This is a memo to all Chicago Bears fans:

You may have had a preview of what fate awaits your team last weekend at O’Brien Stadium.

The Bears offense, much like Eastern’s offense did, relies on their defense giving them a short field to work with by forcing turnovers at opportune times.

As much as quarterback Kyle Orton dislikes the term, he is merely managing the victories. He has managed to top 150 yards just one time this season and that was against the lowly Detroit Lions.

Aside from victories against Samford and Tennessee Tech, when sophomore quarterback Mike Donato was a key element statistically, he wasn’t forced to come out and be a world beater because the defense was giving the offense a short field to work with.

Like Orton, Donato has shown some signs of being a good quarterback but not on a consistent basis.

That may be because of the Panthers’ game plan of establishing the run. But when the offense had to make a move and put some points up on Saturday, drives stalled.

The similarities don’t end on the offense.

The Chicago Bears have ridden their defense to an 8-3 record that puts them at the top of the NFC North division. On top of that, they now have a chance to get a first round bye in the postseason.

The Panthers rode their defense to a Division I-AA home playoff game against Southern Illinois.

Against SIU, the Panthers forced just one turnover and committed one. The Panthers couldn’t convert from the Saluki 12-yard line and had to settle for a field goal attempt, which was blocked.

The old saying of “live by the sword, die by the sword” rings especially true when it comes to forcing turnovers.

When you are forcing several turnovers each game, your offense has several chances of converting them into points. This keeps your team rolling, but never allows a team to evaluate how good or bad their offense is.

But if it comes down to a game against a team that takes care of the ball, that is when you can evaluate. But when that chance comes into play in the postseason, it is that much more important because a loss, like the loss to the Salukis last Saturday, finishes the season.

The Panthers should be proud of their accomplishments this season. They ran the table in a conference when they were not expected to make much noise.

The Chicago Bears were also not expected to do much this season. The “experts” picked them to finish last in the NFC North division.

But if the postseason comes along and the Bears play a team that can force turnovers and give the Bears defense a short field to defend, they may follow Eastern and have a one-game postseason that makes everyone wonder whether the defense’s play was covering up a deficiency on offense.