And Hanley Show

“And number two, that was a young defense. They were young across the board. The five starters, who started last night and also started at that same stadium in Super Bowl XLI, they were young guys back then and they’re not so young guys right now. They’re more experienced guys, maybe they’re more savvy.”

A strong defense and a balanced running attack is Lovie Smith’s ideal formula for winning. Earlier in the season it seemed as if Mike Martz’s offense wasn’t fitting into the formula, and that might have changed over the last three games.

“It seems like Martz has bought into [the formula] and Lovie certainly is a fan of the formula, he’s seen it work for him in the past,” Biggs said. “[The Bears] are a half game out of first place in the entire NFC right now. And they’re positioning themselves very well. Yeah the schedule gets a little tougher [for the rest of the season], but they way they’re playing right now they could beat anyone.”