LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) -- Dick Jauron wants to keep working, not take a vacation, catch up on his reading or finish those household chores he's been neglecting.

So never mind how far the Chicago Bears came or how much they improved this season. While the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions prepare for the playoffs, the Bears are settling into their couches for the winter. Again.

"There's not a whole lot you can say when it ends like this, except that it's not an acceptable way to end a season. We don't want to end 6-10," Jauron said. "But I think we took some steps in the right direction."

Chicago lost four of its last five games, finished below .500 for the sixth time in eight years and missed the playoffs a fifth straight year.

For a team that couldn't even hire a coach last year without turning it into a circus, though, this counts as a step forward. Even with a new coach, a funky new offense and a quarterback rotation stuck on spin cycle, the Bears managed to better their 4-12 marks in 1997 and 1998. They had a slim chance at the playoffs until the penultimate week of the season.

Throw in Marcus Robinson's standout season, Cade McNown's development and the players' faith in Jauron, and the Bears' future is brighter than it's been in a long time.

"We're a lot closer than people may think or it may appear," defensive tackle Mike Wells said. "We're disappointed with the way the season ended, but we also see where we're going. We feel like we're coming together as a team. We have the potential for a great future."

The biggest part of that future is McNown. Though he still needs work -- two miscues led to Tampa Bay's 10-0 halftime lead Sunday -- he showed flashes of the talent that made him the 12th pick of the draft.

He finished 127-of-235 for 1,465 yards, setting team rookie records for attempts and completions despite playing sparingly. He also threw eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

The only Chicago quarterback with a better rookie season was Jim McMahon, the guy who led the Bears to their only Super Bowl title.

"It went the way I thought it would and maybe a little bit better," Jauron said. "It never goes the way you want it to, because you'd like it to all be good. But when you get a young quarterback on the field, a lot of things happen and some of them aren't good.

"He showed, on a number of occasions, what he can be."

McNown or no McNown, the Bears have two huge problem areas they have to fix before they can move forward. The first is the defense. It ranked 29th overall (356.5 yards) and against the pass (238.9 yards). Their best ranking was a tie for 20th for points allowed, 21.3 per game.

Though Chicago has a solid inside combination in Wells and Jim Flanigan, it still needs a pass rush threat. The secondary was so bad veteran cornerback Tom Carter, a starter at the beginning of the season, was cut in December.

"Everybody is positive. Everybody is going to get away right now, come back fully charged and we'll get going again," cornerback Terry Cousin said. "We have the people here. There's not too much we need to go out and do, and we're going to get it done."

Chicago needs a kicking game, too. The Bears used four kickers this year, yet still managed to miss a league-high 15 field goals. Worse, the misses played a role in five of the team's losses.

Though Todd Sauerbrun's net punt average (35.4 yards) was higher than his career average (33.7), it was only 13th best in the league. His gross average of 40.9 yards was 21st.

"I think we can make big strides," Jauron said. "We have to do a great job in our offseason program. We also have to do a great job in terms of gathering more personnel, adding on to the existing core.

"If we can get those two things done and have some luck -- you need some luck thrown in there -- I think we can come a long ways."