Man, I don’t think there has been a bigger disaster this year than the Bears. Yeah, they’ve won more games than some other teams, but no team had higher expectations than the Bears, and no team (outside maybe the Skins) has had the public meltdowns and locker room drama as the Bears. The Bears had a terrible defense last season but still managed a overall successful go of it with Josh McCown of all people at Quarterback. Most expected Jeffrey/Marshall/Bennett/Forte and Cutler to tear things up this season, and hopefully the defense would figure it out. Instead it’s gone in the opposite direction and the Bears are a nightmare. Cutler’s own OC called him out, then had to issue a public apology. Trestman has proven unable to adjust his gameplan at any level, the defense has gotten worse, and honestly if there wasn’t so much talent in the offense they’d probably have almost no wins. It’s not like they’ve beaten anyone good as it is. They did make a comeback against the 49ers, but that looks less impressive these days.

Now in the span of one day we get Marc Trestman finding out he’s going to be jobless at the end of the season, and deciding that he’s gonna burn some bridges and start Jimmy Clausen. Pickles. They are starting Pickles. Yeah, the guy who sunk Carolina so low they got the #1 pick and took Cam Newton. The guy who has the famous “kiss the rings” picture where he looks like the smuggest jerk to ever live. I know Jay Cutler isn’t playing well, but if you think Jimmy Clausen is a better QB in any way, I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve seen some arguments that maybe Trestman is doing it to get a QB who isn’t going to funsling it and follow his offense to the letter (After all, it made Josh McCown look like an all-pro last season) but if that’s the case why not start Clausen earlier? If this is an attempt to save his job it’s just another thing Trestman screwed up.

I’ve gone back and forth in my judgement of Cutler over the years. I think he’s better than most Chicago fans (And most general fans) give him credit for, and I think they don’t realize how much they’ll miss actually having stability at QB once he’s gone. He’s not as apathetic as I like to joke he is, either, it’s just a fun character the NFL fanbase has adopted. Certainly one I’ve had a ton of fun with. I’ve run out of big excuses for Cutler though. For a while I defended him much in the same way I defended Romo to haters, but Romo has the pedigree and the numbers to back it up. Cutler, at best, is the best QB in Chicago’s history. But that stat really is sad when you think about it. It’s not really a praise of Cutler, it’s a damnnation of all Chicago QB stability. Cutler has all the talent in the world but I think we’ve seen peak Cutler. For years I’ve wondered when he’d put it all together and become the QB god he was born to be. When he started on the Bears we could blame the O-line. We could blame his lack of offensive stability under a defensive head coach. But in the past few years, they’ve made a better o-line. They’ve surrounded him with unbelievable weapons, and they’ve brought in an offensive mind. He’s still the same Cutler. I don’t think Cutler will ever be anything other than the Cutler we have right now. He will always be Cutler. Cutler is Cutler. I won’t sit back and blame all the other problems for Cutler’s failures. I also won’t call him the whole problem and pretend getting rid of him will fix everything else as a lot of dumb fans seem to believe. I will simply say Cutler is Cutler, and the Bears should focus on other problems while keeping stability, but look for replacements as they go. He’s not the long term answer. But jettisoning him with so many other issues isn’t the answer either.

I hope he sticks around because I like drawing him. he has more Cigs with each go. I’m doing something different for Saturday this week, something special to line up with comic #300, so be sure to check it out.