Bears fall on their faces, into tie for first

The Bears' situation--they look terrible but they find themselves tied for first in the division--brings forth an interesting philosophical sports question: How much evidence do you require in order to have faith in your favorite team? What's your threshold for belief? Can the evidence be limited to fortunate geographic positioning? As in, being in the horrendous NFC North? Or does your personal sports dogma require more? Like, maybe, a certain level of talent, success, and all around good play?

All of this is to say: Are you excited that the Bears are somehow tied for first through Week 7? Or do you think, as Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth do, that it's all a mirage? Do you think it possible for the Bears to take advantage of their fortune moving forward, or has the Bears' pathetic performance the last two weeks left you devoid of faith in your favorite football team?

Me? I'm hanging on by a thread. The NFC's just so damn awful. The Bears get a bye (while the Packers face the Jets on the road) followed by the Bills. There's a decent chance the Bears will be 5-3 and still in first, and I won't be able to give up just yet. I mean, would that sort of be like leading at the halfway point of a marathon against Stephen Hawking, Rosie O'Donnell and my one-year-old niece? Would it be somewhat akin to leading a beauty pageant in which two contestants are revealed to be crossdressing men and another answers the question "If you had a million dollars, how would you use it to make the world a better place?" by coming down off the stage and stabbing one of the judges repeatedly in the heart? Yes, it would be something like those things. But still, first place!

Oh, I just thought of another good philosophical sports question: What the f**k is wrong with Jay Cutler? Seriously, someone tell me what the f**k is wrong with Jay Cutler. He looks like a rookie out there. DeAngelo Hall--who, I would like to remind you, plays for the Redskins--caught more of Cutler's passes than did Greg Olsen, and as many as Earl Bennett. Seeking to diversify his turnover portfolio, Cutler also fumbled at the goal line. It seems pretty clear that, along with the offensive line, the big problem with the Bears offense isn't the play caller (Martz), but the play maker. Or rather, the guy who was brought to the team to make plays but seems to do so mostly for his opponents.

You know who had a higher QB rating than Cutler on Sunday? Ryan Fitzpatrick. And Matt Cassel. And Jason Campbell. And Matt Moore. And Josh Freeman. And Todd Bouman. And Colt McCoy. And keep in mind, that's not a function of the Bears going away from the pass or anything like that. Cutler threw for 281 yards and a touchdown, good for the ol' QB rating. But four picks and a fumble? Not good. Not good at all.

Even the karma the Bears had early in the season (Calvin Johnson' non-TD, the Packers' plethora of penalties) seems to have vanished. A pick six by D.J. Moore was called back due to a delay of game. The Redskins fumbled like 700 times but got all but one of them back. Lovie wasted a challenge on a close play at the goal line which made him reluctant to challenge Cutler's fumble on the very next play. Wait, that last one wasn't karma, that's just Lovie and his staff being morons when it comes to using challenges.

It's amazing the Bears only lost by three. It felt like 30. Bring on the bye.

Let's end it on a positive note again: