CUTLER STRUGGLES AS NINERS BEAT BEARS

Jay Cutler came to the Chicago Bears hailed as the franchise quarterback the team had been seeking for years.  It hasn’t quite worked out that way as Cutler has struggled, with his performance getting progressively worse.  He may have hit rock bottom on Thursday night in San Francisco, as Cutler threw a career high five interceptions as the 49ers beat the Bears 10-6.  Cutler is now the first Bear to have two games in a season with four or more interceptions since Billy Wade in 1962.  The Bears have now lost four of their last five games and are 4-5 on the year.  The Niners are also 4-5 having snapped a four game losing streak.

NFL football betting enthusiasts who backed the Niners as +3 home favorites brought home the bacon with their outright win.  San Francisco improved to 6-2-1 ATS while Chicago dropped to 4-5 against the number.  The 16 combined points scored went well UNDER the posted total of 43.  Both teams now have identical NFL totals records of 4-5.  
You know it’s a bad night for a quarterback when the opposing secondary tries to put a positive spin on his performance.  Niners’ safety Mark Roman tried to be diplomatic about Cutler’s 5 interceptions with this comment:

"I wouldn't say he was trying to force the issue. He was trying to make plays at a time when they needed a play to be made. We knew the ball was going to be in the air and we knew if we would be sound in our coverages we'd have opportunities."

To his credit, Cutler showed up at the postgame press conference and took his lumps:

"It was tough. I have to apologize to the defense. I think the offense as a whole has to apologize. They played a great game and kept us in there even through all the turnovers."

He also dismissed suggestions that the quick turnaround to a Thursday night game impacted his performance:

"I've played Thursday games before and been successful. It didn't affect us. We saw everything coming. They didn't have any surprises for us. We just didn't execute."

Niners’ coach Mike Singletary wasn’t exactly crowing about his offense either:

"We did just enough on the offense to win the game."

Chicago will return to action a week from Sunday as the host the Philadelphia Eagles.  They’ll hit the road to face the Minnesota Vikings the following week before returning home to take on the lowly St. Louis Rams.  San Francisco will play at Green Bay a week from Sunday before a home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.  They’ll be back on the road on Sunday, December 6 against the Seattle Seahawks.