Jay Cutler's Broken Thumb

Jay Cutler injured his right thumb during the game against the San Diego Chargers. He continued to play in the game and actually had one of the best games of the season. The injury happened in the fourth quarter, according to sources and he went on to be 2/2 with the injury. Sources also say that he will have to have surgery and will be out 6-8 weeks meaning he will be back for the playoffs if Hanie can continue to win football games against a relatively easy schedule.

So the big question is whether or not the Bears can actually make it to the playoffs without Jay Cutler playing for the rest of the regular season. Hanie played well in the NFC Championship game last year when Cutler got hurt, but can he play that well for game after game during a season? He's very competent and knows the Bears offense well and has the talent to win games. If Forte can have some big games and the defense can stay strong the Bears can win.

The biggest key to the Bears continuing to win is that Devin Hester will have to return a few kicks for touchdowns. They need some special teams scores to cover for Cutler not being there. Points are going to have to come by creative ways like the defense scoring a touchdown so that the Bears can score enough points to win games.

The Bears gameplan is going to be a lot different, but they can win a lot of games with Hanie because their schedule is very easy for the rest of the season. The only relatively challenging teams are the Raiders and the Packers. The other teams are the Cheifs, Broncos, Seahawks, and Vikings. The Bears can easily beat 3, if not 4, of those teams. That would give them a 10-6 or 11-5 record. That's good enough to get the wild card spot and go to the playoffs.

Getting to the playoffs and making a run is possible without Cutler, but it will be tough. They'll have to change their game a little and fight for every game. When they get to the playoffs, Cutler will have to come back and play his best football if they want to win it all.