The Chicago Bears pulled off a huge win against the Baltimore Ravens in some scary weather last weekend to pull even for the lead in the NFC North division race and now the team looks to try and stay in the race as they take on the st. Louis Rams on the road in Week 12 at the Edward Jones Dome in a game that will be streaming online live at 1:00 PM and on TV from FOX on Sunday.
The Bears have been able to win games without Jay Cutler in the lineup and on Sunday it will be Josh McCown under center again for Chicago when they hit the road against the Rams and he has been playing very well for the team, leading them to wins over the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens. Last week's game was a slopfest in the rain and it likely was better that the banged up Cutler was out of harm's way, as he had to leave the previous game against the Detroit Lions with an ankle injury. This all came after he missed time with a groin injury and with McCown playing so well, it might be in the best interest for Marc Trestman to keep playing his hot hand until Cutler is fully healthy. In the loss against the Lions the team had a tough time protecting Cutler and against the Ravens on Sunday he ended up having to leave the game and McCown was the quarterback that led the team to victory in overtime.
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Cutler has been banged up all year and heading into free agency he has 1,908 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season and he said to reporters that his injury could keep him out longer than expected. McCown has won the two games he has started and on Sunday he passed for 216 yards and he had some great throws in overtime, including a 43-yard pass to Martellus Bennett that set up the game winning score. McCown has been playing well all year and some have called for him to be named the starter and he has 754 passing yards and five touchdowns passes with zero interceptions and he has been necessary for the Bears, as Cutler has not played a full game since the win over the Giants and now he will be out at least for another week and it could be longer.
The big question for Trestman comes if McCown keeps winning and whether he will stick with his backup or if he will go back to Cutler once he is healthy enough to play. The field was a mess last weekend and now the Bears will not have to worry about that have to worry about that at all, as their next two games are in domes against the St. Louis Rams and then the Minnesota Vikings and that second game in Week 13 is his target date for returning. The Bears are right in the thick of things again after winning on Sunday and couple with the Detroit Lions loss to the Steelers, the two teams are tied atop the NFC North. The Bears need to keep winning though, since they have lost twice against the Lions already this season as they head into the back stretch.
Starting this week the team plays four road games in five weeks and the lone home matchup at Soldier Field is a Monday night football game with the Dallas Cowboys that will be crucial for both teams. The team plays the Rams, Vikings and Cowboys and after that is a road game against the Cleveland Browns and a game against the Eagles in Philly. The last game of the season is a home matchup with the Green Bay Packers, another team that is dealing with quarterback issues. This season Trestman has used Matt Forte brilliantly and he is one of the league leaders in total yards and he has 774 yards rushing and seven touchdowns this season.
