Well, a few things: it was one game. Lovie Smith’s teams are usually pretty competitive. He’s the NFC’s second-winningest head coach since 2005. The season isn’t even halfway over yet.

David Haugh, the voice of reason in a city full of knee-jerk reactions, continues in this morning’s Tribune:

If Smith handles this historic embarrassment correctly, it could be starting over again Sunday against the Browns. Catastrophes happen every week in the NFL. The trick is to isolate the damage, and an agreeable schedule makes that possible for the Bears.

The Bears are 3-3 with five of their next seven games — and six of their remaining 10 — at home. Removing emotion from the equation, getting blown out in Cincinnati did more damage to the Bears’ pride than their postseason chances in a parity-ridden NFC.

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Put Smith on notice in 2010 if the Bears miss the playoffs again this year. But he has earned the right to figure out how to save the rest of this season without hearing fantasies about a Jay Cutler-Mike Shanahan reunion.

All great points. But I think part of the reason there was such an outcry after Sunday’s embarrassment is because there were expectations for this team. Maybe not Super Bowl expectations. And maybe not even NFC North title expectations. But there are certainly playoff aspirations for this team, and back-to-back losses, the latter of which was the worst loss of Lovie’s tenure which now puts the Bears at .500, well, people are going to start to look at what’s going on with this team, and some are going to point the finger directly at Lovie. This is what happens when teams get outworked and they under-perform.

This team has been up and down, which equals out to an average 3-3 record. If they can rally in the wealth of home games they have ahead, talk of Lovie’s job security may soon be forgotten. If not? Well, expect the criticism to grow.