A veteran of the Chicago beat reporting scene, David Schuster regularly writes about the sights and sounds of Chicago sports from the press box for MOUTHPIECE Blog.

As I moved around from one player to another in the Bears’s locker room the last few days, I got the strange sensation that these guys not only think they’re going to beat the Colts on Sunday night, but that they’re a playoff team this season, too.

Don’t they read newspapers, the football publications or listen to sports talk radio? If they did, they would believe they are destined for a 6-10 season … or worse.

Doesn’t this team know they have a rebuilt offensive line with injuries? Don’t they know their starting quarterback isn’t even on anyone’s top 30 list for fantasy quarterbacks? (My lord, Kyle Orton is listed under some teams’ backup quarterbacks.) How about a half dozen wide receivers who are less well known than Sarah Palin was just two weeks ago?

No matter: I  still kept getting nothing but positive vibes and answers from players. Now I could forgive running back Matt Forte for his naivety because, after all, he’s just a rookie and doesn’t know any better. But come on, Olin Kreutz is a grizzled veteran and he should know that this team is headed for the basement perch in the not-so-tough NFC North. And so should Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman and Desmond Clark. They should all know, but you couldn’t tell it from their body language or remarks.

And then you get to Ron Turner.

Heck, he should know about bad teams. Wasn’t he the head coach at Illinois before rejoining the Bears? But even with the deck stacked against his offensive, the Bear’s coordinator firmly believes his team will score points in bunches. He personally told me that everyone is underestimating his offense. Well, count me as part of that group.

But could we all be wrong about this team on the eve of the season? Could Lovie Smith or Jerry Angelo be getting ready to say, “I told you so?”

I would like to think so. But I doubt it.