Thumbs Down - Can the Bears Overcome Jay Cutler's Injury?

"I've learned that life is one crushing defeat after another, until you just wish Flanders was dead." - Homer Simpson

I certainly don't feel that way about life in general (and not just because, like hens love roosters and geese love ganders, I love Ned Flanders more than Homer Simpson loves a nacho hat).  But the first part of that sentence does a pretty good job of summarizing how I've felt watching my football teams this fall.  After a 6-0 start, the Illini may need to win their last game of the regular season at Minnesota to avoid being shut out of a bowl game.  The Bears had been doing a good job of covering up the stench emanating from Champaign by posting a five-game winning streak - and major props to you if you guessed that the Bears, who were sitting at 2-3 at the same time the Illini were 6-0, would reach seven wins before the Illini did.  However, as you've undoubtedly heard, the Bears suffered a crushing injury on Sunday, losing long snapper Patrick Mannelly to a torn ACL.  Oh - and there was also something about Jay Cutler breaking his thumb during the win over the Chargers.

Bears Find Team With Worse QB Than Theirs, Win 23-6

That's it, Todd Collins. I've stood up for you not once, but twice, and this is how you repay me? A 6.3 QB rating? An interception at the goal line, plus three other INTs? All this after an 8.1 rating last week? You know it's bad when your team has the ball at the 40 yard line, with just under two minutes left in the first half, and they're content to run out the clock (huddling up and calling slow-developing run plays) rather than risk having the QB throwing it down the field to try to put points on the board. So go find some other blogger to write good things about you, Todd Collins.

So how does a team with a starting QB with a 6.3 rating win? Playing a team whose starting QB has a 29.7 rating helps. So does rediscovering your running game at an opportune time (thank you, Matt Forte, for producing more yards rushing (166) than Carolina's entire offense (147)). And of course, the defense was outstanding again, forcing three turnovers and never letting it feel like Carolina was in the game, even with a lead of only 17-6 in the 4th quarter.

All in all, a grind-it-out win against a vastly inferior opponent still counts, and with the Packers losing in Washington (and losing their All-Pro QB to a concussion as well), the Bears are back on top of the NFC North. It would be nice to have Jay Cutler back next Sunday (and by the way, after today's display, I hope no one complains about Cutler again this year), because if the Bears continue to run the ball as well as they did today, a healthy Cutler will make for an explosive offense. Maybe the Bears will not only be a first place team, they'll even look like a first-place team too.

The Bears Are Doomed...DOOMED!

Well, that's an onion in the ointment. I guess when you absorb nine sacks in one half, it does affect your ability to play football the following week. My sanguine outlook on the Bears' season rested on having a healthy Jay Cutler at QB. But without him, and without any semblance of a running attack so far this year, and without any demonstrated ability to pass-protect, and with a 38 year old starting at QB instead of the more mobile Cutler, the "soft" part of the schedule I've been touting suddenly looks a lot more difficult.

In any event, we'll soon see if my slightly positive review of the Todd Collins signing was on the money or not. Collins didn't look so hot against the Giants on Sunday, but by the time he entered the game the Giants were completely ignoring the Bears' running game (note - so were the Bears) and teeing off on their passing game. For what it's worth, he does have experience, which is more than the other potential backups they had in training camp brought to the table. It's worth noting that the Bears were apparently so desperate for a QB this week that they brought in former Illini QB Juice Williams in for a look-see. Now, Williams was a good player for the Illini (sometimes better than good), but unless they're looking at him as the second coming of Bobby Douglass, I can't imagine him having any future as an NFL QB.

Back to this week's game - is it possible to win an NFL game with neither a passing game nor a running game? The Bears will have to do something positive on the ground to take the pressure off of Collins. Some big special teams plays would be nice too, and it wouldn't hurt to have the defense force a few turnovers, especially in the red zone - and I mean the Panthers' red zone, not the Bears' red zone. Basically, the Bears are going to have to win this one without any offense, just like in the Abe Gibron era. And the 0-4 Panthers may be just the opponent that makes this possible. I'll be having this guy over to my house on Sunday, but if the Bears lose I may have to ban him for the rest of the year.

Prediction: Bears 16, Panthers 10

"You Won't Be Needing This"

First place in the NFC North is up for grabs Monday night. Bears. Packers. A rivalry going back to 1921. Need I say more? Of course I do, otherwise this post would be way too short.

I will say that saw some of the Giants game today, and they were an undisciplined mess. If the Bears can somehow get a win against the Packers, they'd have a leg up on Green Bay and a good shot at a 4-0 start. And with the softer part of the schedule after that....

Ah, whom am I kidding? The Bears are clearly setting me up to rip my heart out. Even without any semblance of a running game, Aaron Rodgers will have his way with the Bears' defense, and I feel like it will be a victory for the Bears if Jay Cutler gets through the game in one piece.

Prediction: Green Bay 31, Bears 17.

Bears Sign Veteran Backup QB; Earth Continues Spinning on its Axis

At least one of the five sacks Jay Cutler absorbed during Saturday's Bears pre-season game was such a hard hit, it even knocked some sense into the Bears' front office. Faced with the prospect of a Cutler injury leaving the offense in the hands of Caleb "Mister" Hanie, Dan "Pac-Man" LeFevour, or the recently signed "With this offensive line, defenders will be stepping all over me like I'm a welcome" Matt Gutierrez (combined total - 9 NFL passes), the Bears relented from their hard-line stance last week by signing Todd Collins as a backup. Collins isn't an all-pro, but at least he has experience running an NFL offense, along with a career passer rating of 76.0 (for comparison's sake, Kyle Orton's career rating is 76.9).

Kudos to the front office for waking up and prying open their wallet to address one of the team's many glaring weaknesses.