Chicago Bears, Jay Cutler Quietly Having a Decent Season

The Chicago Bears (3-5) escaped a three-game losing skid with a win in Week 9 while the St. Louis Rams (4-4) dropped one on the road.

The Chargers themselves aren't even talking anymore about a long winning streak and getting back into contention. The maligned signal-caller also engineered a late game-winning drive, capped by a 25-yard rocket to tight end Zach Miller.

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler broke the franchise record for touchdown passes when he found Martellus Bennett for a 1-yard score at San Diego.

How else to explain two sacks in Monday night's decisive sequence by an outside linebacker who has languished at the bottom of the Chicago Bears depth chart under coach John Fox?

"I think a good a lesson to be learned from this is control your emotions immediately after the game and go back and look at the tape before you jump to conclusions", Fisher told reporters Monday, according to NBCSports.com. "I really didn't have time to go with two [hands]". The one thing I've noticed in Pace's short tenure in Chicago is that he's always open to new ideas if they can make the team better. "We've lost a games in the fourth quarter, we've won a few in the fourth quarter", said Cutler. Top receiver Alshon Jeffery got off to a poor start, dropping a high throw in the end zone that would have given the Bears an early 7-0 lead.

Wait a minute, did they just say "get back into the Wildcard picture?"

"I couldn't happen to a better guy", Cutler said about Miller's success. "For him to come up with a catch, it was something special".

Phillip Rivers had another big day for San Diego in defeat, tossing for 280 yards and a touchdown. It was the first time in six games that he didn't throw for more than 300. The Chargers also got a Philip Rivers 14-yard touchdown pass to Danny Woodhead on their first possession. He finished the game with 142 total yards, a touchdown, and a key 2-point conversion.

Wide receiver Malcom Floyd, who had said in training camp this would likely be his last National Football League season, was escorted off the field with a serious shoulder injury in the first half, which left the Chargers with three wideouts: Johnson, Herndon and Dontrelle Inman.

If I had picked one player who would have been the hero of the game against the Chargers, Zach Miller might have been one of the last people I picked. Gordon is either dancing too much before reaching the hole or the holes are hard to find - or both. He had just a long of 5 yards to show for his work, which diminished greatly as the game wore on. Nick Foles is completing 58.2 percent of his passes for 1,478 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

The other Cutler locks on to targets, makes silly decisions when pressured and produces touchdowns for opposing defenses (see: Jason Verrett's pick-six). There is no timetable for his return. Brown had two rushes for 13 yards.