Should the Chicago Bears bench Jay Cutler?

Has it really come to this? Some NFL analysts believe that Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman should bench Jay Cutler. What do you think?

The 2014 version of the Chicago Bears is shaping up to be one of the worst Bears teams in many of our lifetimes. It's sad that a team that began in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys and has played in 14 Title games with 9 Championships has become historically bad.

The problems on this team begin at the top with the McCaskey family, then on to President and CEO Ted Phillips, General Manager Phil Emery, Head Coach Marc Trestman, his coaching staff and finally on through to the players.

The Bears are 3-6, the offense can't move the ball, the defense can't stop anyone, the team looks to have given up at times, so if there was ever a time for a drastic change this is it.

Marc Trestman already mentioned at Monday's press conference that there will be no coaches released from his staff. Trestman obviously isn't going anywhere, so should he turn to the back up quarterback to rescue his sinking team?

Is Jimmy Clausen the answer? Will he provide the spark to get this team out of its funk?

Jay Cutler's numbers are up across the board, but he's still turning the ball over at a high frequency. I mentioned it yesterday in my Number Crunchin' article, 'Cutler has now played 76 games as a Bear with 85 interceptions and 49 fumbles. Not every one of those 49 fumbles were turnovers, but the fact remains he's putting the ball on the ground way too much.'

Jay is a big reason the offense is sputtering, but is it time for a change?

CBS Sports Network runs a show titled 'NFL Monday QB' on Monday nights, and a couple of their analysts feel the Bears should make a change at quarterback. Rich Gannon, who played quarterback for Marc Trestman while he was the QB coach then offensive coordinator in Oakland from 2001-2003, had this to say about Cutler. I've emboldened a few key sentences.

It was embarrassing. This is a team that wasn't ready to play. They lost the last four-out-of-five, and they're coming off of a bye. They came out last night and they were flat. Jay Cutler was awful. He turned it over three times - two interceptions and a fumble in the pocket. It bothered me that they weren't ready to play... If I were Marc Trestman I'd sit Jay Cutler.

You really can't argue with most of what he had to say. The only quarrel I have is the conclusion he reached. He mentions twice that the 'team' wasn't ready and he mentions that the 'team' was flat, yet he concludes that it's time to change the quarterback. If he truly believes his own reasoning, then why doesn't that lead him to question if Trestman is the right man to lead this team?

Former 14 year veteran quarterback Steve Beuerlein, who never played for Trestman, had this to say about Cutler.

You have to consider (benching Jay Cutler). I don't think it will happen at this point, but the performance speaks. You look at the last two weeks. They've been down 45-0 last night, 45-7 to the New England Patriots two weeks ago. This is embarrassing. They are a talented football team that should be able to produce and score points. It starts at the top with the quarterback. He has to step up, make some plays and get this team in the right direction.

Does Cutler deserve some of the blame for those two lopsided losses, of course he does. But I hope Buerlein realizes that the Bears' defense did absolutely nothing against New England or the Packers.

The quickest way to shake up a team is to bench the starting quarterback, but does Jimmy Clausen give the Bears a better chance to win?

You might say to yourself, 'It can't get any worse', but if you really think about it, it could. It could be much, much worse.

Caleb Hanie, Todd Collins, Jonathan Quinn, and Craig Krenzel, just to name a recent few.

There may come a time during these last six games where the Bears have no choice but to bench Jay Cutler, but I don't think right now is that time.

What do you guys think?

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