Bears 4-1 Start, what does it mean?

The Bears beat the Carolina Panthers 23-6 today to move to 4-1.  Some Bears fans are calling this team "lucky", and others are going so far as to say this is the "worst 4-1 football team" of all time.  Here are the Hopeful Bears Fan's thoughts 5 games into this season:

1. "4-1" is "4-1". Period. Ask the Saints, Packers, Cowboys, 49ers, or a host of other teams and their fanbases if they would rather be 4-1 or be highly regarded.  
2. Winning ugly is still winning.  Last time I checked, this isn't figure skating.  You win by scoring more points than the other team, and the object of the exercise is winning.  The 6 NFC Playoff teams will not be determined by a panel of judges at the end of the year, but by which teams have the most wins.  The Bears are not only 4-1, they have a 4-1 NFC Conference record, which could be HUGE come tiebreaker time at the end of the year.
3. The Bears, with a roster full of veterans and a coaching staff led by Lovie Smith and a host of former NFL head coaches, have been around the block.  And, in their time in this league, they seem to have learned the basics of winning football.  First, emphasize your strengths and second adjust to take advantage of the weaknesses of your opponents.  Many "experts" have said that Mike Martz would not be willing to stop utilizing 7-step drops, but against the Cowboys he moved to many 3-step drops.  And then again this week, many "experts" proclaimed that Mike Martz would not be willing to check his ego and run the ball.  The Bears ran the ball 42 times today and, despite 4 interceptions, were never in danger of losing the game because they played to the weaknesses of their opponents (lack of offensive and defensive playmakers) and allowed their strengths (Defense, special teams) to take over.
4. The injury bug has (knock on wood) stayed away from the Bears for the most point.  The Packers saw many of their stars (Rodgers, Matthews Jr., Finley) go down today.  With Jay Cutler and Chris Williams back soon, and Wright hopeful to follow shortly after, the Bears are in a good position in an area that is vastly undervalued in it's importance.
5. The Bears upcoming schedule is VERY favorable.  The Seahawks and Redskins at home, followed by a bye and then the Bills shapes up for a 7-1 or 6-2 first half of the season.  Looking ahead, that would mean the Bears would only have to go 3-5 or 4-4 in the second half of the season to go 10-6 and make the tournament.  Games in the second half of the season that appeared difficult (Miami, Philly, New England) look eminently more winnable at this point.
6. You need playmakers to win (especially in the playoffs), and the Bears have two in Jay Cutler and Julius Peppers.  These two players have shown the ability to take over games by themselves.  Peppers requires no further comment, but I'm sure there are some who disagree on Cutler. In Jay's case, so far one game he took over for the bad, one for the good, and two were middling.  When I hear the Orton vs. Cutler argument, I laugh because Orton is a caretaker, nothing more.  Caretaker quarterbacks don't win championships (Trent Dilfer is the exception that proves the rule).  Cutler has the guts, arm, and intelligence to take the Bears where they haven't been since the days of the Punky QB.

Bottom line: The offensive line has been the weakness of the team this year, but if the coaching staff can continue to coach around it, you would have to assume that it can't get any worse as they are allowed to play together and learn eachother's tendencies.  No one predicted a 4-1 start with the Bears schedule as it stood at the beginning of the season, and while I haven't seen enough to credibly call the Bears Super Bowl contenders, I have seen enough to say they have an excellent chance to make the tournament.  And in the tournament, anything can happen...