The season just keeps getting uglier for the Chicago Bears (4-7) as they were embarrassed by Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings (10-1) Sunday.  The Bears were able to keep it close for the first quarter and a half, but the Favre and the Vikings found their rhythm and it was all she wrote from there.  The Vikings had a 24-7 halftime lead, a manageable deficit, but the Bears only managed a field goal in the second half and were blown out.  Jay Cutler had another terrible game, throwing 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions for 147 yards on 18/23 passes.  That brings Cutler’s interception total to 20 for the season, which already eclipses his career high even though they have only played 11 games this season.  Matt Forte also continued his disappointing season, rushing for only 27 yards on 8 carries.

The Bears defense has been doing their best to keep them in games this season, but they were not ready for the Vikings high-powered offense.  They let Favre have one of his best games of the season, as he threw for 3 touchdowns and 392 yards on 32/48 passes.  They got very little pressure on Favre and he was able to sit back and pick apart the Bears’ secondary.  They did do a decent job on Adrian Peterson, but he still finished the game with 85 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.  The Bears’ looked like they lost this game before it even started and they added another embarrassing blowout to their embarrassing season.

The Chicago Bears (4-6) have been quite a disappointment this year and they will be taking that disappointing play to the Metrodome against the Minnesota Vikings (9-1).  The Bears will be facing an old rival in Brett Favre, who is having a great year for the Vikings.  The Bears are holding teams to under 200 passing yards per game, but they are giving up too much on the ground.  That doesn’t give me too much confidence in the Bears, especially since the Vikings have Adrian Peterson who is the best running back in the game.  Hopefully for the Bears, Favre will fall into some of his old habits and throw some erratic passes that turn into interceptions.  If the Bears don’t get some turnovers, I don’t think they will have a chance in this one.

The Bears’ offense has been flat out embarrassing lately, most notably quarterback Jay Cutler.  Cutler has 18 interceptions this season and a lot of them have been coming in the red-zone.  Cutler needs to snap out of the funk he is in or this game could get ugly for the Bears.  It will not be easy for Cutler since the Vikings have a very strong defense led by Jared Allen.  Allen has been a quarterback’s nightmare this season and Cutler doesn’t need any more reasons to doubt himself.  The Bears have been on a downward spiral and I don’t see them all of sudden playing great, because they will need to play great if they want to even come close to winning this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Minnesota Vikings 31, Chicago Bears 17

The Bears really found themselves a player when they picked 23-year old WR Johnny Knox out of Abilene Christian in the fifth round of last April’s NFL Draft.  Knox has played in all 10 games for the Bears this season and he has caught 32 passes for 376 yards (11.8 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Knox has also excelled on special teams as he has returned 25 kickoffs for 699 yards (28.0 avg) with a TD return (102 yarder).  It’s good drafting to find a guy in the fifth round that is averaging 107.5 all purpose yards per game in his rookie season.  The Bears have high hopes for Knox in the future.

Once again Jay Cutler struggled for the Chicago Bears (4-6) and they fell to the Philadelphia Eagles (6-4) at home Sunday.  Cutler did not look very confident out there and was missing open receivers all game.  He overthrew Devin Hester and Johnny Knox on what would have been two definite touchdowns.  He ended up with 1 touchdown and 1 interception while throwing for 171 yards on 24/43 attempts, which is a pathetic 4 yard average.  Matt Forte also continued his disappointing sophomore season, rushing for only 34 yards on 14 carries.  Kahlil Bell was one of the few bright spots for the Bears, as the rookie got the first action of his career.  He had a big 72 yard run and finished with 81 yards on 4 carries.  Kellen Davis had the lone touchdown for the Bears.

The Bears defense wasn’t great either.  They gave up 157 rushing yards and let the Eagles comeback in the 4th quarter after the Bears took a slight lead at the end of the third.  They also gave up 2 passing touchdowns to Donovan McNabb, as he finished with 244 passing yards on 23/32 attempts.  Zack Bowman did intercept McNabb, but ultimately the Bears’ defense needed to play great for them to win, especially with Cutler playing so poorly.  The disappointment continues for the Chicago Bears this season and Lovie Smith may be out soon.

The Chicago Bears (4-5) have been terrible lately and will be trying to salvage their season as they host the Philadelphia Eagles (5-4) on Sunday.  The Eagles have not been playing well lately either, so the Bears may have a chance despite their two terrible losses in a row.  Jay Cutler needs to stop throwing interceptions, as it is getting a little ridiculous.  With all the Cutler hype and money given to Cutler coming into this season, it is unacceptable the way he has played.  Rex Grossman played better for the Bears than what Cutler has shown lately.  The 5 interceptions was embarrassing last week, and only putting 6 points on the board against a .500 team was pathetic.  I’m guessing Cutler will be throwing a bunch of screen passes to Matt Forte again, as that is the only positive thing that has come out of the Bears’ offense lately.  Forte caught 8 passes for 120 yards last week, so hopefully for the Bears’ sake they can continue that success.

The Bears defense played well last week, but with the offense as bad as it is they weren’t given much of a chance.  The Eagles are still without Brian Westbrook, so LeSean McCoy will be the starting running back for the Eagles.  He probably wont get too many carries anyway though, as McNabb has to throw the ball a lot for the Eagles to put points up.  This could be a pretty ugly game, as both teams have been pretty bad lately.  I’ve been pretty fannish in my Bear’s picks this year, but I have lost all faith in them (especially Cutler) so I am going with the Eagles.  Who knows though, Cutler could decide to show up and put his money where his offseason mouth was and finally have a good game.  I wouldn’t bet on it though.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Philadelphia Eagles 28, Chicago Bears 24

27-year old Devin Hester is starting to improve as a WR right before our very eyes.  He has played in 9 games this season for the Bears and he has caught 48 passes for 596 yards (12.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Hester was a cornerback when he came into the NFL but he wasn’t getting much P.T. which caused him to want to try WR and the results have been pretty good.  Hester also has returned 17 punts for 169 yards (10.0 avg) this season and 1 kickoff for 26 yards.  The Bears really need Hester to keep up the good work at WR.

Rex Grossman played six years for the Bears playing in 29 games in which he completed 521 of 962 passes (54.2%) for 6,164 yards with 33 TD passes and 35 INTs (70.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 55 times for 180 yards (3.3 ypc) with 3 TD runs in Chicago.  He is currently the #3 QB for the Houston Texans.  It appears that his ghost must be in Jay Cutler’s locker.  Cutler has completed 211 of 338 passes (62.4%) for 2,353 yards with 14 TD passes and 17 INTs (76.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 24 times for 111 yards (4.7 ypc) with 1 TD run so far this year.  Cutler has a lot of similarities to Grossman as they both have a strong arm on completing deep passes but they also throw the ball into a lot of coverage resulting in pickoffs.  It’s too bad that Matt Forte isn’t playing better because I would suggest that the Bears to play more conservative in a attempt to soothe Cutler’s psyche.

The Chicago Bears (4-5) lost a very ugly game to the San Francisco 49ers (4-5) on Thursday night.  Going into this contest I thought both offenses would finally wake up against two defenses that had been struggling, but it was the opposite.  The Bears offense was awful, and it was mostly due to Jay Cutler who gave this game to the 49ers.  He threw the ball all over the place, trying to force it into places where there were two and sometimes three 49ers defenders waiting.  Cutler threw a career high 5 interceptions, including two in the red zone.  His second red-zone interception ended the game, as it came after he drove the Bears to the 49ers 12-yard line with 13 seconds left.  Cutler finished the game with 307 yards with 0 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on 29/52 attempts.  Most of those passing yards were racked up by Matt Forte, catching and running.  Forte was the most effective receiver, catching 8 passes for 120 yards.  He sucked in the running game once again though, getting only 41 yards on 20 carries.

The Bears defense did what they could to keep the Bears in the game, but the 5 turnovers by Cutler and the offense made it a tough task.  They did a great job shutting down the passing game.  The 49ers’ quarterback Alex Smith had no touchdowns and Bears’ cornerback Zack Bowman intercepted Smith before leaving the game with an abdominal injury.  Smith only had 118 yards on 16/23 attempts. 49ers’ running back Frank Gore got too much though, and the Bears could not contain him.  He bulled through Bears’ defenders all game and finished with 104 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.  The Bears’ playoff chances are pretty much done and I put more of the blame on Cutler than Lovie Smith.  I must admit, I was a victim to the Jay Cutler hype going into this season.  It’s now pretty evident that he is not the Bear’s savior like many thought.  I don’t know if Cutler has trouble reading defenses or just doesn’t prepare well enough, but it seems to me that he is nothing more than a cocky guy with a strong arm and not a true quarterback.

The Chicago Bears (4-4) and San Francisco 49ers (3-5) are playing Thursday night on the NFL Network.  Both teams have been under-performing after promising starts, and their playoff chances are slipping away.  The Bears defense was embarrassed last week against the Cardinals, who put up 41 points on the Bears.  The Cardinals have lost four in a row and the Bears have lost their last three out of four games.  Bears’ legend Mike Singletary is the head coach of the 49ers, and this will be his first game against his former team.

The Bears defense needs to get their act together, but they do not have as big of a challenge this week against the 49ers.  Tommie Harris can hopefully keep his cool and not punch anyone in this game, as the Bears sorely missed Harris on Sunday after his early ejection.  The 49ers quarterback Alex Smith has been struggling though, so the Bears defense may be able to get back on track tomorrow night.  He had three interceptions and two fumbles last game, so a turnover or two should be expected for the Bears defense.  The Bears don’t have to worry too much about Smith, but they do need to worry about Frank Gore and not just in the running game.  Gore had 158 total yards last week, with 75 coming in the passing game.  Both teams are desperate for a win, but I think Jay Cutler is going to step up in this game and finally lead the Bears the way he should.  The 49ers give up 241 passing yards per game, which makes me think even more that Cutler will have a big game and lead the Bears to a win.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Chicago Bears 31, San Francisco 49ers 24

If the Bears are going to make a run at the playoffs this season Jay Cutler has to step up.  He has completed 182 of 286 passes (63.6%) for 2,046 yards with 14 TD passes and 12 INTs (83.8 QB Rating).  Cutler has also carried the ball 23 times for 109 yards (4.7 ypc) with 1 TD run so far this season.  Cutler is probably regretting crying like a baby and forcing the Broncos to trade him as there is no Brandon Marshall or Eddie Royal to throw to in Chicago.  Cutler has all of the tools to be a elite QB as he has one of the strongest arms in the NFL he just needs to be smarter when he is throwing the ball.  The Bears will only go as far as Cutler will take them this season so he needs to step up and put the rest of the team on his back and carry them where they want to go.