Bears' confidence is contagious

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The mood at Halas Hall has been upgraded from questionable to actively optimistic.

That's good. I'mnfl jerseys tired of the negativity that surrounds this place, even if I'm responsible for slinging some of it.

I'm a generally optimistic guy, and I like the subtle shifting to a happy Halas Hall because the "us against the world" mentality fosteredWashington Redskins Jersey by Lovie Smith is so tired.

I'm glad we're past it for a week, at least.

In a wildly casual Thursday news conference, Brian Urlacher spoke in complete sentences with multiple syllables. He cracked jokes, provided insight and played the part of NFL legend. I wish we saw this Urlacher more. He's got a lot to offer off the field.

Both Urlacher and the alwaysAtlanta Falcons Jersey funny Lance Briggs, the veteran voices of the team, talked about confidence, guarantees and the goals they've set for the last month, maybe two, of the season.

And yes, we're talking aboutCincinnati Bengals Jersey playing until February. Why shouldn't we?

The Bears are 8-3 heading into the Lions' den. By Sunday midafternoon, Jay Cutler will officially have his first winning season since high school and the Bears will be one game closer to a return to the playoffs. Times are good again.

Finally.

Because there isn't much drama to this week's matchup, aside from revisiting the bizarre rule that gave the Bears a Week 1 victory, we got into talking about Lions receiver Nate Burleson's pseudo-guarantee of a victory.

"And you've got to remember," Briggs said, bringing up the subject less than two minutes into his talk. "They did guarantee a win, too. SoBuffalo Bills Jersey they've got a lot of pressure there."

Burleson really just said his goal is for the Lions, at 2-9, to win out, but it's all the same when it's tacked up in the linebackers' meeting room.

"It's good," Briggs said. "It should fire them up. I know it definitely fires us up. We've got it pinned up everywhere in our meeting rooms."

That took Briggs back to an innocent time when he didn't know any better.

"I've been tricked into guaranteeing a win, a long time ago," he said. "I won't be tricked again. But we got beat 45-12 or something like that [against] Peyton Manning."

Urlacher remembered thatPro Bowl Jerseys one, too. It was actually a 41-10 loss in 2004.

"I think Lance did that a couple years ago, didn't he?" Urlacher said. "Against the Colts. That was a good game."

So Urlacher won't guarantee a Bears victory over Detroit?

"I think we're going to win, but I'm not going to guarantee it," he said.

I'll help you out, Brian. I guarantee the Bears win this weekend. I picked 27-10 on the Bears Center, but I was being modest. If the Bears lose, I'll donate a week's paycheck to Briggs' comic book charity. If they win, I'll just donate old comic books.