The Bears are flawed, and quite deeply in certain areas. Their offense is ranked 29th and no team has allowed more sacks than they have (37). They're also 7-3, alone in first place in the NFC North — for at least another couple of days until the Packers play the Vikings — and probably three or four wins from locking up a spot in the playoffs.

Smith is presumed to be more involved on defense than any other area of the team, and it's ranked first in the league in points allowed per game (14.6). The "D" was dominant Thursday night, shutting out the Dolphins in their own stadium, so job security shouldn't be much of a concern for Smith.

He has had his players better prepared than one head coach fighting to save his job (Brad Childress) and another that was trying hard to keep his team in the playoff picture (Tony Sparano) in the past two weeks. The Bears have won three in a row since their bye and Smith has them in a good position heading into the final six games.