Despite an ugly setback this past week to the Bengals, the Chicago Tribune reports today that Lovie Smith is safe as head coach:

As a public service to save the next fed-up Bears fan from picking up the phone or clicking “Send,” please remember that Lovie Smith has two years and about $11 million left on his contract after this season. So unless Virginia McCaskey adopts Daniel Snyder into the family, the Bears aren’t likely to pay Smith a fortune to go away and open the vault for a $6 million-a-year replacement such as Bill Cowher or either of the two Mikes, Holmgren or Shanahan. That means, like Bono and U2, you can expect Smith back at Soldier Field in 2010, barring a Bears implosion that seems implausible.