Cutler Back in Form (Bad and Good) as Bears Top Browns

December 16, 2013 @ admin → No Comments

Monday meanderings: The Chicago Bears’ 38-31 victory Sunday against the host Cleveland Browns featured Jay Cutler playing poorly early and excellently late. Meaning that both his detractors and supporters had a chance to see why they are right and wrong to be so intransigent in their position.

OK, so the Detroit Lions don’t have official cheerleaders. There are the Detroit Pride cheerleaders. Definitely better than nothing.

* A brief timeout for the generally inflexible vocabulary definition department at ElliottHarris to check out what “intransigent” means. Something says Bears coach Marc Trestman knows the meaning of the word.

* So the Bears are in first place in the NFC North (pending the outcome of the Detroit Lions’ result against the Baltimore Ravens on “Monday Night Football”). Of course, nothing is clear in the division. The Bears next play at Philadelphia before ending the regular season at home against Green Bay; the Lions are home against the New York Giants and at Minnesota; and the Packers are home against Pittsburgh and at the Bears. If the Packers win out, they will be 9-6-1; if the Bears win out, they will be 10-6; and if the Lions win out, they will be 10-6 (and hold the division tie-breaker over the Bears). In other words, the NFL couldn’t be happier because three of the four teams in the North are in postseason contention.

* Speaking of NFC North teams in postseason contention, the Vikings are the only one that does not fit that description. They are, however, the team that — even without star running back Adrian Peterson — defeated the Eagles 48-30 Sunday. So the Bears should be able to score against Phildelphia on Sunday night. The Eagles have allowed 349 points this season. Which is 24.9 per game. Which is not good. But it’s better than the Bears’ 391 points allowed (27.9).

* Speaking of the Bears’ regular-season finale, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers may be back in the lineup for that game — if not sooner. Backup QB Matt Flynn led the Packers from a 23-point halftime deficit to a 37-36 victory against the host Dallas Cowboys. So the Packers will have a similar decision to that of the Bears regarding a backup who has performed well. The main difference being Rodgers is a better QB than Cutler.

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Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the efficient editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com), and forgive me for posting a couple of Luvabulls reunion videos but some of us missed the event and can’t get enough of the former dancers who came back to honor longtime director Cathy Core: