The Bears Win again 31-20. Grounding the Chargers at Soldier Field

Bears win Fifth game in a row…Cutler may be out for the remainder of regular season

by Dan Peters

The Bears played the first of four consecutive games with the AFC West when they took on the potent, but stumbling San Diego Chargers. Early on it seemed this would be a low scoring affair. Both teams waited until the second quarter for their offenses to gel

"Last week when I talked to you, I talked about the defense and how they did everything to help us win the game," Coach Lovie Smith told reporters. "Today, it was about the offense."

Jay Cutler passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third, completing 18 of 31 attempts for 286 yards and a 97.0 passer rating. Cutler scored on a 1-yard lunge, capping a drive during which he completed 4 of 4 passes for 76 yards.

"[Cutler] came out poised and controlled today," said receiver Earl Bennett. "He ran the offense to greatness. We had a great game. He was just slinging it. The offensive line did a great job keeping him clean. We were able to get a couple of big passing plays."

"Jay did a great job of getting rid of the football, moving around in the pocket," said center Roberto Garza. "I thought Edwin did a great job stepping in and allowed us to keep going and doing the things that we've been successful at.

"It's tough to go on a five-game winning streak," Smith said. "We feel good about our 7-3 record. [But] we still have a long way to go. Oakland is a good football team and they'll be up next."

The key play of the game, The Bears were driving midway through the fourth quarter when Knox slipped on a slant route, Chargers cornerback Antoine Cason intercepted Cutler's pass and returned it 64 yards to the Chicago 16.

Jay Cutler plays defense

Cutler saved a touchdown, charging downfield to slow up Cason, who was eventually forced out of bounds by Matt Forte. Three plays later, safety Major Wright intercepted Rivers in the end zone. This very well may have been the play that Cutler injured his thumb.

"Maybe Jay's biggest play of the game came on that interception, buying time for Matt," Smith said. "Who would have thought we'd be talking about Matt Forte and Jay Cutler on a defensive play?"

"It's unusual, yes," head coach Lovie Smith said of Cutler's willingness to go after Cason on the play. "On the tackle, what do you do? It's kind of simple as that. It might have been the biggest play of the game. We don't want Jay to make a lot of tackles, but sometimes he has to. Sometimes he has to run also. That's kind of how it goes."

Cutler last missed time with in the 2010 NFC Championship game, when a knee injury kept him out of the second half of a close loss to the Packers. Backup Caleb Hanie came in for Cutler and went 13 of 20 for 153 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. The Bears lost that game, 21-14, and Cutler was wrongly criticized by many for not playing hurt when the perception was that he possibly could.

This time, Cutler finished the game and went about business as usual; Neither Lovie Smith or Jay Cutler alluded to any injuries during post game interviews. Rumor has it that Cutler was taken to the hospital for x-rays on his thumb. We will have to wait for the Monday press conference on Monday for confirmation.

To date, Cutler is 182 for 314, with 2,319 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The injury comes at a time when the offense and Cutler were finally working on the same page. Tonight’s game was probably Cutler’s finest to date.

Turnovers win games

Major Wright now has interceptions in three consecutive games, while Corey Graham, replacing the injured D.J. Moore at nickel back—picked off a pass for the second consecutive week.. The Bears defense will have to step up now and take control, continue to take the ball away as they have the past few weeks.

Defense has been a key to many teams in their playoff run, and the Bears should be able to rise to the task.

Shut-out in the fourth quarter

The Bears offense outgained the Chargers 106-0 in the fourth quarter, rushing for 58 yards on 17 carries, a stark contrast to the previous three quarters when they gained only 35 yards on 15 attempts.

"That's what you've got to do, especially in November and December," Cutler said. "You've got to be able to finish games. You've got to be able to run the football even when the defense knows you're going to run the football, and we did a good job with that."

The Chicago Bears (7-3) are tied for second place in the NFC North with the Lions (7-3), who rallied to beat the Panthers 49-35 Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit.

Next stop for the Bears on the AFC West tour.. The Raiders in Oakland on Sunday.

The best case scenario for the Bears not to put Cutler on injured reserve. This option would allow him to be available for a playoff run. The upcoming schedule for the Bears is also weak, so all may not be as bad as it looks. Hanie has shown he can play and nearly rallied the Bears last year in the NFC Championship game.

Bear down Chicago Bears….