While there were many things questionable about the Bears last night, the identity of their quarterback for next week’s loser-leaves-town match against the Packers is easy.
Bears coach Marc Trestman dismissed any potential quarterback controversy immediately after last night’s 54-11 loss, saying there was “no question there” Jay Cutler was going to start over Josh McCown in the NFC North-deciding game against next week.
While there’s a solid argument to play McCown, the reality is the Bears didn’t protect well enough to give any quarterback a chance last night. Cutler was sacked a season-high five times, and hit so often that the sack number seems low.
“We lost the line of scrimmage,” Trestman said, via Michael Wright of ESPN.com. “We didn’t do as good a job as obviously we’ve done at protecting Jay. He got hit probably more in this game than he’s been hit at any time during the season.”
Trestman wasn’t willing to pull Cutler last night until it was truly ridiculous against the Eagles. But with the season on the line next week, it will be interesting to monitor the situation, especially since it’s far from certain that Cutler’s the guy the Bears want to build their future around, given his pending free agency.