The Sun-Times published its obligatory football preview this morning. Telander and Mariotti had their columns next to each other and two things struck me: 1) Essentially they wrote the same column. 2) They went about it very differently. I'm not blaming either of them for having similar columns. Anything previewing this Bears season says basically the same thing: They should probably win the division and anything beyond that depends on whether the offense (Grossman) can be at least adequate. Telendar's headline: This could be the year if Rex can be the guy Mariotti's: Playoffs, yes; Super Bowl, there's no way Basically they go through and make a lot of the same points about the outlook for this Bears season, but Telandar gives Grossman and the Bears at least a puncher's chance, which is basically how I feel. It's not that I even disagree with some of Jay's points. Like him, I can't figure out how the Bears did absolutely nothing to upgrade the WR/TE position this offseason, and I know there have to be lingering concerns about Rex, who is still a largely unknown talent. Still, they made the playoffs last year with essentially zero offense. Whether it's Grossman, Griese or even a second-year Orton if injuries really strike, shouldn't the offense still improve some? Everyone is in his second year in Ron Turner's system, which should help. And the quarterback play, no matter who it is, ought to be better. Just remember: The Ravens won a Super Bowl with a quarterback tandem of Tony Banks and Trent Dilfer. Anything can happen these days in the NFL. Sure, it's more than likely the Bears won't take the whole thing. Which is precisely Jay swoops in like some kind of swami to boldly decree it, then gloat afterwards. It's like he's out there to cripple every ounce of offseason optimism and goodwill in Chicagoland. To borrow from yesterday's Christmas metaphor: If opening day is Christmas, Mariotti is the Grinch. Whether that makes me Cindy Loo-Hoo I don't know, but I'm not qoing to let him steal my presents. OK, enough holiday analogies. I'm just glad football is back.