Bears challenge: Reverse failure pattern approaching .500

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Twice already this season, the Bears under coach John Fox have been in position to pull even with their win-loss record, no mean feat for a team that began the season spotting the NFL a three-game lead on themselves.

But Fox has alluded to prosperity being as difficult to handle as adversity, and both times with .500 within their grasp, the Bears failed. Both times they were coming off impressive road victories and two-game win streaks only to lose and stumble backwards.

It is not a new problem. The 2013 Bears stood 8-6 and would have reached the playoffs in Marc Trestman’s first season with a win in either of their final two games. They lost both.

[SHOP: Gear up Bears fans!]

Now they find themselves again at the brink of break-even, possibly more, looking longer-term. They stand at 5-6 and approaching a home game with a seemingly woeful San Francisco 49ers team – kind of like they were back more than a month ago, winning at Kansas City and preparing for a Detroit Lions team that stood 0-5, hadn’t scored more than 17 in the last four of those losses, and which then defeated the Bears in overtime.

The Bears had a second shot at .500 after road wins in San Diego and St. Louis, but then lost at home to the Denver Broncos.

“You only get 16 of these things, so obviously it was a big win, one on the road, against a division opponent, our first one, I think,” Fox said. “We kind of knew where we were. We fell behind where we wanted to be in win-loss record so it was kind of a must-win just like this week’ll be.”

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