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LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears quarterback Matt Barkley likened his return to playing football regularly with riding a bicycle.The ground beneath Barkleys tires becomes much rougher when he makes his first NFL road start Sunday at Detroit against the first-place Lions (8-4).It kind of was like riding a bike just to be honest, Barkley said about replacing injured Jay Cutler. Once you have a full week of reps under your belt and you get into that flow, its picked up where it left off, I felt like, from college.Since coming into the NFL in 2013, the former USC quarterback hadnt played regularly in the NFL until Cutlers season-ending shoulder injury. In two starts, Barkley is 39 for 72 for 508 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.Barkley got stronger as both games continued, following slow starts.Last week, Barkley hadnt completed a pass until 90 seconds remained in the first half, but led a 26-6 victory. He nearly pulled off a fourth-quarter rally from a 20-point deficit the previous week against Tennessee.Hes done a really good job of coming in and having great command and poise in the pocket and control in the huddle, Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said.In my opinion, where hes really stood out is when weve been in our no-huddle, two-minute situations, hes done a nice job that way.Loggains has played with a backup receiver crew that is missing suspended Alshon Jeffery, and behind a patchwork offensive line.Facing Detroit at Ford Field presents a challenge Barkley hasnt faced yet, since his first two starts came at Soldier Field.Its definitely a different set of circumstances, coach John Fox said. His first actual action for us was at Green Bay after the Brian Hoyer (broken arm), so hes been on the road and played, but not as a starter. Its a challenge.The Bears (3-9) have pumped in recorded crowd noise to the Walter Payton Center for practice all week to prepare Barkley.Obviously the noise, when it gets loud, which it does, will affect our cadence and well be in silent and doing some different things, Barkley said. But Ive been in loud situations before in road situations before, so Im not sure you could get it any differently aside from a few things that we have to do week to week.The other step up for Barkley is facing an improving Lions defense. Mired near the bottom statistically when they lost to the Bears at Soldier Field in Week 4, Detroits defense has climbed to 15th overall and 15th in interceptions (10).Cornerback Darius Slay, in particular, has Barkleys attention.He makes plays, Barkley said. I think (because of) his quickness and knack for the ball -- for where it is -- I think youve always got to keep an eye on him.Barkley plans to rely on rookie running back Jordan Howard, who is 117 yards shy of a 1,000-yard season. Howard had his first 100-yard game against Detroit with 111 yards on 23 attempts.Jordan and the whole run game up front has helped our play-action passes and the passing game in general, Barkley said.With a back like him, who rarely gets tackled on the first hit, first touch, its comforting for me knowing we can get those third-and-shorts or second-and-shorts and keep moving the ball; and that the run fakes do set up the passing game very well.Its far too soon for the Bears to project Barkely as anything more than one of the potential quarterbacks for next years roster. Hell be a restricted free agent after this season.However, this game could provide further indication of where Barkley is in terms of potential.It wouldnt surprise Loggains if Barkleys success continues because plenty of other quarterbacks have come from far worse starts to their career. Then again, making a judgment now would be premature.I think every situation is different, Loggains said. I was fortunate enough when I was in Dallas (that) Tony Romo was a practice squad quarterback or the No. 3 quarterback, and I was in personnel and I got to watch him compete every day. You knew there was something there with him.Every guy is different. As they build experience and you get to watch them more and more, you make your decisions based on that. 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Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2).Timing-wise, it just felt right, says Steve Davis, as he reflects on his decision to end a 38-year career in professional snooker with a public farewell at the Crucible Theatre a fortnight ago. Audiences at Sheffields snooker mecca saw Davis win six world titles during an era of dominance that coincided with the sports boom under Barry Hearns guidance in the 1980s. As he held the trophy aloft ceremonially - and a little sheepishly - for a final time, there was a feeling of relief that the circle was closed.It just slowly got harder to compete at the top level. Its not that I didnt love the game, its just that Ive been playing competitively for so long that when you practise, you practise with a view to playing in a tournament, Davis says. And if youre losing every match then it perhaps isnt worth practising.Six years after he last qualified for the World Championship, the game was up.Just Jimmy White remains active of the 80s giants who laid bare on the baize a range of contradictory personalities that helped propel a pub game out of the Pot Black era and into the big-time.A BBC film called The Rack Pack chronicling a fictionalised version of Davis rivalry with Alex Higgins was released in January, and the nostalgia - the sense he was part of the past rather than the present - played its role in the 58-year-olds retirement. Davis rivalry with Alex Higgins was a cornerstone of snookers success in the early 1980s More influential, though, was the death earlier this year of his father Bill, whose unswerving practical, technical and paternal support took his son from the south London clubs to the amateur circuit and, in just a few years, to the top of the world.Things coincided with my father passing away, Davis says. I didnt really feel the desire to play on longer with him not around, and by complete coincidence The Rack Pack came out. That just brought home that first wave of enthusiasm for snooker to hit the UK - everything seemed to be leading towards the conclusion that it was the end of an era.What an era, though. Davis emerged in the late 70s as a kind of other-worldly automaton pitted against the all-too-human Higgins and the unaffected Whites outrageous talent, and he had ringmaster Hearn in his corner.Given the way Essexs great sporting impresario has subsequently exploited the pantomime potential of boxing and darts - for the benefit of player and promoter alike - it is tempting to wonder whether the man vs machine narrative of the time was at all scripted. Not so, says Davis. Barry Hearn (right) backed Davis rise to the top of snooker and helped commercialise the sport It was just the way it was. We were all pushing boundaries in our own way, and you just did what you did the way you could do it. Part of your personality comes out on the table - you cant really do very much about that.The robotic, emotionless person I was on the table was how I dealt with the problem at hand. It wasnt so much Barry Hearns influence as [a reflection of] the way each one of us lived our life at the time. I was pretty regimented, probably the hardest practiser.That treadmill of practice-competition-practice took him to 28 ranking titles, and a genuine passion for a hobby-turned-profession helped maintain his meticulous approach even during the harrowing time when Stephen Hendry was wresting control of the sport.The Scot bolted a total lack of fear onto Davis merciless professionalism and toppled snookers king, surpassing his record of six Crucible wins. Somewhere along the line, though, that new vulnerability - first glimpsed in the famous final-black world final defeat to Dennis Taylor in 1985 - meant the snooker-watching public came to love Davis where once hed been merely admired. Daviis roll of honour Six World Championship titles 28 ranking titles 53 non-ranking titles 355 century breaks A genial willingness to embrace Spitting Images Interesting Steve Davis caricature did no harm, and he remains the only snooker player to win the BBCs Sports Personality of the Year award, but Davis wonders now whether he or any of the circuits fabled 80s characters would leave a mark in todays post-internet, multi-channel world.dddddddddddd.I think the trouble is that the worlds become quite immune to characters. The analogy of Big Brother would spring to mind. The first winner of Big Brother [Liverpudlian everyman-type Craig Phillips in 2000] was just a normal bloke called Craig. Nowadays, it seems youve got to be some sort of absolute weirdo even to get on the show.I think the same applies in the world of sport. What was once considered to be a character now doesnt cut the mustard. The way we look back at some of the old characters... I dont think the modern-day players are any different to them. People have become a bit immune.Think of the relative lack of interest in say, the brash idealism of Judd Trump or Mark Allens spiky outsider status, and it is easy to agree. The exception, of course, is Ronnie OSullivan, who spoke after his recent Crucible exit about the combined pressures of being snookers new figurehead and its most popular player. Davis sympathises. Davis and Jimmy White pose ahead of the 1984 World Championship final The same thing happened for Jimmy and for Alex, he says. People wanted them to do so well, and when they werent youd get people shouting come on Jimmy and come on Alex. Sometimes I felt as though that hindered them more than helped. That didnt happen too often from my perspective, but actually perversely [the lack of support] was probably easier to deal with.Ronnies certainly got the pressure of not only being the No 1 ranked player when he wants to be, hes also got the pressure of everybody wanting him to win. Its a double-edged sword.Davis now has the luxury of looking on from a distance, and although his enduring love for the sport is obvious both from the way he talks and from his insightful television analysis, the tone is one of proud granddad ruffling the hair of his favourite grandson.It is time for some of his other passions to share top billing now. Already a published author - he has co-written two books on chess - Davis life story Interesting is nominated for Autobiography of the Year at the prestigious Cross Sports Book Awards. Snooker legend Davis retires Steve Davis is to stop playing snooker 35 years after winning his first World Championship An interest in music - from rare 70s soul to obscure prog rock - has been a matter of record for years but has brought new opportunities recently after promoters tuned into his community radio show and spotted his potential for bringing out-there electronica to a wider audience.Acclaimed DJ sets have followed, and when Davis answers his phone to Sky Sports he is busy rooting through the racks in a record shop in Manchester.Its great fun, he says. One minute were doing a radio show, the next minute someones asked us to play a music festival, and now all of a sudden were DJs. Its been brilliant, amazing.A rapid rise from part-timer to pro? A burgeoning career he describes as a hobby gone berserk? All sounds a bit familiar... Also See: Rocket warned over no-show Bring the party to snooker ' ' '