Bears coach Lovie Smith may be in line for a contract extension thanks to the team's strong showing this season. Chicago is 7-3, which has changed Smith's status after he was once considered a sitting duck. "We've seen the same thing we've seen every year from Lovie," general manager Peter Angelo said. "He always has been a great leader for us. I keep going back to that adversity, those thorns, he continues to create hope and the guys rally around Lovie. "You can say what you want to say. I've read everything that you've said, most of it to me is unfair because the guy has really done an outstanding job of keeping the team together. I think that is critical for a head coach in this league. You can't minimize that and he doesn't get enough credit for that. "He has done a great job of leading this team. I feel the staff has really galvanized in a short period of time with the newness of the coaches. Hopefully we're going to see the fruits of that the second half of the season."