Chicago Bulls general manager John Paxson didn’t travel with the team Tuesday to New Jersey, where the Bulls open the season tonight against the Nets.

Paxson was busy at home, apparently working on trade negotiations with the Los Angeles Lakers for Kobe Bryant. But those talks seemed to have lost some intensity. Los Angeles Lakers vice president Magic Johnson said the deal isn’t going to happen.

”A deal can’t get done because they won’t include [Luol] Deng,” Johnson said Tuesday on TNT. ”And without Deng, a deal can’t get done.”

Go into a mall, stop a shopper and ask if he or she thinks Kobe Bryant ought to be a Bull.

Is Kobe the best active player in basketball? Yes, he is.

Is Kobe the best player since Michael Jordan? Yes, he probably

Is Kobe as good as Jordan was? No, he is not. Michael could play defense.

Is Kobe as popular as Jordan was? No way. Pop into a Foot Locker at that mall and try to buy a pair of Air Bryant shoes.

I bring up the Bulls because, as you may know, Kobe and his boss, Jerry Buss, could be looking for a way to get the glitziest Laker out of L.A.

I bring up the mall because Kobe was at a California mall in June when he extemporaneously mentioned the Bulls in a positive way and Buss in a negative one.

A brief give-and-take between a few shoppers and Bryant reportedly went like so, according to a camera that captured it:

“Please tell us you’re staying.”

Kobe: “Get a Bulls uniform, fellas.”

“Are you serious?”

Kobe: “Yep.”

“Really?”

Kobe: “Yep.”

“Kobe, you’ve got to stay!”

Kobe: “Dr. Buss is an idiot.”

It was back in May that the fur first began to fly. Kobe said on Stephen A. Smith’s radio show: “I would like to be traded, yeah. Tough as it is to come to that conclusion, there’s no other alternative, you know?”

Then he clarified on kb24.com, his Web site: “I have NOT asked to be traded. I don’t want to be traded and I have given no ultimatums or demands of being traded.”

He and Buss got together in Spain a few weeks later to hash it out. Buss did not say adios.

No idiot, the boss urged Bryant to stay in L.A. because “to leave 10 million sweethearts for unknown territory might not be the right thing to do.”

Ah, but it was Buss who let Shaquille O’Neal leave for the unknown territory of Miami, where he won another championship.

It is now mid-October but things in California are no cooler. Buss now says he “would certainly listen” to a trade offer. Bryant claimed this “caught me off guard a little bit.”

Bryant began skipping practice. One day, then two, then a third. A rumor spread that he cleaned out his locker. Coach Phil Jackson said, well, yes and no. He cleaned up his locker, yes. But not out.

Intercepted near his Bentley in the parking lot, Bryant was asked point-blank: “Do you think you’ve played your last game as a Laker?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. Talk to my bosses, he advised.

At kb24.com, there wasn’t much in the way of news Wednesday. A few words of wisdom from former Gen. Colin Powell were there that Bryant said he distributed to every teammate’s locker.

There also were e-mails from No. 24’s fans. Sent months ago, but still on his site:

“Freshen things up a little, go to Philly or Chi-town, or rock the Big Apple.”

“If indeed you are heading to Chi-town, I will be right behind you.”

Encouraging words from Kobe’s fans, many encouraging Kobe to leave.

A number of NBA insiders believe the Dallas Mavericks actually would be Kobe’s first choice if he left. But rarely does this subject come up without Chicago being in the mix.

Buss is saying for the first time he would listen to offers.

He is saying specifically: “I could not afford to let him go unless we get comparable talent … if there is such a thing.”

Ask yourself if there is an offer the Bulls could make. Ask yourself what it would take.

Is Kobe worth sacrificing any two players plus a draft pick or two? Yes, he is.

Is Kobe good enough to bring Chicago another championship? Yes, probably.

Is Kobe too expensive? No, he is not. Ben Wallace cost the Bulls a mint but brought them no closer to a championship.

Shoppers, there is a blue-light special on the best player in basketball.

Find out how much L.A. wants for him. I very much doubt Jerry Buss is an idiot, but it would be idiotic not to give him a call. Ask the asking price for No. 24. Take a shot.

He may be no Michael Jordan, but a Kobe Bryant does not come along every day.

Get him into a Bulls uniform, fellas.

Surprised? Yes, Roy Williams was surprised.

He was surprised to find out the Detroit Lions are 5-2 for the first time since 2000, not that they beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

“2000? Two thousand years?” Williams asked.

Either way, it’s been a long time.

Jon Kitna passed for 268 yards, Kevin Jones ran for 105 yards and a touchdown, and the Lions again showed they’re serious contenders in the NFC with a 16-7 victory over the Bears on Sunday.

With the strong start, Detroit is making a bid for its first playoff appearance since 1999. The Lions have endured six straight seasons with at least 10 losses and won just three games last year, coach Rod Marinelli’s first. But things are different now.

“This is uncharted territory for us,” center Dominic Raiola said. “I think Rod is going to keep us in there, keep us knowing that next week’s game (against Denver) is even bigger. We know what it means. … We need to keep it in perspective and got to keep that mind-set that every week is a big game.”

Four weeks earlier, the Lions scored an NFL-record 34 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Bears 37-27 in Detroit.

This time, they didn’t need the dramatics.

They got two field goals by Jason Hanson along with a 4-yard touchdown run by Jones in the second quarter to take a 13-0 halftime lead and hung on from there.

Jones, making his second straight start after injuring his foot last December, was effective and Kitna was efficient, completing 24-of-35 without an interception. Roy Williams caught eight passes for 77 yards, and Shaun McDonald added six catches for 64 yards.

Greg Olsen’s 20-yard touchdown catch with 5:26 left in the third quarter pulled the Bears within 13-7, but it was a dreary day for a team that was hoping to go into the bye with a .500 record. Instead, the defending NFC champions are 3-5 and reeling.

AP - Oct 28, 6:43 pm EDT More Photos

Brian Griese was unable to carry over the magic he used to orchestrate a game-winning 97-yard touchdown drive at Philadelphia the previous week, and the running game was a rumor again.

Griese threw four interceptions and got picked off three times in the end zone.

The Bears were threatening to pull within 16-14 when Gerald Alexander intercepted a pass intended for Mark Bradley midway through the fourth.

Blame for this loss goes beyond Griese, who was 22-of-40 for 208 yards.

Cedric Benson had another rough afternoon. He finished with 50 yards on 13 carries, 10 of those attempts coming in the first half. He dropped a pass on the game’s first play, and things did not improve for him or the Bears.

Safety Adam Archuleta didn’t help matters when he bumped Williams on a deep pass down the right side, a 47-yard penalty that moved the Lions to the 28. That set up a 26-yard field goal by Hanson on the first play of the second quarter.

Things continued to get worse for Chicago when Griese attempted to hit Mark Bradley in double coverage in the end zone. A leaping Kenoy Kennedy made the interception, and the Lions again made the Bears pay.

Jones ran it in from the 4, plowing over Lance Briggs, to make it 10-0 and cap a 93-yard drive.

“We didn’t even know if we were going to have him at all this year,” Kitna said. “And to have him playing at the high level that he is playing at is great for us.”

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel doesn’t sound like someone about to head into his team’s version of the Bermuda Triangle.

The top-ranked Buckeyes have won at Penn State just once in their past five attempts, with the lone victory coming by a one-point margin in 2003. Ohio State’s last regular-season loss came two years ago during its most recent visit to Happy Valley.

So you’d think Tressel would look forward to Saturday’s game at Penn State about as much as a kid with a sweet tooth savors trips to the dentist’s office. He instead makes the experience sound almost as enjoyable as a visit to Disney World.

“The thing I think you have to do is have great focus, but have fun,” Tressel said. “Playing in that type of environment is a fun thing and, again, that’s why playing in this league is so much fun.”

It would be a lot more fun if Ohio State (8-0 overall, 4-0 in the Big Ten) manages to return home undefeated. That’s easier said than done.

Penn State (6-2, 3-2) has won 19 of its past 20 games at Beaver Stadium, though it’s worth noting that the Nittany Lions own a modest 6-5 overall record in home night games. One of Penn State’s most memorable home night games came in 2005, when the 16th-ranked Nittany Lions edged No. 6 Ohio State 17-10 on their way to winning the Big Ten title. Ohio State has won a school-record 26 consecutive regular-season games since that night.

“That was the loudest crowd I have ever been around and the most energized I’ve been going into it,” Penn State linebacker Dan Connor said.

The Buckeyes are expecting a similar atmosphere Saturday. Reading lips could become just as important as reading defenses.

“You’re almost going to have to see what the quarterback is saying in the huddle as opposed to hearing it,” Tressel said, “and certainly at the snap you have to see the ball because you’re not going to hear the snap count.”

That puts plenty of pressure on Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman, a first-year starter who already has performed in hostile environments. He threw two touchdown passes with no interceptions as Ohio State rallied in the second half for a 33-14 victory at Washington, which traditionally has one of the loudest home crowds on the West Coast. Boeckman also threw for 200 yards and two touchdown passes in a 23-7 victory at night over a previously unbeaten Purdue team, though he also threw three interceptions in that game.

He has benefited from the presence of sophomore tailback Chris Wells, who rushed for a career-high 221 yards in last week’s 24-17 victory over Michigan State.

While it will be interesting to see how Boeckman fares in such a hostile environment, this game could come down to the performance of the other starting quarterback.

Penn State senior Anthony Morelli absorbed an avalanche of criticism after struggling in back-to-back losses to Michigan and Illinois, but he has played better during the Nittany Lions’ ensuing three-game winning streak. He has thrown three touchdown passes and only one interception the past two weeks.

“We have to give him pass protection and have got to be able to handle some things (the Buckeyes) do,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. “You are sure not going to take the football and run it down their throat. Can’t do that. They are too good for that.”

Neither team should expect to score many points. Ohio State is allowing just 7.9 points per game and leads the nation in total defense, scoring defense and pass efficiency defense. Penn State has given up 15 points per game and ranks fourth in the nation in scoring defense.

This game pits three of the nation’s top linebackers in Ohio State’s James Laurinaitis and Penn State’s tandem of Connor and Sean Lee. Ohio State also boasts an elite cornerback in Malcolm Jenkins. Penn State’s Maurice Evans is one of the nation’s hottest pass rushers with seven sacks in his past three games.

All that defensive talent should produce a low-scoring game in which one critical error can make the difference. That explains why the Buckeyes are doing everything possible to make sure a hostile crowd doesn’t goad them into an error.

“We’re just getting used to each other’s hand signals and trying to simulate the sound the best we can,” Ohio State wide receiver Brian Robiskie said. “You just have to get used to it the best you can because there is nothing else like it.”

Bears tackle Tommie Harris predicted that the Detroit Lions won’t leave Chicago with a win on Sunday.

His statement doesn’t seem bother the Lions, who aren’t about to make any bold declarations after doing so last year resulted in them being embarrassed at Soldier Field.

Although Chicago (3-4) has struggled to defend its conference championship and Detroit isn’t in its usual spot at the bottom of the division, Harris was quoted this week as saying that the Lions wouldn’t improve to 5-2 on Sunday.

“Detroit don’t come into Chicago and win in our stadium,” he told a local newspaper.

The Lions are trying to use that as motivation for their first victory in Chicago since Sept. 12, 2004. Earlier this week, Detroit center Dominic Raiola taped up the article with Harris’ quote in the lockers of several teammates.

“I put these all over the place,” he said, gesturing to the copy in his own cubicle. “I just wanted to get everyone thinking about Chicago.”

The Lions also hope Harris’ proclamation will backfire like Roy Williams‘ did last year. The Detroit receiver said his team would win a Sept. 17 game at Soldier Field, but Chicago pounded the Lions 34-7.

Detroit is looking to sweep the season series from the Bears for the first time since 2004 after scoring a league-record 34 points in the fourth quarter of a 37-27 win Sept. 30 at Ford Field. Jon Kitna threw two touchdown passes, Kevin Smith returned an interception for a score and Kevin Jones capped a 5-minute drive with a TD run in the final period as Detroit snapped a four-game losing streak against the Bears.

That contest was the first for Brian Griese as Chicago’s starting quarterback in place of the ineffective Rex Grossman. Griese threw 52 passes, tied for third most in team history, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Griese’s hold on the starting job seemed tenuous after his uneven performance, but he has likely solidified his spot for the remainder of the season after leading the Bears on a winning touchdown drive Sunday in a 19-16 victory over Philadelphia.

With 1:51 remaining, Griese completed seven of nine passes for 97 yards, throwing a 15-yard TD to Muhsin Muhammad with 9 seconds left.

The victory was a critical one for the Bears, who stayed 2 1/2 games back in the NFC North race. Chicago will likely need Griese to continue his hot play this week, as the team struggled again to run the ball effectively. Cedric Benson had 46 yards on 17 carries last week to lead the Bears, who are 30th in the NFL in rushing at 81.1 yards a game.

“The key to us going forward is how do we build on what we did … and become a better football team going forward,” Griese told the team’s official Web site.

The Bears have won five of their last six home games against the Lions.

Surprising Detroit is battling 5-1 Green Bay for the division lead. The Lions defeated Tampa Bay 23-16 on Sunday, as Calvin Johnson scored the winning touchdown on a 32-yard run midway through the fourth quarter after Detroit recovered a fumble by former Lions quarterback Jeff Garcia.

“We have the pieces to win,” said Kitna, who was 16-of-20 for 147 yards to help Detroit surpass last season’s win total. “We just had to put it altogether.”

Although Kitna does not have a touchdown the last two contests, he’s thrown for 1,480 yards on the season and has Detroit ranked seventh in the NFL in passing yards per game (243.0).

It was the ground attack, however, that was the biggest key in the win over the Buccaneers.

Detroit rushed for a season-high 147 yards and two touchdowns, with Jones contributing 76 yards on 15 carries in his first start since breaking his foot late last season. The Lions rank 27th in the NFL in rushing with 85.5 yards per game.

“Going into the game, we felt like we could run the ball on that team, but we still had to go out and execute,” coach Rod Marinelli said. “A lot of it is Kevin being healthy, and that helps right off the bat.”

The Lions are 1-2 on the road this season and 7-44 in their last 51 games away from Detroit. They don’t play back-to-back road games in 2007, but know they’ll have to find a way to win in hostile stadiums if they want to capture the division title.

“We’re still learning how to win on the road,” said Kitna, “and we’ve had a couple games where that hasn’t gone well.”

The win over the Eagles appears to have cured the Super Bowl hangover of the Chicago Bears. According to the Chicago Tribune, Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris did nothing short of guarantee a victory over the Detroit Lions next Sunday in Chicago.

“We’re ready,” defensive tackle Tommie Harris said, speaking of the Lions. “You don’t come into Philadelphia and win in that stadium against Donovan McNabb. So that boosted our confidence so much.

“Detroit don’t come into Chicago and win in our stadium. We have to be 4-4 going into our (week off). We have to be. … I’m going to do whatever I have to do for us to be 4-4.”

A day after an important win, quarterback Brian Griese called another audible.

This time, he threw some credit toward the coaches for that late 97-yard touchdown drive that lifted the Bears to a 19-16 win at Philadelphia on Sunday.

Yes, the audio in his helmet was not working. But that comment Griese made afterward about calling all the plays except the touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad? Forget it.

“I did not call all the plays,” Griese said Monday.

The Bears were trailing 16-12 when they took over on their own 3 with 1:52 remaining. The offense had stagnated, there were no timeouts left and the audio in Griese’s helmet wasn’t working. There was little reason for optimism.

Yet, minutes later, there was Muhammad catching a 15-yard touchdown pass with 9 seconds left, and there were the Bears letting out a sigh of relief after avoiding a potentially crushing loss.

Griese completed 7 of 9 passes for 97 yards as the Bears charged up the field, and he did it mostly without hearing any coaches’ voices, which may have amused cynics.

Afterward, he told reporters the final play came from the sideline, but “the remainder of the plays were ones I called.”

On Monday, Griese wanted to clear up a “miscommunication” so he addressed the media even though players usually are not available the day after a win.

“It’s gotten a little out of control, from what I read,” Griese said. “I wanted you guys to understand what really happened, and I didn’t think that was being portrayed. If that’s my miscommunication, I take responsibility for that.”

Griese said what happened on that drive was simply “the normal course of a 2-minute drill.”

Griese said there were two instances where he had to call the play with the clock stopped rather than get it from the sideline. When the clock’s ticking, however, Griese said the quarterback makes the call at the line. Even so, Griese acknowledged he was looking to the sideline as the Bears approached midfield, at times reading quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton’s lips.

He credited the coaches for “three big plays” leading up to the touchdown: a 7-yard pass to Desmond Clark in the flat, a 25-yarder over the middle to Bernard Berrian that put the Bears on the Philadelphia 36 and a 21-yarder to Devin Hester that moved them to the 15.

Griese then spiked the ball and ran to the sideline to get the play. Then, he found Muhammad in the back of the end zone for the touchdown that gave the Bears the victory and perhaps kept them in the NFC playoff picture.

Coach Lovie Smith said Griese ran the same plays the coaches would have called and shot down the notion that the audio was sabotaged.

“No,” he said. “Something like that happens every week. … Tell me there’s technology that never fails. Believe me, that’s just a minor thing we have to deal with from time to time.”

The bigger issue for the Bears (3-4) was getting the win.

Now, they have a chance to pull to .500 when they host Detroit, and that would certainly energize them heading into the bye week. They’ve been hit hard by injuries, weakening a once-feared defense. They’re getting little from running back Cedric Benson, who ran for 46 yards Sunday. They seemed to regroup when they rallied to win at Green Bay on Oct. 7, only to get run over by Adrian Peterson in a three-point loss to Minnesota the following week.

So the Bears are still a vulnerable bunch.

They have issues, besides the one Griese chose to address on Monday.

“Those guys deserve the credit,” Griese said of the coaches. “The call to Bernard on third-and-3 (at the Bears 39) … was a great call, as was the play to Devin Hester and the last play. I just wanted you guys to be clear that this was not all my calling of all the plays.”

Chicago had its own issues near the goal line.

Two of Griese’s passes, one to Hester in the first half and to Greg Olson in the second, were broken up in the end zone by cornerback Sheldon Brown. Griese dropped a snap on third-and-goal at the 1 and the Bears settled for Gould’s 22-yard field goal early in the third.

“All week we talked a lot about playing our best game,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “If we lose, fine, but we didn’t want to have any regrets and I thought that was the case today.”

Certainly, it helped that the Eagles offense continued to struggle. Since scoring 56 points in a win against Detroit, they had only 19 points in the previous two games. They wasted long drives against a battered Bears defense that was picked apart last week by Minnesota.

Instead, Philadelphia settled for field goals of 24, 33 and 37 yards from David Akers and led 9-3 at the half.

The Eagles kept the ball away from Hester, who had an 81-yard touchdown catch and an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown against the Vikings. The Eagles kicked away from the explosive return man and he had no return yards.

McNabb’s numbers — 21-of-34, 226 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions — suffered from several dropped passes that stalled drives.

Now McNabb has to lead his greatest comeback yet.

“It’s unfortunate because we kind of swung it our way and we were in position to seal the deal,” he said. “We just didn’t do it.”

Pinned on the 3-yard line and out of timeouts, Chicago’s final drive looked like a bust.

That was before the audio cut out on Brian Griese’s helmet.

The only noise Griese heard was the sound of his own voice calling the plays, rallying the Bears and driving them 97 yards for the winning score in a 19-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.

Don’t count out the Bears quite yet in the NFC playoff picture.

“I felt really good calling my own plays in that situation,” Griese said. “Before I got out into a 2-minute drill, I kind of look at our play sheet and get in my mind a plan of what we want to do. So I felt comfortable in that situation.”

Griese did get some help on the final play that turned into the winning TD. He ran to the sideline with the clock stopped, then came back and connected with Muhsin Muhammad for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 9 seconds left for the stunning score.

“When we came out in the second half we pretty much knew that our season was on the line,” Muhammad said.

The Bears didn’t even need Devin Hester to bail them out with an explosive return. Instead, the final, thrilling drive was all Griese.

The Bears (3-4) started on their 3 with 1 minute, 57 seconds left and trailing 16-12. Griese completed a series of short passes over the middle that quickly gained yards after nearly 58 minutes of stagnant football.

Hester, the dynamic kick returner, had been shut down on special teams and was a non-factor on offense until Griese found him for a 21-yard gain that brought Chicago to the Eagles’ 15.

Griese spiked the ball to stop the clock and found Muhammad on second down for the winning score. Griese was 21-of-47 for 322 yards. He was 7-of-9 for 97 yards on the final drive.

“Hopefully the momentum is swinging in our favor,” Griese said. “It was a big game for us, but the key to us going forward is how we build on what we did today.”

The Eagles (2-4) have a long path ahead if they want to even think about returning to the playoffs, much less winning a second straight NFC East title.

“It’s a position we’re not used to, but nothing we can’t pull ourselves out of,” said Donovan McNabb.

Kickers had scored all the points over the first 55 minutes because both offenses sputtered in the red zone. The normally rowdy Eagles crowd was lulled into acting like this one was a preseason game until McNabb rallied Philadelphia from a 12-9 hole.

He ended the TD drought with a 13-yard pass to Matt Schobel with 4:57 left.

McNabb completed passes of 23 yards to Kevin Curtis and 15 yard to Reggie Brown on the drive, putting the Eagles inside the 20 for the fourth time. The first three trips ended in field goals, predictable considering the Eagles had scored only five touchdowns on 16 red zone possessions entering the game.

McNabb said last week the NFC East title still goes through Philly.

No way that’s true anymore, not after those wasted chances came back to cost the Eagles.

“We have to find a way to get into the end zone,” said running back Brian Westbrook. “I don’t know what the answer is, but we have to find one between now and Sunday. If we can turn some of those points into touchdowns, we’ll win some of these games.”

The Bears caught a break in the fourth on a bad snap that seemed disastrous, but instead turned out to be only a 5-yard penalty. On an apparent bit of miscommunication, the snap sailed through Griese’s legs and was recovered by safety Sean Considine, who took off running.

Because the ball was snapped beyond a quarterback under center, the play was whistled dead and Chicago was hit with a false start. The Bears settled for Robbie Gould’s 45-yard field goal that ticked off an upright for a 12-9 lead.

Chicago had its own issues near the goal line.

Two of Griese’s passes, one to Hester in the first half and to Greg Olson in the second, were broken up in the end zone by cornerback Sheldon Brown. Griese dropped a snap on third-and-goal at the 1 and the Bears settled for Gould’s 22-yard field goal early in the third.

“All week we talked a lot about playing our best game,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “If we lose, fine, but we didn’t want to have any regrets and I thought that was the case today.”

Certainly, it helped that the Eagles offense continued to struggle. Since scoring 56 points in a win against Detroit, they had only 19 points in the previous two games. They wasted long drives against a battered Bears defense that was picked apart last week by Minnesota.

Instead, Philadelphia settled for field goals of 24, 33 and 37 yards from David Akers and led 9-3 at the half.

The Eagles kept the ball away from Hester, who had an 81-yard touchdown catch and an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown against the Vikings. The Eagles kicked away from the explosive return man and he had no return yards.

McNabb’s numbers — 21-of-34, 226 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions — suffered from several dropped passes that stalled drives.

Now McNabb has to lead his greatest comeback yet.

“It’s unfortunate because we kind of swung it our way and we were in position to seal the deal,” he said. “We just didn’t do it.”

No matter where or how he got the ball Sunday, Adrian Peterson seemed to find the opening in the Chicago Bears‘ defense.

Through the line, around the end, across the field with a split-second cutback and even on kickoff returns, he made the Bears miss.

Peterson’s record-setting performance put the Minnesota Vikings in position for victory, one they secured Sunday when Ryan Longwell kicked a career-long 55-yard field goal on the final play to beat the Bears 34-31.

“I just got comfortable, more comfortable with the speed of the game,” Peterson said after showcasing the talent that made him the first running back taken in this year’s draft.

“I knew anything was possible.”

With a blend of power and speed, the rookie from Oklahoma finished with 224 rushing yards on 20 carries and scored on runs of 67, 73 and 35 yards. He broke Chuck Foreman’s club-record of 200 yards rushing set against the Eagles in 1976, and gained the most yards against the Bears in their 88-year history.

“We stunk. We played horrible,” Bears defensive end Alex Brown said. “He’s a good player, but … he shouldn’t get that many yards.”

Peterson set up Longwell’s game-winner by returning a kickoff 53 yards. His afternoon at Soldier Field overshadowed a great one from the Bears’ Devin Hester, who returned a punt 89 yards for a score and caught a game-tying 81-yard TD pass from Brian Griese with 1:38 left.

“It’s kind of crazy,” Peterson said. “Guys come up to me and they say, `When you got the ball it’s kind of like holding your breath.’ I experience that when that guy (Hester) is on the field. I’m holding my breath knowing he can take it to the house any time he touches the ball.”

After the Griese-to-Hester connection tied it up, Peterson returned the ensuing kickoff to the Bears 38.

Why did the Bears kick to Peterson after he’d run all over the field?

“Of course, he’s a big threat. They only needed a field goal,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “We haven’t gone into many games where we don’t kick the ball to the player. We thought we would get good field position, and go from there.”

Lance Briggs once said he’d never play another down for the Chicago Bears. Now, he apparently wouldn’t mind sticking around.

“Absolutely,” he said.

The Pro Bowl linebacker said he ended his media boycott Wednesday because the league intervened. He reversed course from his comments in the offseason, when he blasted management for labeling him a franchise player and threatened a prolonged holdout.

“I’d love to be here,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to be here, regardless of what I’ve said. I’ve always wanted to be here.”

He said the opposite in the offseason, after he made the Pro Bowl for the second time and helped the Bears reach the Super Bowl. The team slapped the franchise tag on him, and things turned ugly.

Briggs told a Chicago radio station and several national media outlets that he was done with the Bears. He threatened to hold out for the entire season and then for 10 games. He also told the Bears to remove the franchise tag or trade him, but a potential deal with Washington never materialized.

He finally accepted the franchise tender offer of $7.2 million just before the start of training camp in late July after the team agreed not to put the label on him after this season. The Bears also gave him a $1 million bonus.

Once he reported to camp, Briggs cut off communications with the media because “I really don’t have a whole to say. I think I said enough in the offseason that will last me a lifetime.”

He did address reporters after he crashed and abandoned his Lamborghini alongside an expressway during the middle of the night in late August, but answered just one question about whether the incident changed him. Briggs was placed under court supervision for a year and was ordered to perform 120 hours in community service last week.

He said some comments attributed to him during the offseason were inaccurate, but would not specify which ones.

“There are a lot of things that were written and said, some things that apparently I said that didn’t come out of my mouth in the offseason,” Briggs said.

He said he ended the holdout before it really began because “at that point, that was the decision that was best for me. I went back and forth with my agent (Drew Rosenhaus) on what I was going to end up doing.”

What made him change his mind?

“That’s private,” Briggs said. “That’s between me and my agent. At the time, it was the best decision to make.”

Asked if he needed to make amends with Bears management, he said, “You patch it up every week you play. You go out and you play.”

To that end, Briggs is doing a good job.

He had 19 total tackles, 15 solo, in last week’s 27-20 victory at Green Bay after missing the previous game with a hamstring injury.

“The guy continues to amaze all of us,” linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer said. “Those open-field tackles are the hardest ones to make. He makes it look easy.”

Hillenmeyer made it clear what happened in the offseason did not change teammates’ opinions of Briggs, saying, “We wanted him back because he’s a friend, he’s a great player — all those things.”

And coach Lovie Smith said he hopes Briggs sticks around: “I’ve said the same thing about Lance all along. He’s a big part of the success we’ve had here. He’s had as much to do with it as any of our good players. Of course, we would like to keep all of our good players around here forever.”

In 2006, Briggs earned $721,600 in the final season of his first NFL contract after he reportedly rejected a six-year, $33 million offer. He went on to register a career-high 176 tackles last year, and now he’s repairing whatever damage the offseason drama did to his stock.

Briggs still wants a long-term deal and he even invoked Buffalo tight end Kevin Everett’s name while explaining why.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” Briggs said. “You take Everett from Buffalo. Linebackers, we run full speed and hit people every play. There’s nothing wrong with wanting long-term stability.”

Time will tell if he gets that from the Bears or another team.

“It’s not up to me,” Briggs said. “You have to ask the person upstairs.”