The Bears earned their fifth consecutive victory Sunday, defeating the San Diego Chargers 31-20 at Soldier Field.
However, the win came at a heavy price as quarterback Jay Cutler broke his right thumb and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.
Reports indicate Cutler suffered the injury when he was blocked by San Diego linebacker Donald Butler during an interception return by the Chargers' Antoine Cason.
Cutler finished the game, during which he completed 18 of 31 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns.
Apparently, Cutler will not be placed on injured reserve, leaving open the possibility he could return in time for the playoffs. Of course, the postseason seems less likely now that backup Caleb Hanie will have to take over the team indefinitely.
The Bears sit at 7-3 in the competitive NFC North and would qualify for the playoffs as a wild card if the season ended today.
One bit of comfort for Bears' fans: Only two of Chicago's six remaining games are against winning teams. The Bears travel to Oakland (6-4) next week and play at Green Bay (10-0) on Christmas Day. Perhaps their strong defense and special teams will be enough to beat weaker foes like Kansas City (4-5), Denver (5-5), Seattle (4-6) and Minnesota (2-8).
Taking a look around the NFC, there are eight teams in contention for the six playoff spots. The Packers, San Francisco (9-1), New Orleans (7-3) and the New York Giants (6-3) are leading their respective divisions. Then, you've got Detroit and the Bears both at 7-3 and leading the wild-card race.
Dallas and Atlanta, both 6-4, are the two teams that could realistically catch the Bears and knock them out of the postseason. Fortunately, Chicago beat Atlanta head-to-head and holds the tiebreaker. The Bears do not play the Cowboys. If you look at the records against NFC foes, the Bears are 6-3 while Dallas is 5-2. It's a neck-and-neck race for the tiebreaker there.
The Bears might get in at 10-6 if they win three of their remaining six. Might. A 4-2 finish and an 11-5 record would make things much more comfortable. The question is whether Hanie, who has never started an NFL game, can guide the Bears to four wins over the final six weeks.
Aren't the meatheads huge Caleb Hanie fans?
The Bears' remaining schedule is def. in their favor. Forget about beating the Packers. Oakland is a toss up. But is Hanie any worse right now than any other QB starting for the last four teams you mentioned? Denver's D is on top of it right now, but it doesn't take much to beat the savior. 14-17 points probably gets you a win. Minny might be without AP. Seattle sucks. And KC is starting some guy named Tyler Palko.
I hear ya. The only way the Bears beat the Packers is if Green Bay already has homefield wrapped up and takes the game lightly for some reason. The Raiders are a weird team — they've won some I thought they'd lose and lost some I thought they'd win. Don't know what to expect there.
Those other four games are quite winnable. Hanie showed some good things when he relieved Cutler in the NFC title game last year, but he also threw a devastating pick-six in that game. He's an unknown commodity. Who knows exactly what the Bears will get from him?
Yeah, the meatheads love Hanie. Hell, the meatheads always love the backup QB. Once upon a time, the meatheads in Chicago thought Brian Griese was the answer. Anyone with an IQ over 15 knows better, just as anyone with an IQ over 15 knows Hanie can't make the throws Cutler makes. You just have to hope Hanie manages the game well. The Bears have won games with defense and special teams before, and they'll likely have to do that again in the coming weeks.
I don't know if you read the Bears' official report, which was released this afternoon. But, in that report, it was listed as a fractured thumb instead of a broken thumb. If that's the case, then that's a considerable upgrade from the original prognosis. He could return by Week 17, I'd say.
Truth be told, I don't understand why so many people are fretting our playoff chances with Hanie at the helm. It's not like he's Kordell Stewart, Chad Hutchinson, Craig Krenzel, or any of those other 30-or-so losers we've had to bear watching between the Kramer and Cutler eras. He's decent! I firmly believe that, with the improvement we've seen with the offensive line, Hanie will get enough protection to get off passes to Knox and Bennett so that Forte and Barber won't be stuffed by 8-man fronts.
Our special teams has been great all season (and still will be with the loss of Mannelly), and our D has picked it up (run D especially, which has added importance as more teams run more in colder weather).
It pains me to say this, but we really have to root for the Packers on Thanksgiving. We can't have Detroit with a better divisional record than us. All and all, I think we will be fine, and I'm hoping to get the #5 seed and play whomever wins that NFC North division (as I am seeing New Orleans getting the #3 seed, and I do not want to face them on January 8th).
I won't have any problem rooting for the Packers on Thursday. The Bears have no chance to catch Green Bay for the division at this point, so the best they can do is nose ahead of Detroit for the No. 5 seed.
If the Bears can get in the postseason, the ideal matchup to me would be to play whichever team comes out of the NFC East. All of those teams are O-VER-RAT-ED, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
I meant to say NFC East in my post...LOL!
Both the Giants and Dallas don't scare me either. The Giants don't do well against good defenses, and you know how much Romo crumbles in the playoffs.
Here is my dream scenario: We play either Dallas or NY in the first round -- Take them out!
The #6-seed takes out the Saints, allowing us to travel to San Francisco instead of Green Bay for the Divisional round. I'd rather face the 9ers than the Packers on two weeks' rest.
An undefeated 17-0 Packer team waits for us for the NFC title game rematch, and we end their perfect season. The '72 Dolphins rejoice, and Da Bears go to the Super Bowl.
Then, we meet up with the Patriots and plant a shoe up Tom Brady's candy ass. THAT would make my YEAR.
If that happens, you heard it here first. That is my dream.
Heather says the Bears are gonna beat the Niners, the Packers AND the Patriots on the way to the Super Bowl title. I'll mark it down. ;)