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.