The Bears won their fifth straight game last night, but Jay Cutler, their quarterback, is down for around 6 weeks with a fractured thumb on his throwing hand. What’s crazy about it is that no one knew until after the post-game press conferences. Peter King explains how it went down:
Early in the fourth quarter of Chicago’s 31-20 win over the Chargers, Cutler threw an interception to Antoine Cason. Trying to tackle Cason near the sideline, Cutler flailed at him while being blocked, and his right hand slammed on the ground. When Cutler got up, he looked at his hand and flexed it a couple of times. But he stayed in the game and finished, throwing two more passes. After the Bears’ fifth straight win (and third straight game scoring in the thirties — the first time the Bears have done that since 2005), Cutler greeted some Chargers on the field as he normally does with foes after game. Nothing said about a sore thumb. A Bears’ PR man escorted Cutler to talk with NBC Sports’ Alex Flanagan. Nothing said about a sore thumb. Cutler showered and did his local press conference. Nothing said about a sore thumb. Coach Lovie Smith did his press conference. Nothing said about a sore thumb for Cutler.
Cutler had gotten a lot of shit about his injury during the NFC championship last year, so he probably felt the need to act a little tougher, but this is kinda crazy.
Now, I don’t think the season is dead. In fact, I think the Bears have a pretty good chance to make the playoffs. They play five bad teams and one great team. Going 3-3 puts them in good position and going 4-2 should secure them a spot. I’m probably being overly optimistic, but I think this will be a great finish to the season and the Bears will end up the top wild card spot.
Update (11/21/11): If you’d like to know more about Caleb Hanie, Cutler’s backup, National Football Post has a good summary. He had a really good preseason, which is part of the reason I’m optimistic.