The Bears' beleaguered defense came in with a simple strategy: slow down Adrian Peterson and use its best cornerback, Charles Tillman, to take away the only other threat the Minnesota Vikings have. They have not had a game plan fizzle this poorly since, well, their trip to Green Bay two weeks ago.

Although it was just one game and it's usually not wise to make too much of a single occurrence, the Bulls believe their 103-92 comeback victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night is a testament to their growth during the stretch of seven straight road games.

Overall, the Blackhawks enjoyed another November. They were 6-3-3 during the month and are 14-6-5 during the last two Novembers. Even the dreaded circus trip wasn't so bad this time as the Hawks finished it with a 3-2-1 record - their best since 1997. The problem is the Hawks came back from the annual two-week jaunt Sunday wondering what happened.