Now Cutler and Bears fans alike will not have to worry about Kristin becoming a distraction during the 2011 NFL season. Although, I’m not so sure that is a good thing. Take a look at the images below and judge for yourself.

With all due respect to the Bears defense, they did not allow the Seahawks to record a single point in the first half, but they did give up 21 points in the fourth quarter to Matt Hasselbeck and company.  However, by that time the damage had already been done thanks to Jay Cutler’s four touchdowns (2 passing, 2 rushing).  Despite playing in only his first NFL playoff game, the Bears’ quarterback looked as though he had been there before, completing 15 of his 28 passes for 274 yards and adding another 43 yards rushing on route to a 35-24 NFC Divisional Round victory.

Now the Bears will face a familiar foe in the Green Bay Packers.  The Packers have been rolling as of late, winning their last three games, including a week 17 victory over the Bears which earned them a wild card spot.  The Bears will get another shot at their division rivals next Sunday, and a big key to their success will be whether Cutler can keep up with Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers.  In order for that to happen, he will need to have another solid game like the one he had against the Seahawks, which earned him “The Stat Line of the Night” for Sunday, January 16, 2011.

Jay Cutler may not have piled up the yards or completions, but he was very efficient in this game.  He only threw the ball 21 times, but completed on 14 of those.  He threw for a total of 247 yards which brings him to an average of 11.8 per pass attempt.  He also threw for 4 touchdowns and had 0 interceptions.  His passer rating was a near-perfect 146.2.  Cutler also ran 7 times for 17 yards, with one big run of 12 yards.

The Bears are now 8-3 which puts them a game ahead of the Packers in the NFC North.  They also hold the tiebreaker against the Pack after beating them at Soldier Field earlier in the season.  If Jay Cutler can look like the Jay Cutler we saw this week, the Bears should be considered a legitimate contender in the NFC.  Although there are still many doubters out there, Cutler earns the “Stat Line of the Night”.

Then last week’s disaster against New York occurred, with Cutler being sacked 9 times and suffering a concussion which kept him out of action for this week’s match up with the Panthers.  Someone would have to step up to fill the void for the Bears, but no one thought it would be Matt Forte and an inconsistent running game that had been unable to accomplish much the first month.

Forte proved them all wrong, literally taking the team on his back and carrying them to a 23-6 victory over the lowly Carolina Panthers.  While his quarterback Todd Collins, starting in place of the injured Cutler, went 6-16 with 32 yards, no touchdowns and 4 interceptions, Forte had a career day.  He rushed for 166 yards on just 22 carries and scored 2 touchdowns early in the game to help the Bears jump out to a 17-3 lead, which they would not relinquish.  He also caught 2 passes for 22 yards.

The Bears now sit atop the NFC North with a 4-1 record as the Packers stumbled last week and are now 3-2.  The Vikings struggled early but now with the acquisition of Randy Moss may be rejuvenated.  The division is far from decided, however, the Bears are in the driver’s seat.  Matt Forte gets “The Stat Line of the Night” as the Bears continue to roll.

During Sunday night’s game between the New York Giants and the Chicago Bears, Jay Cutler was sacked an incredible nine times in the first half before exiting the game with a concussion.  Barry Cofield was just one of the six defensive players from the Giants who would have the opportunity to take down the Bears’ quarterback, so when his time came he knew he had to be extra-creative with his sack dance.

Needless to say, he was.  But while he was busy pretending to put his body through shock, I can’t help but feel as though Cutler was experiencing the real thing.

Hat Tip – [Mocksession]

Cutler threw the ball to 6 different targets over the course of the night, going 16/27 with 221 yards.  He threw one touchdown and one interception.  He had a few other interceptions called back on penalties, but the story of the game was his gutsy performance.  He also got it done on the ground with 37 yards on just 3 carries, 2 for crucial first downs.  The key drives of the game came in the 4th quarter when Cutler, with the assistance of some timely flags, was able to move the Bears down the field and into field goal range to tie it up at 17-17, then another where he moved them into field goal range again after a Packers turnover.

The Bears won 20-17, but the repercussions of this game go far beyond the 3-point win.  They now sit atop the NFC North and the entire NFC as the only undefeated team at 3-0.  With Cutler at the helm and the Bears defense starting to regain some of their swagger, the Bears may be legitimate Super Bowl contenders once again.  For now, though Jay Cutler will have to settle for ”The Stat Line of the Night”.

The NFL has experienced problems with wardrobe malfunctions before (think Janet Jackson and Super Bowl XXXVIII), and Sunday night’s game between the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles just added another to their resume.

A full moon could be seen in Chicago and thankfully NBC’s cameras were able to catch it. The Bears were down 24-20 with just over one minute remaining in the 4th quarter when Jay Cutler tried to hit Devin Hester on a quick slant. Hester may have been looking to shake the defender out of his clothes, but he would end up being the one losing his pants on this play.

The pass would fall incomplete, but that didn’t stop cornerback Dimitri Patterson from trying to slow down Hester by grabbing a handful of his pants, pulling them down well below his ass in the process. Last week it was Cutler’s five interceptions. This week it is some rear nudity. Yes, it certainly seems as though the Bears have been treating their fans to a number of graphic moments this season.

With this video evidence now available, Hester may be able to accumulate more votes than Italy’s Gennaro Gattuso for nicest ass, but that award still belongs another Chicago athlete; quarterback Ellie Cartabiano of the Lingerie Football League’s Chicago Bliss, who pulled a Hester of her own a few months ago.

Here is the clip.

Many analysts have said that the Bucs need to improve their QB stable to compete for the division again this year.  However, what moves have the Bucs done that make someone think they are pushing to win the division this year?  Granted no team ever really completely throws away a season, and with some of their offensive moves they have gotten better at a few positions, but looking at how many holes remain on the team (and how many of those wholes were created by releasing veteran players) it doesn’t seem that the Bucs are looking to make a Championship push this year.

That being said, there are a number of coaches and GMs in the league that believe that McCown has the skill set to be a potential starting QB, and has already shown that he has the game management down, and is now ready to take on a larger playbook.  He has fairly prototypical size at 6-3 210lbs, he has shown that he has the necessary arm strength and accuracy to be a good QB, and in 2007 he showed over five games (three starts) that he can make good decisions, complete passes and not throw interceptions.

The problem with evaluating McCown is that most people don’t have much to look at in regards to his play.  His coaches in Tampa Bay are the ones that have seen him the most, and the Jay Cutler trade talks aside they have done the least talking about picking up other QBs so they must like what they see.

Looking at that 2007 season McCown put up good numbers in almost every category.  He completed 67.6 percent of his passes in 139 attempts throwing for 201.8 yards per game and 7.3 yards per attempts throwing 5 TDs to 3 INTs, accumulating in a passer rating of 91.7.  Granted, those numbers are in a system that has been cut down for a back up QB, so what can we expect him to do with a full season and a full playbook?  Well if we were to project his performance in 2007 over a full season he would throw for 3,228 yards with 16 TDs and 10 INTs, nothing amazing but defiantly not bad.

However, if he is the starter McCown will have more asked of him on a game to game basis and the question is whether or not he can handle it.  Looking at the stats that he put at as a back up and the offensive personal that have been gained since he played I am predicting a sold season out of McCown, specifically around 3400 yards, 18 TDs and 13 INTs with a completion percentage of around 62, which would give him a QB rating of 86.9.  This seems to follow the changes in stats that most back ups have in their transition to starters, the yards per game goes up a little bit since they are now trusted to throw more, but because of this the completion percentage goes down, and both the TD and INT percentages go up.

I am not sure if this is how I believe McCowns season will look, but this is what the number analysis is telling me, and if it is right then Raheem Morris will look pretty good for sticking with him.

The Broncos confirmed the move.

To acquire Cutler, the Bears had to give up quarterback Kyle Orton and first-round picks in 2009 and 2010, a source said.

To complete the trade, the Broncos had to give back a third-round pick in 2009.

The Bears beat out the Redskins, Buccaneers, Lions, Titans and other teams to get land the 25-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback.

I’m not to sure what the Broncos were thinking acquiring quarterback Kyle Orton, but I think the Broncos have a couple other moves ready in their arsenal to fill the starting QB role.  We love this pick up for the Chicago Bears, they now have no excuse that they don’t have a legit #1 quarterback.

Cutler and his agent Bus Cook are saying that there were not multiple attempts made over the last week and a half to contact Cutler from the Broncos, but at this point isn’t that what we would expect out of this situation?  Is anyone surprised that both sides had completely different stories on what happens?  You shouldn’t be.

So where could Cutler end up?  The Lions are supposed to be one of the leaders in the Cutler sweepstakes but if they are sold on Matt Stafford they can get him for one first round pick, opposed to the multiple picks or players they would have to package to get Cutler.  The Browns are a possibility because they have two QBs in Quinn and Anderson to trade that could start for the Broncos.   Eric Mangini might not be sold on either of the QBs leading his team and might welcome the idea of adding Cutler.

Derek Anderson is similar in body and skill set to Matt Cassel but then the Browns would have a bit too much money locked into their QB position with Quinn and Cutler (two first rounders) under contract going into the season.  The Bucs could try and get in on it, but I don’t know if they have the ammunition for this type of trade, namely because they don’t have a QB or a D-Lineman to give them, so they would most likely need to get another team like the Browns involved to land Cutler.

The other side of this story is what will become of Denver’s QB position.  They have Chris Simms signed to an oddly large contract for a back up (six million for two years, more than either Orton or Grossman got from the Bears last season), he has lead a team to the playoffs before, and was once considered a bright young arm in the league.  But he has only thrown two passes since his freak spleen injury after which he was completely shunned and held hostage by John Gruden as the number three QB on the Bucs roster since he returned from the injury.

If the Browns are involved in the trade for Cutler the Broncos could end up with either Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson as their starting QB.  The wild-card scenario is drafting a QB, possibly by trading up in the draft using the picks they get for Cutler.  Word around the league as of late is that McDanniels is enamored with Mark Sanchez out of USC.  McDanniels thinks that Sanchez’s mix of leadership, accuracy, and work ethic to be a top notch QB in the league.  However, he does come from the Bellichick team which is used to winning with 6th rounders (Brady) or 7th rounders (Cassel) so grabbing a QB that high might not be in the plan, but at the same time it might make McDanniels ok with sitting Sanchez behind Simms for a season.

Whatever happens I would not be surprised if it happens soon so teams can get their draft boards straightened out.