The Honeymoon Ends For Jay Cutler

And with one ill-advise throw as the clock dwindled down, the honeymoon period for Bears fans and savior quarterback Jay Cutler came to a screeching end. OK, so it was more like five poorly thrown passes, I think you get my point.

Cutler picked a bad day to have his worst game of the season.  The loss dropped the Bears to 4-5, and while Lovie Smith says the Bears aren't completely eliminated from the playoff hunt, they might as well be.  But unlike the Cubs, who should have put the horses in the stable (see: Ted Lilly's shoulder surgery), Chicago's football team cannot afford to do so.  Its first round pick goes to the Broncos this season, and how embarrassing would it be to see it be a top 10 pick the Broncos use to -- I don't know -- possibly improve at the quarterback position.

You want Kyle Orton back, don't you? I know you do. I've got the texts and tweets to prove it. Apparently, erased is your memory of Monday night's Broncos-Steelers game. Or the three interception game at Minnesota last season that was the beginning of the end of the 2008 Bears. Sure, Cutler has thrown more interceptions this season than Orton threw in his last two seasons in Chicago. But let's make one thing clear, the Bears would not have been in a position to screw the pooch in such a manner if not for Cutler's presence under center in the first place.

I'd like to encourage those out there who want Cutler's head on a stake to remember that it was No. 6 who single-handedly defeated the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2.  And did it again in Week 3.  A lot of folks out there are drawing the comparison to Rex Grossman, but Grossman never looked as good as Cutler has when all systems are go.

Cutler is reminiscent of your prototypical prodigious power hitter in baseball.  Think Dave Kingman.  His arm strength provides instant offense, but sometimes those big swings turn into big misses.

Cutler will take most of the heat for the loss, and it is deserving for the most part.  The Bears' red zone offense continued to sputter and that is one of Cutler's biggest responsibilities.  But without an offensive line and a running game, Cutler and his receivers might are fighting a short-handed battle.

And by no means should Cutler take all of the blame.  How many teams do you know that win games when throwing the ball 52 times?  Not many, if any.  Fifty-two times is a lot of times to chuck the pigskin, especially for a team that claims to come off the bus running.  This year, it's been more like a team that is coming off the bus, tripping over its own two feet and falling face first in a pile of dog doo-doo.

Through nine games, some of Cutler's numbers are scarier than Sammy Sosa's white-face routine.  In the three games in which Cutler has thrown for at least 300 yards, Cutler has thrown five touchdowns, eight interceptions ... and the Bears are winless.  In the Bears' five losses, Cutler has thrown 15(!) picks and only seven touchdowns.

In Da Bears' three prime-time games, Cutler has thrown three touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Not at all what was expected out of a guy who was expected to help the Bears win those kinds of games.  And somewhere in the NFL Network studios, Deion Sanders' "Prime Time" nickname is safe.

The disappointing thing about these stats is that they are not too far off from his career numbers.  In Denver, Cutler was 5-6 in games in which he reached the 300-yard plateau.  He threw 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in those games, but he's thrown nine of the 13 picks in the six losses.

So, what do we make of all this?

Well, for starters, Lovie Smith has got to go.  It's easy to say that after a loss, but when your team is penalized so many times you have more penalty yards against you than rushing yards for you at the end of the game, something is wrong.  Over the last three years, Bears players have shown a lack of discipline.  Tommie Harris' suckerpunch was just the tip of the iceberg.  Plays like that have happened before in Chicago, and will happen again if Smith continues to run the show.

Jerry Angelo, step right up to the plate because you're next.  No offensive line, led by a center whose skills are clearly diminishing.  Wide receivers who when they run the right routes, they don't finish them.  And when they do finish them, they drop catchable balls.  An offensive coordinator whose playbook hasn't been updated since John Shoop was let go.  A defense that is living off a reputation that has long passed its prime.

All that has come under your watch.  Fix it, or inform Ted Phillips and Virginia McCaskey that they need to find someone who can. 

As for Cutler, his failures are being blown up because he is no longer in Denver and is no longer hidden by the Rocky Mountains.  Welcome to the big show, kid.  The city is yours if you want it.  Or throw it in the lake.

At least it won't get intercepted there.