Chicago Bears' Jay Cutler Unveils New Attitude in Wake of Loss

Jay Cutler is happy in Chicago. 

That much is clear after just four games. The formerly mercurial Chicago Bears' quarterback was downright jovial speaking to the media Thursday, despite discussing not only a loss, but one in which he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.

Cutler even admitted he felt responsible for the loss.

"Sometimes it's hard to walk into that locker room and know that I was responsible for four turnovers, Cutler said after Thursday's practice.  "It makes you feel bad because I thought the defense played their butt off, the offensive line did a great job.  It just puts everything in perspective of how important my job is to take care of the ball and I put ourselves in position to win each week."

That sounds a whole lot like a quarterback who's grown up a bit this season.  And also one who has things in the proper perspective to succeed.  Cutler's right, he can't continue to turn the ball over like he's done in the past. Not with the talent the Bears currently possess on offense.  But it doesn't mean Chicago becomes a "dink-and-dunk" offense either.

Brandon Marshall ‘Hip’ to the Chicago Bears Plans; Says It’s ‘Go Time’

If you’re looking for controversy and histrionics from your football team, you’re better off spending time in the Meadowlands with the New York Jets and Rex Ryan, because you won’t find them with the Chicago Bears.  Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall returned to practice after his four-day team-approved “vacation” and declared it to be “go time.”

Marshall raised eyebrows last week when he told reporters that not only was he struggling to find his place in head coach Marc Trestman’s new offense, but his surgically repaired hip wasn’t fully recovered.  Twitter’s feathers went from rustled to ablaze when Marshall’s excused absence was revealed the very next day.

Many jumped the gun to assume that the two events were related.  Not so.  Marshall had a pre-planned visit to his surgeon to have that troublesome hip evaluated.  The result should make Bears fans feel pretty good about the team’s prospects.

IMPACT ROOKIES FOR 2013 NFL SEASON-NFC NORTH

The NFC North is an interesting conference to try and handicap this year. 

The Packers have pretty well dominated this conference over the past years, with the Lions showing promise, and the Bears actually playing a bit of spoiler.

Now the Pack is retooling and the Lions and Bears are hoping they have found the pieces to make them a complete team.

Oh, and the Vikings are pretty well rebuilding, but they have some great young talent to go with All Day and the boys.

Oregon Ducks Head Coach Chip Kelly's Decision

The entire state of Oregon let out a deep sigh of relief once Chip Kelly decided to stay in Oregon (Okay, maybe not the entire state, but a majority of it.)  Coach Kelly has done a lot for the school and for the state.

The Oregon Ducks will be a highly ranked team and will be in the conversation for the National Championship for years to come!  He had two choices in front of him: the possibility of being one of the best coaches in the NCAA or being a rookie coach in the NFL.  This is actually a decision that I faced a few months ago (My decision did not involve millions of dollars, but there is a correlation.)

I was working for a technology company and I had been there for 6.5 years.  I was in a stride and I was doing great at my job.  Customers were happy with my work, my management was happy that the customers were happy and my cats were happy (I was working from home full time and they liked the attention I gave them.  But I am not crazy; they only talked to me once or twice.)  If this was high school football, I would have been on the varsity team (Maybe not the all-star quarterback dating the head cheerleader, but I was at least a consistent starter.)  Then I received a job offer from a large company.

They wanted to bring me in and I was very excited.  It was a great opportunity for my career and for me personally.   I had to make the choice: did I want to be a big fish in a small pond, or did I want to be “just another fish” in a large pond?

That is a similar decision to what Coach Kelly had in front of him.  With the success he has had with Oregon, he has a safe job for the next few years and he is loved in the school and in the state.  If he decided to go to Cleveland or Philadelphia, he would have had more of pressure on him and almost no job security.

 He would have gone into the pressure-cooker that is the NFL and become “another target” for the media members and the fans.  

Andy Reid to the Chicago Bears?

It was somewhat a surprise when after a 10 win season the Chicago Bears decided to part ways with Lovie Smith.  Smith became one of several “Black Monday” victims joining multiple other NFL coaches who were fired.  The question now for the Bears becomes who?  Who will be the next head coach in

Chicago?  What about Andy Reid?

 After 14 seasons Reid has been fired as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and several sources over the weekend stated that Reid was already attempting to assemble a coaching staff for a potential new team in 2013 in anticipation of his firing from Philadelphia.  Andy Reid to the Chicago Bears?

Devin Hester Considering Retirement After Finding Out Lovie Smith Was Fired

If you own the team you can fire and hire whoever you like.

Lovie Smith has had a lot of ups and downs with the Bears in his 9 seasons there, they wanted to move in a different direction and that is fine.

But, it is obvious they didn’t take the pulse of the team, because they seem devastated by the news.

Considering, the mercurial players they have on the roster, if they do not win immediately under the new coach I can see a lot of the players checking out mentally.

It might already be happening.

Emotional Devin Hester says he is considering retiring from NFL.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) December 31, 2012

Robert Littal

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Chicago Bears send head coach Lovie Smith packing after 10-6 season

The Chicago Bears surprised many of their fans on Dec. 31 when they fired head coach Lovie Smith after he led the team to a 10-6 NFL season in 2012. Some fans expected more of the club however after they got off to a 7-1 start, but then failed to make the playoffs. The team played well defensively during the season and many insiders feel the ineffective offense was the cause of the collapse. Smith leaves the Bears with an overall record of 81-63 after nine years with the club.

The Bears went into the last two weeks of the regular season at 8-6 and even though they won their final two games, it wasn’t enough for Smith to hang onto his job or for the team to squeak into the postseason. The Bears have been inconsistent since Smith led them to the Super Bowl in 2006 and will now look to go into another direction. The team suffered through several injuries this year with the likes of Brian Urlacher and Matt Forte missing games as well as several offensive linemen falling. But missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year was too much for the Bears ownership.

Chicago Bears' Brian Urlacher Says He Doesn't Care About the Fans

Ouch.

What more is there to say if you're a fan of the Chicago Bears. Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher has been the face of the franchise for years, and after the team lost to the Green Bay Packers Sunday, he gives the fans a shot to the jaw.

"Two of the people I don't care about: fans or media," Urlacher said to sports anchor Lou Canellis on WFLD-Ch. 32.

Don't get us wrong, there are probably a number of players out there that don't agree with the fans and/or the media. But in case you hadn't noticed, not many of them go out and say it publicly.

Especially not after all the two sides have been through. Ask any Chicago Bears fan and they'd say they'd defend Urlacher to the death. There are countless Urlacher jerseys throughout Chicago. Him coming out and saying this, at this point of the year — when he isn't even on the field due to a hamstring injury — just doesn't seem right.

These remarks come following the loss to Green Bay, where rumors swirled that head coach Lovie Smith out be on his way out of Chicago at season's end.

Chicago Bears: Will Lovie Smith Be Back If Team Fails to Make the Playoffs?

This looks all too familiar for the Chicago Bears, doesn't it.

It isn't uncommon for the team to get off to a hot start under head coach Lovie Smith, only to taper off at the end of the year to the point where the team is no longer in the playoff picture.

The 2012-13 season doesn't seem any different. The Bears started of 7-1 as their defense looked like the most special unit the league had ever seen. They went on runs of not only stopping their opponents, but outscoring them.

Now, they're struggling to even take the ball away. Sure, they still lead the league with 35 takeaways, but have just seven over the course of their past five games. They've also been a poor tackling team of late, allowing 204 yards after contact in their two most recent losses — the defense allowed a total of 692 yards after contact in Weeks 1-12.

Current personnel may be the issue, as Brian Urlacher and Tim Jennings have been inactive of late, but injuries are never an excuse in the NFL. Smith is a defensive minded coach, so any fault in the defense falls on him. Yes, Rod Marinelli is the team's defensive coordinator, but Smith oversees what the unit as a whole is doing.

They're losing because they aren't playing situational football, an issue that falls to Smith.

Adrian Peterson Runs All Over Chicago Bears in 21-14 Minnesota Vikings Win

Adrian Peterson continues to amaze week in and week out.

When the Minnesota Vikings have the ball, teams could put 11 guys in the box and he's still run wild.

Everyone knows he's getting the ball, and he's still able to accumulate big, timely plays for his team.

It started on the first play from scrimmage. Peterson went right up the middle, through the secondary and was taken down 51 yards later.

"The guy's unbelievable," Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder said of his star running back. "I don't know if he's human or not."

Peterson topped 100 yards before the first quarter was over and is about 400 yards away from a 2,000 yard rushing season.

"I think about it," Peterson said of 2,000 yards. "I don't try to think about it too much. I feel like it will happen. It's obvious we're going to continue to run the ball and the chips will fall where they may."

Russell Wilson leads Seattle to late win against Chicago

The Chicago Bears needed to keep Jay Cutler upright if they were going to defeat the Seattle Seahawks.

They did that but it was their defense who could not contain Seattle’s Russell Wilson late in Sunday’s game.

Earlier in the week, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said that the training wheels were off of the offense. Wilson attempted a career high 37 passes against the Bears.

Seattle entered the day 1-5 on the road but found a way to defeat the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field by a score of 23-17. The key to the win may have been the scrambling of Wilson as he repeatedly

Brandon Marshall Says He Love The Swagger Of Seattle’s CB’s

The Seattle Seahawks have a pair of cornerbacks who are big, physical and love to talk the talk.

The Chicago Bears have one of the games premier wide receivers, and he enjoys talking the talk also.

Something has to give on Sunday, it will turn out to be a very physical chatter field contest.

The combatants at least respect each other, and according to NFL.com, Marshall can appreciate their swagger.

Lovie Smith noncommital on status of Jay Cutler following concussion

On Monday, Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith could not answer questions about the status of the teams quarterback Jay Cutler. Smith did offer that the Bears quarterback is “getting better” and said that

Cutler has shown no ill effects from the concussion that knocked him out of Sunday nights game against Houston.

When asked about the performance of backup quarterback Jason Campbell, Smith said, “None of us played well enough to win.”

Campbell was 11-for-19 for 94 yards after replacing Cutler in the second quarter.

Smith did mention that the Bears believe Cutler was injured on the hit by Houston’s Tim Dobbins. Prior to leaving the game Cutler was 7-for-14 for 40 yards with two interceptions.

Ranking the NFC Division Leaders: Who has what it takes to make it to the Super Bowl?

The NFC has been demonstrably better than the AFC this season, and the playoff chase looks to be much more heated.  Right now, there are 5 teams with 6 or more wins, including the only remaining remaining unbeaten team in the regularly criticized Atlanta Falcons.  What really makes it interesting is once you get past the teams with 6 wins, there are 5 other teams at .500 or better who are fighting, at this point, for that 6th spot.  It's going to be a lot of fun to see who can hold on.

1. Atlanta Falcons NFC South Division Leader

The Falcons are not a perfect team, as has been pointed out repeatedly by the pundits.  What they are, however, is unbeaten and coming off another road win.  They have a good defense that is #3 in points against in the NFC, while it continues to search for a consistent pass rush.  They have a very good secondary, and a solid front 7 that plays a physical brand of football and does enough to give the ball back to Matt Ryan and the Offense.  The offense is as loaded, at the skill positions, as any in football.  Ryan does not get much love as a top-flight QB, but if he is not there, he is not far behind.  He has a pair of solid back in the physical Michael Turner, and the waterbug Jaquizz Rodgers.  He has the best receiving Tight End in the history of the NFL in Tony Gonzalez, and likely the best set of Wide Receivers in the league with Roddy White and the beastly Julio Jones providing the deep threats to keep defenses honest.  Flat out, they are #1 until someone beats them.