Bears next test?  Texans WR Andre Johnson and company. This will be a good test for the secondary. (US Presswire)

The strutting and chest thumping is over for the Chicago Bears, even as they still celebrated 51 points against yet another hapless opponent.

Beating Tennessee 51-20 to wrap up the first half of the season at 7-1 served to underscore the weak schedule they faced in the first half as well as the strong schedule they face in the second half.

Of course, coach Lovie Smith doesn't look at it that way.

"We don't look at it like that at all," he said Monday at Halas Hall. "It doesn't really matter about the group before or after, you just look at each opponent as they come in.

"And it's really as simple as that on what the record (is). We played a Carolina team with a bad record (1-6 at the time). It's just about your play each week, trying to improve, looking at one play at a time. And that's what we're doing. We're looking at one play at a time."

The Bears' first-half opponents were 27-39 and only two had winning records. In the second half, only Arizona (4-5) has a losing record and their opponents' combined record is 42-27.
The Houston Texans come in Sunday night in what will be billed as a potential Super Bowl matchup. Yet, the Bears in their only other game against a team being mentioned as a possible Super Bowl team lost badly 23-10 at Green Bay. And it came against a Green Bay team using a 3-4 defense like Houston uses.

"I know we have the Texans next," Smith said. "And I have an idea of some of the other teams we have coming up, but I think this team, we have enough veterans in the room to stay focused. They know how we do things. They're not looking too far -- one play at a time."

Because the media can look ahead, the schedules shows a road game immediately following on a Monday night in San Francisco, where the Bears traditionally play horrendous games.
The second half has four divisional games, including two with Minnesota, and one with Green Bay at Soldier Field. Seattle also is on the schedule.

Smith acknowledged the Texans' status among the elite. They are also 2-0 against the Bears since Smith became coach. In 2008 they denied the Bears a playoff berth by beating them in Houston in the season-finale. In 2004, they drubbed the Bears at Soldier Field in arctic conditions.

“You talk about that balance, they have a special wide receiver, Andre Johnson," Smith said. "They have a well-paid quarterback who’s a very good player, makes all the right decisions. Passing-game-wise they have a good tight end. Their offensive line does a great job. They get off the bus running the football. They have that balance that we talk about."

Defensively, Smith noted the presence of former Bears safety Danieal Manning, the team's first pick of the 2006 draft who was allowed to leave in 2011 free agency.

"J.J. Watt, they’re talking about him like Charles Tillman, as the defensive player of the year," Smith said. "They have a lot of stars. At this point of the year, for you to have a 7-1 record, you’re a pretty good football team."

Nickel for your thoughts: Smith refused to get detailed about why he used Kelvin Hayden at nickel back in some situations instead of D.J. Moore. The Bears switched the two off Sunday.

"If we have a player that we think we can win with and after we play them they make some plays for us, we’re going to play them," Smith said.

"Defensive line, we have four starters but a lot of guys play. We try to keep that approach with a lot of positions, especially defensively you can do that. D.J. Moore and Kelvin Hayden both have certain skills that we think will benefit our team if both of them play. The last few weeks, that is how we’ve seen it. It may be a little bit different this week."

What skills are different between the two? 

He said he didn't want to elaborate."

Garbage run: Smith sounded bitter about the 80-yard run by Chris Johnson given up by a Bears defense made up almost entirely of backups in the fourth quarter with the game decided. "You still don’t want to let a guy have an 80-yard run or whatever that play was at the end of the game. But we can’t complain an awful lot," he said. The run dropped the Bears defense from No. 1 in the NFL against the run to No. 6.

Injury update: The knee injury suffered by Israel Idonije and the back pain Henry Melton had are not considered serious and Smith isn't worried they'll miss the game. Both returned to play after their injuries Sunday. ... WR Alshon Jeffery has not yet been cleared for play after suffering a fractured hand in the Jacksonville game Oct. 7. At the time, it was reported he'd be out four to six weeks.

Follow Bears reporter Gene Chamberlain on Twitter @CBSBears.