Last night, the Chicago Bears showed us something. They had been talked up around the nation, including by yours truly, and they traveled to Lambeau Field hoping to get a quick jump on their arch rivals, the Green Bay Packers.
It didn't work out.
Where do we start? The Bears defense held its own most of the game. The Packers' first touchdown came off a gutsy, albeit gimmicky, fake field goal. They gave up points, but what team in this league doesn't give up points to the Packers?
No, the problem was on offense. It's easy to point the finger at Jay Cutler. It's almost impossible to throw 4 interceptions in a game and win. The Bears couldn't overcome turnovers, but Cutler's poor decisions and throws were the symptom, not the sickness.
The Bears have a very real issue, an issue the Indianapolis Colts couldn't fully expose in week 1. The issue is that they've decided once again in 2012 to line up possibly the worst combination of offensive linemen as starters to protect a quarterback they went out of their way to find. It's really very simple. The Bears offensive line sucks, and everyone knows it, including Cutler.
In short, Jay Cutler can't feel comfortable in the pocket when every play is a struggle to stay on his feet. The Bears are a very good team that's realistically a few players from being amongst the "elite" teams of the NFL. The problem is that those few players' positions all reside on the offensive line. Without a solid front five, no offense can function at a high level.
Chicago will compete with most teams they play, and they could even sneak into the playoffs with a wildcard birth, but without upgrading an embarrassing offensive line, they have no hope of making a deep run into the postseason. They need Jay Cutler, and Jay Cutler needs an offensive line. Without one, Cutler won't be healthy enough to play late in the season.
