The Bears were delivered a significant blow on Sunday with the loss of their franchise quarterback Jay Cutler. The question now is what this means for the Bears playoff chances. Former NFL player and contributor to The National Football Post, Matt Bowen, weighed in on Sunday Night with his thoughts on how the Bears might fare without Cutler and who needs to step up.
According to Bowen, Caleb Hanie will be asked to run the same offense but Mike Martz will also need to scale back the playbook. Hanie doesn't have the arm strength that Cutler does and you can expect to see a lot more of Matt Forte and Marion Barber. The defense will need to keep creating turnovers and give the Bears great field position. T The special teams unit is one of the best in the game, and they will also be called upon to help with field position and helping put points on the board. The most important area might be the offensive line. The line will need to create holes for Forte and Barber to take as much pressure off Hanie as possible.
If Forte can continue his great season and the defense and special teams can play to their capability, the playoffs could still be in reach. The next six weeks will show us just how valuable Jay Cutler is to the Bears franchise.
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