Did anyone see this coming? Did anyone see the Bears going into an opposing stadium and thoroughly dominating the home team? Seriously. Any home team. The Bears were underdogs by more than a touchdown and played like Super Bowl contenders. It was impressive. Rapid fire…

– Jeremy Langford is a star. Speed, toughness, the works. If you wondered if Matt Forte was returning in 2016, you can stop wondering. Langford and Carey are a solid 1-2 punch in the backfield.

– Jay Cutler just continued to do what he’s done all season, except Sunday he was able to pile up some stats to support his excellent play. What’s been most remarkable about Cutler’s season is he is doing all this with a makeshift offensive line and without his receiving corps ever being healthy at the same time.

– Shea McClellin looked as good at middle linebacker as he’s looked all year – attacking the line of scrimmage and tackling in the hole. Easy to see what Fox and Fangio like so much about him at the position.

– McClellin’s strip of Tre Mason remind you of anyone? Sure as hell did for me.

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• Upon further review, I have changed my mind about the biggest thing to come out of this game. Immediately after the game, I thought it was about their defense finally getting a stop and Jeremy Langford. Now, I think it was about Alshon Jeffery. He was awful at the start of the game, with a dropped touchdown, another dropped pass on third down and a pick-six that he should’ve prevented. He put the team in a big hole. In the past, we’ve seen Alshon disappear after those moments. Then something happened. It’s as if he grew up before our eyes. He was different. We saw him pounding his chest and talking after the play. He was pissed off and he was going to dominate. Maybe it doesn’t happen that way if Jason Verrett doesn’t hurt his hamstring, but I’m not sure that mattered. He just may have taken the step the Bears dared him to take by not extending his contract before the season.

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Call it what it is: This game was terrible and hard to watch. But, for the first time in three weeks, the Bears came out on top of the poorly-played game and there were a couple good signs. Rapid fire…

• There are two big stories in this game. Two stories that could have a big impact on the Bears future: Their defense got a stop when they needed it and Jeremy Langford looks damn good.

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• Before getting into football talk, I want to thank everyone who for their kind words after the passing of my father. It was obviously a difficult week, made more difficult by the Bears.

• We all want to believe the Bears are a drastically different team because they have John Fox leading the way instead of Marc Trestman, but in their last two games they have played almost exactly like they did under Trestman. I get there is a lack of talent, but they have just as much as the Lions and the Vikings, there’s no excuse for them to lose either of those games the way they lost them.

• If the Bears and the Vikings were to swap quarterbacks, the Bears would have the first pick of the draft and the Vikings would win the Super Bowl.  Don’t listen to what you read on Twitter, Bridgewater is bad. Meanwhile, there aren’t 10 quarterbacks in the league who are better than Jay Cutler right now. There may not even be five.

• So, why did Adam Gase decide to take Cutler out of the game for most of the first half? Look at the Bears first six games and they were at their best when Cutler was moving around and making things happen. I get that he didn’t think they could block the Vikings’ front four, but by continuously throwing slip screens, he gave them no chance. As soon as he stopped doing that, the Bears started moving the ball. It isn’t difficult to figure out.

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NEXT FOUR BEARS GAMES…

…are absolutely brutal. But they also allow this front office and coaching to evaluate young players in valuable positions.

• The Chargers are not good but they love to throw the ball and will throw for a zillion yards against this secondary.
• The Rams & Broncos defenses will be the best defenses the Bears face all season.
• The Packers are the Packers.

The Bears can play well for the next month and find themselves 2-9.

ONE THOUGHT ON JAY CUTLER

Interestingly his leadership is never questioned when he plays well. The reason? It was always bullshit. Jay’s problem is not personality. It is interceptions.

AROUND THE LEAGUE!

(1) Who have the Packers beaten this season that impresses you? The best team they’ve beaten is St. Louis and on that day Nick Foles kept throwing the ball to them. The NFC does not have a great team.

(2) Why don’t the Lions have 8-8 in them? Since 2001, here are the Lions win totals: 2, 3, 5, 6, 5, 3, 7, 0, 2, 6, 10, 4, 7, 11 and currently 1. While the whole league tends to spend most of their time in the 7-9 win range the Lions have only been in there twice in 14 years. They either make the playoffs or they’re awful. No middle ground.

(3) Todd Gurley is averaging more than 6 yards per carry. No other back in the top in the league in rushing averages over 5.

(4) Great late Monday night Tweet from Sam Farmer: “@LATimesfarmer: Luck is like a radio signal that keeps going in and out. We’ve got Luck. We’ve got Luck. Nope, we lost him again. Now, he’s back.” Colts owner Jim Irsay better act quickly or he will lose his star QB.

(5) Backup quarterbacks in the NFC are now 0-7 in games they’ve started. And people wonder why the starters get the money they get?

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Predictably boring. And for the fourth straight game the Bears were essentially dead even with their opponent, got a wonderful performance from their quarterback and the game was decided at the death. Rapid fire…

• Feel bad for Jeremy Langford. If he catches the ball, Bears can do no worse than overtime and knowing Cutler’s season, they probably win in regulation. Other than that moment Langford looks like a real back with a great burst through the hole.
• Tom Brady aside, Jay Cutler is the best fourth quarter QB in the sport right now. (Brady is the best everything.)
• If the Bears faced a better quarterback yesterday Mike Wallace might have had a career game. How wide open does Teddy Bridgewater need him to be?
• So how is Pernell McPhee’s sack on Bridgewater NOT a penalty? Isn’t that 100% always called now? He could have broken his leg.
• Fact that McPhee continues to produce with no help is astounding. How good is this guy gonna be when the opponent has to block someone else too?
• I think Alshon Jeffery is going to get his money.

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Social media was aghast yesterday in the wake of the Bears 37-34 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions. It seemed everybody wanted to assign blame. The truth is everybody on the Bears sideline was somewhat responsible.

• If John Fox doesn’t make a zillion mistakes managing this game (the most egregious, in my opinion, is detailed below) they probably win the game.
• If the Bears finish their drives down around the goal line, they win the game.
• If Jay Cutler hits Matt Forte on the wide open wheel route that looks destined for the end zone, they probably win the game.
• If the Bears catch a few balls they dropped, including pivotal ones by Martellus Bennett and Marquess Wilson, they probably win the game.
• If Pernell McPhee doesn’t rough Matt Stafford, they probably win the game.

But let’s remember. If the Lions don’t fumble two punts, the Bears aren’t even getting this game near overtime. Fans have been fooled by their quarterback’s heroics over the last three weeks into believing this is suddenly a good team. It is not. And we learned that definitively Sunday.

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• The Bears have two wins because they have a good coach and a good quarterback. You were told that they would win some games for that reason, I know you were because I’m the one who told you. (Pats self on back).

• Through five games in 2014, Matt Forte had 118 touches. Through five games in 2015, he has 120. I don’t know when we should start worrying about over-usage, but he looks damn good right now. He isn’t the only one getting the ball a lot, the Bears backup running backs have combined for 26 touches after totaling 42 last year. Fox wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted to run the ball, the Bears are 12th in attempts after finishing 30th last year.

• Coming into the game, there was a debate about which team had the better quarterback. That debate is dead. You saw on Sunday why turnovers aren’t the end all, be all when it comes to quarterback play. The guy still has to be able to make plays. Smith can’t. Cutler can.

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WANT SOME STATS?

• Offense is currently ranked 27th in the league (yardage) and 28th in the league (points). If you remove the Seattle game, they go to 14th (yardage) and 20th (points). They get even better if you remove the James Clausen bits of the Cardinals game but I think you get the point. The offense has been solid when Jay Cutler has played quarterback.
• Bears have the third best pass defense in the NFL through five weeks. With the players in their secondary, just sit back and applaud this coaching staff.
• Bears have the league’s leading rusher. They are 15th in total rushing yards. When is the last time that happened?

TEN THOUGHTS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE

• Nick Foles is horrible. When Aaron Rodgers is turning the ball over to your defense at Lambeau Field, you can’t respond by giving the ball right back. Fisher has a team that can contend. He has a quarterback that cannot.
• Seahawks were terrible against the Bears, should have been beaten by Detroit and blew a big lead to Cincinnati. Been saying for weeks this Seattle team isn’t any good.
• I’m not sure the league will be in rush to give Marc Trestman another job. #OrganizationalPoison
• Sean Payton to Miami rumors have begun. You know why? Because Sean Payton’s agent is leaking those rumors to anyone with the ability to text.
• Detroit just manages to be so Lionsy all the time. No team with Super Bowl aspirations goes so predictably winless.  (Will have more on Jim Caldwell in Friday’s game preview.)
• Never thought I’d say this but Peyton Manning’s offense is unwatchable.
• Pats are just rolling through the NFL with ease. Next meaningful game they play will be at Foxboro in the AFC title game.
• Oh wow, Brandon Weeden sucks? How would anyone have known that?
• Stockpiling crappy Tom Brady backups is not an offensive philosophy, Bill O’Brien.
• Guess Bradley / Bortles isn’t going to light the league on fire.

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This is the moment Cutler released the game-winning touchdown.

Jay Cutler never asked for approval.

He never attempted to win over the Lovie lobby when arriving in Chicago as Jerry Angelo’s big ticket toy. He didn’t give a shit that Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs were the big men on campus. He wasn’t going to kiss the fingers where the two keep their imaginary championship rings.

Cutler has never served up the mindless platitudes others do (especially the fella up in Seattle) in a desperate attempt to be media and fan friendly while raking in endorsement money. Cutler doesn’t care what the media and fans think of him. If he wanted to be liked he could spew things like:

My thing is, and I’ve always been this way – to get to know as many people as I possibly can on a personal level, so that way, when you get on the football field, you’ve got your buddy right beside you, and you’re ready to go. – Russell Wilson

When he shoved an offensive lineman for lack of effort or cursed off an offensive coordinator hell bent on getting him killed, he was too emotional. (He’s a brat! That’s not a leader!) When he didn’t scream and yell and throw his helmet after every interception, he wasn’t emotional enough. (He doesn’t care! That’s not a leader!)

I sat in The Billy Goat Tavern with Reverend Dave last December and watched Dave be drank, gargled and spit out by a gentleman bussing tables because Dave had the nerve merely suggest he DID NOT HATE Cutler. The forty minutes that followed revealed to me that in Chicago’s bloodstream lived a disease. If this disease was gonorrhea, hating Cutler was the burning during urination.

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