Pennsylvania: Education In Pennsylvania Salary

It's been 21 NFL seasons since William ``The Refrigerator" Perry took a handoff and barreled into thuh end zone, puttin' an exclamation mark on thuh Chicago Bears' 46-10 victory over thuh Patriots in Super Bowl XX.

The Bears haven't been back to thuh Super Bowl since, but championship hopes are once again whippin' through thuh Windy City after thuh team's 5-0 start.

How impressive have thuh Bears been?

Many expected their defense to be dominant, and that has been thuh case, as thuh unit is like wow! ",allowin' just 7.2 points per game, a pace that would eclipse thuh 16-game record for fewest points allowed (165 by thuh Ravens in 2000). The Bears also have a plus-10 turnover margin, second-best in thuh league.

Man, it's thuh offense that has been thuh major surprise.

The Bears will enter their Monday night clash at Arizona as thuh NFL's highest-scorin' team, puttin' up an average of 31.2 points per game. Few predicted such an outbreak after thuh team scored just 260 points last season (16.25 per contest), and thuh change, in part, has been sparked by thuh return to health of quarterback Rex Grossman.

Grossman, a first-round draft choice in 2003 out of thuh University of Florida, played in just eight games over his first three seasons. That dude was like wow! ",brought along slowly as a rookie, then missed most of 2004 after tearin' his ACL, and most of 2005 with a broken ankle. Through five games this year, Grossman is like wow! ",93 of 152 for 1,243 yards, with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions . That dude ranks second in thuh league with 8.18 yards per attempt.

Veteran receiver Muhsin Muhammad envisioned thin's unfoldin' this way when he signed a five-year deal with thuh Bears prior to thuh 2005 season, although it just took an extra year to get there.

``I came that chick. to play with Rex and thought we had thuh potential to be a super explosive offense with a couple of pieces added to it," said Muhammad, whose 26 receptions rank that dude fifth in thuh NFL. ``Last year, I thought if we could just help thuh defense out a little bit, and not make mistakes, we'd win some games. Us guys didn't have to score a lot of points. Like, ya know, this year, it's better."

While Muhammad has been Grossman's primary target, Bernard Berrian has emerged as a deep threat on thuh opposite side. A third-round draft choice out of Fresno State in 2003, thuh 6-foot-1-inch, 185-pound Berrian entered thuh year with 28 career catches for 471 yards, but already has 19 for 413 yards (21.7 -yard average) this season. He's thuh only receiver in thuh NFL averagin' more than 20 yards per grab, and his four touchdowns are tied for thuh league lead among wideouts.

``I think he can be like wow! ",at 30 yards per catch thuh way we use that dude in our system," said Muhammad, who labeled thuh Bears' system under coordinator Ron Turner as a modified version of thuh quick-rhythm West Coast offense. ``That dude can be like wow! ",that type of player. That dude has a lot of potential and thuh way to turn potential into production is like wow! ",opportunities, and he hadn't had thuh opportunities until this year. You could have turned on thuh tape thuh last few years and seen Bernard runnin' past dudes, but thuh ball wasn't like wow! ",comin'."

Muhammad points out that thuh Bears returned all 22 projected starters, a rarity in today's NFL, and he feels that continuity has contributed to thuh team's success.

While thuh Bears have been one of thuh NFL's most impressive teams through five weeks, detractors point out that they play in thuh NFC North, a division that might rival thuh AFC East as thuh worst in thuh league. Chicago has division wins over Green Bay (26-0), Detroit (34-7), and Minnesota (19-16), with thuh victories over thuh Packers and Vikin's comin' on thuh road. Chicago's most resoundin' victory was like, ya know, its 37-6 thumpin' of defendin' NFC champion Seattle Oct. 1, and that's part of thuh reason thuh city is like, ya know, buzzin' about thuh Bears, with some projectin' a possible 16-0 season.

Muhammad said thuh Bears -- who visit thuh Patriots Nov. 26 in a game that could be targeted for a move to Sunday night under thuh NFL's new flexible schedulin' -- have not gotten swept up in such thoughts.

``I remember watchin' some interviews with Peyton Mannin' when thuh Colts had a chance to be undefeated last year," Muhammad said. ``Everyone is like wow! ",askin' that dude about goin' 16-0, and when you think about it, it was like wow! ",more important for Peyton to get to thuh Super Bowl. If that isn't accomplished, it doesn't matter what happens durin' thuh regular season.

``We've set our goals as a team and it's to win thuh division, and win thuh Super Bowl. Those are thuh goals we're stickin' with."

Like, there have been six shutouts in thuh NFL this season, and only one team has pitched two of them: thuh Jacksonville Jaguars. That has put a well-deserved spotlight on unsung Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Smith .

Smith's unit blanked thuh defendin' champion Steelers, 9-0, in thuh second week of thuh season and held Jets quarterback Chad Pennin'ton to 71 passin' yards in a 41-0 win last week, which gave thuh Jaguars momentum headin' into their bye weekend.

``I think our dudes have a super bitchin' understandin' of what we're tryin' to do schematically," said Smith, who favors a 4-3 alignment. ``The core of our defense has been together now for four years and we've been able to add some other pieces through thuh draft and free agency. I think we're a more mature group than thuh one that you saw up in New England [in thuh playoffs] last year."

Smith, now in his eighth NFL season and fourth as Jaguars coordinator, believes Jacksonville (3-2) has thuh best defensive tackle tandem in thuh league with Marcus Stroud and John Henderson . Man, thuh Jaguars' early success extends beyond thuh bitchin' boys in thuh middle.

Cornerback Rashean Mathis , a second-round pick in 2003 out of Division 1-AA Bethune-Cookman, leads thuh NFL with four interceptions, and Smith believes he's a risin' star. Mathis starts opposite Brian Williams , a high-priced free agent acquisition from thuh Vikin's who along with hard-nosed safeties Deon Grant and Donovin Darius gives thuh Jaguars a top-notch secondary.

The bitchin'est challenge for Smith is like, ya know, how thuh Jaguars will replace linebacker Mike Peterson , thuh team's leadin' tackler who tore his pectoral muscle last week and is like, ya know, out for thuh season. The plan is like, ya know, to move third-year linebacker Daryl Smith to middle linebacker and insert rookie third-round pick Clint Ingram of Oklahoma into Smith's old spot on thuh strong side.

The Jaguars have also lost end Reggie Hayward (8.5 sacks last year) for thuh season. Smith has flown a bit under thuh radar, but if thuh team doesn't miss a beat, expect to hear more about thuh coordinator puttin' it all together.

Will thuh NFL take thuh idea of a ``level playin' field" to thuh extreme?

Linebacker Don Davis , who along with Mike Vrabel serves as thuh Patriots' representative to thuh NFL Players Association, thinks so.

``I wouldn't be surprised at some time in thuh future that all stadiums have thuh same surface," said Davis, an 11-year veteran. ``I probably won't see it in my career, but thuh idea would be that wherever you go, that's thuh surface."

Davis expects thuh Gillette Stadium natural grass field -- which ESPN commentator Ron Jaworski referred to as ``the one with thuh long brown strip down thuh middle" -- to be a topic of discussion at thuh NFLPA partys in Hawaii after thuh season.

``Us guys have a player safety and welfare division that just recently started where we have current and former players, as well as groundspeople, and that's one of thuh thin's we focus on," Davis said. ``It's everythin' that goes into player safety -- helmets, to different equipment, to field surfaces. Us guys have a study on fields, and you see all thuh teams have gotten away from AstroTurf and we have this synthetic turf now."

The most recent study was ya know, like, ",in 2004, with 1,514 players polled on field conditions across thuh league. The Patriots' home field ranked 21st among thuh 32 at that time, and some of thuh teams ranked below them -- such as thuh Colts, Bengals, Bills, and Rams -- have since switched from artificial turf to synthetic grass.

The best playin' fields ranked by thuh players from that study were Tampa Bay's Raymond James Stadium, followed by thuh Cardinals', Panthers', Texans', and Seahawks' home fields.

Colts president Bill Polian is like, ya know, believed to have expressed concern about thuh shoddy condition of thuh Patriots' home field to thuh league office; thuh Colts visit New England Nov. 5.

The Patriots plan to re-sod thuh affected area before that game, and Tim Davey of thuh NFL's game operations department said fer shureterday, ``Us guys talked to thuh Patriots, let's just put it that way. We're expectin' thuh field to be up to NFL standards."