I had the opportunity to watch Bears GM Philip Emery's press conference today and there was a lot to take away from it.

So I thought I would recap some of the most vital bits for those of you who missed it.

I really liked what I heard from Emery, who I have been impressed with since last spring. He was very up front about where the team fell short but quick to point out that they have the talent and expect to get better.

Emery admitted that Matt Forte was woefully underutilized in the pass game and that Cutler needs help to improve.

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After going 10-6 but missing the playoffs with an epic late-season skid for the second year in a row, Lovie Smith has been fired by the Chicago Bears.

We can argue whether this was the right call or not—for what it's worth, I'm split—but it's the call they made, so now, we can look at the aftermath.

Clearly, changes will be made. This is a team with talent on both sides of the ball and is clearly not that far off. It's missing some things, though, and whoever takes over is bound to make some changes.

Some might be radical; some very small. But changes are coming.

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My first reaction to Devin Hester going off and threatening to retire because Lovie Smith just got fired was to tell Hester not to let the door hit him in the rear end as he left.

After all, Hester has been nothing but a distraction for the coaching staff since the ridiculous notion entered the coaches' heads to make him a wide receiver. In fact, his failure to grasp concepts like route running and, I don't know, catching the ball are probably part of the reason Smith got fired in the first place.

Certainly the failure factored into Smith's release to some extent considering how much time was wasted in trying to do what was clearly impossible.

Maybe if Hester had been able to perform even the most basic aspects of being a wide receiver, Lovie Smith might still be employed. Probably not, but it would have been one less failure for the team to point to when it let Smith go.

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It's not very often that the Packers end up on the short end of a scoring shootout, but that's what happened this Sunday.

Nine times out of 10 Green Bay wins that game against the Vikings, but as Adrian Peterson chewed up clock over the last two minutes and Blair Walsh made Packers fans jealous of his kicking ability, destiny took a different turn. 

That isn't to say the Packers played badly. Considering the injuries they had during the game, they actually did very well.

Randall Cobb didn't dress, while Jarrett Boykin hurt his leg and Jerel Worthy was carted off with what looked to be a knee injury.

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In the end, Adrian Peterson fell just nine yards short of Eric Dickerson's single-season yardage record.

However, without the excellent 26-yard run, which put the Vikings on the 11-yard line for an easy Blair Walsh chip shot, Minnesota might have been watching the playoffs from home next weekend.

Peterson had a phenomenal day all around, and as disappointing as it may have been for all of us watching to see him fall just short of the record, it doesn't take away from the splendid day and season he had.

In an amazing season, it came down to Peterson, of course, and he delivered.

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Matthew Stafford fumbled two balls away and lost another on an interception, while Mikel Leshoure coughed the ball up on a short play, with all four turnovers contributing to another in a long line of losses to end the season.

Eight straight losses isn't so much a skid as it is a flaming car wreck. Which explodes. And then catches on fire again.

The turnovers weren't the only story, and yet another slow offensive start by the Lions caused them to fall behind and forced them into a hole they would never climb out of.

Calvin Johnson had fewer than 100 yards for the first time since Week 8 and failed to reach 2,000 yards, and the rest of the receivers continued to be mediocre, though Kris Durham made a really nice catch again in this game and might find a nice role for next season.

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The Bears defense once again stepped up and carried the team to a critical win.

While the offense also looked pretty good most of the day, it squandered the four turnovers the defense provided for it.

On the plus side, Matt Forte topped 100 yards and looked very good doing it to the last run. When they needed to kill the clock, the Bears went heavy with Forte and he delivered.

Jay Cutler played very well for most of the game and overcame some pressure, escaping from multiple sacks. The Lions just couldn't finish a tackle on Cutler, and nearly every time he slipped away, he completed a pass.

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This Sunday, the Detroit Lions will have one last chance to show up and play like they still have pride.

It hasn't worked out for the last seven games, but perhaps the eighth time's the charm?

They've been in a few close losses, but the last two—Arizona and Atlanta—weren't close at all, and now they have a desperate Bears team showing up to Detroit needing a win to even have a chance to make the playoffs.

It's not hopeless for Detroit, though, and the Lions can win this game.

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