Bears lose Cutler in win over Chargers
My first thought when I heard Bears QB Jay Cutler would be out for maybe six weeks with a broken thumb was that it was disastrous.
With 40 hours or so to reflect, I have a slightly sunnier outlook on it.
The most frustrating part for me was that Cutler had been playing some fantastic football this season, and especially lately. In carrying, with Matt Forte, a bad offense, Cutler had been better than his numbers say — and those (85.7 rating, 2,319 yards, 13 TD, 7 INT) were pretty good.
With Cutler healthy and rolling along, and the Bears continuing to play well in a 31-20 defeat of a desperate Chargers team Sunday, I continued to believe what I wrote a week ago, that they have the best chance of any NFC team to beat the Packers and make the Super Bowl. I hadn't drunk enough Kool-Aid to believe they would beat the Packers, by any means, but they'd got me believing that it was possible. Without Cutler, it's not.
But if Cutler does come back in time for the regular-season finale against the Vikings on Jan 1, as has been suggested, it might not be too late. I don't think the Bears are going to fall out of contention. Not the way their defense is playing, and not with the schedule they face. If the Bears were gearing up for a four-game stretch like, well, any of the four-game stretches they've played so far this year, I'd be terrified. Three more against the AFC West, followed by a home game with Seattle, makes me feel a lot better.
I don't know much about Caleb Hanie. I'm not expecting great things. But are we sure the Bears are going to be at a great disadvantage in terms of quarterback play against any of the oppponents that await them, until they face Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on Christmas night? Carson Palmer, who is an every-week threat for three-interception duds like he had in his first two games with the Raiders, is easily the best passer the Bears will face in the next month. After him, the Bears will be opposed by Chiefs backup Tyler Palko, the growing legend with incredible inaccuracy that is Denver's Tim Tebow and Seattle's Tarvaris Jackson. Might quarterback play not end up being something close to a wash in those games? And aren't the Bears superior enough in other areas over each of those teams that they could be reasonably expected to win?
The Bears aren't the overwhelming favorites to make the playoffs that they were with Cutler under center, but I think they're still pretty likely to get in. And while I don't like their chances if he returns to the lineup in the wild-card round, rusty against what is probably going to be a pretty good defense, they might be OK if he gets a chance to get his feet wet in the Minnesota game. In fact, I'm not sure that what seemed like disaster Sunday night might not turn out to be a mere bump in the road.
