The Chicago Bears are one of the NFL's most storied franchises. They were founded by George Halas in 1920. They play in the NFC North division, along with the Minnesota Vikings, the Green Bay Packers, and the Detroit Lions. They have won nine league titles during their history, the latest coming in the 1985-86 season.

The Bears finished outside of the playoffs in 2009-10, ending the season with a 7-9 record despite closing the year with two straight wins. They finished the year with the 23rd ranked offense and the 17th best defense in the NFL. This marks the third straight season that they have finished outside the playoffs, which has led to some calls for the dismissal of Lovie Smith, the team's head coach. http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/da-bears-blog/2009/11/fire-lovie-smith-tomorrow.html Smith was not firedhttp://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=4797298, in part because coaching was not deemed as much of a factor as injuries to the defense -- star linebacker Brian Urlacher was lost for the yearhttp://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=4472175 and erratic quarterback play from new arrival Jay Cutler.

The Chicago Bears started competing in 1920 in the American Professional Football Association (which later became the NFL), under the name of the Decatur Staleys.http://www.chicagobears.com/tradition/historybydecades.asp The team began calling itself the Chicago Bears in 1922. They form half of the oldest rivalry in the NFL, with the Green Bay Packers, against whom they have faced off almost 180 times.

Because of the city's climate, the Bears are known as a tough, cold-weather team. The squad's nickname -- the Monsters of the Midway -- evokes images of a tough, ball-control, defense-oriented team, which is been an apt description for the Bears in their best moments.

The Bears have won a single Super Bowl (in 1986) and eight NFL Championships. The team is famous for a pair of title-game blowouts: the 73-0 destruction of the Washington Redskins in 1940 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=article&id=57291, and the 46-10 defeat of the New England Patriots in the 1986 Super Bowl. Since the Super Bowl win, the Bears have advanced to the playoffs nine times, returning to the Super Bowl just once; they lost to the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI, in 2007.

Although the Bears have not had good luck in recent playoffs, the team has a long list of great players throughout its history. With Red Grange, the Bears had the NFL's first superstar in the 1920s. With Dick Butkus in the 1960s and Mike Singletary in the '80s and '90s, it had two of the best middle linebackers in the league's history. Gayle Sayers and Walter Payton are among the best running back's ever to play in the NFL.

• 2009-10—Missed playoffs

• 2006-07—Lost Super Bowl to the Indianapolis Colts

• 2005-06—Lost in Divisional Playoffs to the Carolina Panthers

• 2001-02—Lost in Divisional Playoffs to Philadelphia Eagles

• 1994-95—Lost in the Divisional Playoffs to the San Francisco 49ers

• 1991-92—Lost in the Wild Card to the Dallas Cowboys

• 1990-91—Lost in the Divisional Playoffs to the New York Giants

• 1985-86—Won Super Bowl against New England Patriots