The Bears offense has slowed to a standstill, at least on the scoreboard -- where it counts most.

Although they had their second highest yardage total Sunday (430), the 21-14 loss to Minnesota included two touchdowns and brought the Bears' total points over the last five games to 72, or 14.5 per contest.

"Offensively, we put a lot of yards up, we did some good things, third downs and passing yards and all that," coach Lovie Smith said. "But it’s about points, and we haven’t scored enough points. It’s just as simple as that."

Smith even had a good word to say about his much-maligned offensive line. It's become a blind draw as to who plays those positions.

"Protection-wise, (we've) been pretty good the last couple of weeks, haven’t given up a lot of sacks, which is good for the line that we’ve been putting out on the football field," Smith said. "But again, not enough points on the offensive side of the field."

Smith put much of the blame Sunday for lack of point production on a receiving corps that dropped too many passes. Brandon Marshall, Devin Hester, Kellen Davis and Alshon Jeffery all shared the blame.

"We had drops, we had some drops that were big plays where we could have gotten a few more scores," Smith said. "We got beat by one score, so just looking at yesterday's performance it's just finishing a couple of those drives that we talk about."

Hot Tub: When James Brown got into Sunday's game at guard for his first NFL action and first play at guard since high school, he somehow resisted the temptation to tell media afterward, "I feel good."

But it was close.

"It felt pretty good for the most part, but with a loss and everything else it seems a lot worse," Brown said after replacing ineffective Edwin Williams at left guard. "It's a way different experience than tackle. Everything happens a lot quicker. You've just got to get used to a lot of things."

It's possible the offensive line will switch up again this week, although it's uncertain if Brown will be part of it. Guard Chris Spencer could return from a knee injury. Also, the team signed former Cowboys-Ravens guard/centter Andre Gurode two weeks ago, and he might be well enough versed in the offense to get involved.

"I thought James Brown went in yesterday and did some good things," Smith said of the undrafted rookie from Troy. "So as long you feel like you're looking at guys that might give you a little boost, I just think that's a good thing."

Injury update: While QB Jay Cutler announced he could play despite a neck injury, Shea McClellin (knee), Craig Steltz (chest) and CB Sherrick McManis (knee) all had injuries that took them out of Sunday's game, and they're being evaluated. The Bears are hoping to get WR Earl Bennett (concussion) and CB Tim Jennings (shoulder) back after one week away. Bennett has not yet been cleared by an independent neurologist. G Chris Spencer missed two games after a knee sprain, and his return is uncertain for this week. Smith said RB Michael Bush aggravated a rib injury he already had, and that explained why Bush got only a carry and RB Armando Allen spelled Matt Forte late in the game.

"He took a shot, yes he did, and we were in a situation where we just didn’t feel like we had to play him," Smith said. "Nothing major, but he did feel it."

Playoff glance: If the Bears go 2-1 their final three and finish 10-6 and the Redskins win their remaining three to finish 10-6, the Redskins would win the final wild card spot based on a better (8-4) conference record than the Bears (7-5). Washington closes with a relatively easy schedule of Cleveland, Philadelphia and Dallas. However, there are so many other scenarios that can occur that it's almost impossible to speculate about wild card. The Redskins actually could win their division by going 3-0 because the Giants still must play Atlanta and Baltimore, and losing those two would leave the Giants at 9-7.

Regardless, the bottom line is the Bears' 5-4 conference mark won't look good for tiebreakers if they finish up at 7-5 because several other teams in the hunt could still finish better.

Follow Bears reporter Gene Chamberlain on Twitter @CBSBears.