College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

I’m guessing the people who are in charge of making the NFL schedule felt that Cleveland would be a far better team. How else can you explain the Monday night-er tonight? The Baltimore Ravens (4-4) making the trip to the Mistake by the Lake to take on the Browns (1-7). These two teams are at the bottom of the AFC North and are far from any post season aspirations. Cincinnati leads the division with a 7-2 record and Pittsburgh trails the Bengals by a game. Getting back to the Ravens and Browns, the last time these two teams met was in week 3 and Baltimore cruised to a 34-3 win. A similar result is expected tonight. The Browns are so bad, management has decided to give quarterback Brady Quinn a second chance at starting. In three starts this season (including week 3) Quinn has one touchdown pass, three interceptions and has been sacked 10 times. The Ravens haven’t been great either. They started the season strong, but have lost four of their last five. Running back Ray Rice has been one of the lone bright spots for the team. He’s rushed for 573 yards, caught 46 balls for another 436 yards and has scored six touchdowns. You can be sure he’ll get a lot of work tonight.

If this game doesn’t get you going you can also check out some NBA action. Two young and talented teams battle it out as the Portland Trailblazers are in the ATL to take on the Hawks. Atlanta (8-2) has the best record in the East, while Portland (8-3) is number two in the West.

On the ice it’s on Atlantic division battle as the top seed New Jersey Devils take on the Philadelphia Flyers in the City of Brotherly Love. If the Devils win tonight they open the season winning nine straight on the road, tying a league record for most wins on the road to start a season.

Forget Deion Sanders. A current player has taken over the title of “Primetime”. Unfortunately for this player, it’s for all the wrong reasons.

Jay Cutler has played in three primetime games so far for the Chicago Bears, and each start has been forgettable for the man who was supposed to be Chicago’s football saviour.  It all began in Week One, when the Bears faced off against NFC North rival Green Bay at Lambeau Field. Cutler, in his Chicago debut, tossed four interceptions to a new-look Packers defence, and the Bears fell 21-15.  Skip ahead to Week Six, and Cutler was at it again, this time tossing two picks at the Georgia Dome as the Bears fell 21-14 to the Atlanta Falcons. And then there was last night. On the NFL’s first Thursday-nighter of the year, Cutler throws five interceptions, and the Bears can’t even muster a touchdown in a 10-6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

If you ask anyone watching those games, the Bears were the better team on the field. Not to say they were perfect, but Chicago could and should have come away with those wins. In those three games, Cutler has thrown three touchdowns and 11 interceptions. That ratio won’t even cut it in Cleveland. In Chicago’s non-primetime games, Cutler has 11 TD’s and six interceptions – three of which came trying to play catch-up against the Bengals in Week Seven.

In a discussion last night with some friends, I was asked if I’d rather have Kyle Orton at the helm, or Jay Cutler. It took me less than a second to answer: Cutler. The difference is simple. Jay Cutler can win you games, and he can lose you games (see Exhibit C – Week Ten vs. the 49ers). Kyle Orton can play games. He doesn’t win a game on his own, he doesn’t lose one for you – he just plays.

Any fan of the Chicago Bears has every right to be livid after watching last night’s game. Cutler tried to force the ball into too many dicey areas, and he was burned (picked off by a nose tackle? You’ve got to be kidding me). But before they go calling for General Manager Jerry Angelo’s head for making the move to get Cutler, consider watching the Denver Broncos passing attack. If Kyle Orton throws a ball over 20 yards, I’ll be amazed.

Chicago still has two more primetime games to go – next week versus Philadelphia Sunday night, and Week 16 versus Minnesota for the Monday nighter. For his sake, I hope Jay Cutler is able to handle himself a little better and cut down on the INT’s. If not, we may be looking at the NFL record holder for most interceptions in a season.

TWO POINT CONVERSION

- I don’t care if you hate both teams with a passion – watch the Bengals at Steelers Sunday afternoon. It will be the tough AFC North matchup the Ravens were supposed to give the Bengals last week

- ESPN’s John Clayton took a real chance when he predicted his Super Bowl match up earlier this week: New Orleans vs. Indianapolis. Wow, thanks for that John. Anyone can take the two undefeated teams and schedule them for the big game. Me? Right now I like the Steelers to play the Vikings

With Week Nine in the NFL almost behind us, I’m left wondering yet again how teams fighting for playoff positions can come out so flat. I’m going to leave San Francisco and the New York Giants out of this (today), and focus on Baltimore, and the pathetic NFC North tandem of Chicago and Green Bay.

Last week Baltimore completely dominated Denver, handing them their first loss of the season, a 30-7 drubbing. Yesterday they traveled to Cincinnati to exact some revenge for a narrow Week Five loss to the Bengals. Yet what ensued was 60 minutes of lifeless football – with the Ravens not even mustering their score until the fourth quarter. Cincy was up 14-0 nothing before the Ravens even knew what was happening, and they were able to set it to cruise control for the rest of the game. Joe Flacco was dreadful, going 18-32 for 195 yards and two picks, and Bengals’ corners Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph had his receivers blanketed all day. Forgot the Ravens competing in the AFC North – they’ll be lucky to make the playoffs if they keep showing as little fire as they did Sunday afternoon.

When Tommie Harris missed Chicago’s Week Seven game against the Bengals, the Bears were pasted 45-10. I said it then, without Harris and Brian Urlacher in the middle of the defence, the Bears are useless. Well, just four plays into yesterday’s tilt with the Arizona Cardinals, Harris had a brain cramp and punched guard Deuce Lutui in the face – immediate ejection. Arizona went on to score on its first sixpossessions, en route to a 41-21 cake walk. Head Coach of the Bears Lovie Smith took over defensive play-calling permanently at the beginning of the season. After yesterday’s debacle, it’s amazing the Bears haven’t pulled a Daniel Snyder and stripped him of the responsibility. Jay Cutler and the offence tried, but they just couldn’t keep up. The Bears are a complete mess right now, and sit three games back of Minnesota in the NFC North. And just think Bears fans, the team doesn’t own its top two draft picks in 2010.

And then there’s Green Bay. I don’t care how composed Josh Freeman looked/played in his debut – you do not lose to the 2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. No team in the NFL should have lost to this years’ Bucs, they’re simply terrible. But Green Bay, attempting to keep pace in the NFC North, allows a rookie quarterback to toss three touchdowns and lead his team to victory, even after they’d taken a 7-0 lead under three minutes into the game. Let’s just hope the Packers didn’t make people in Tampa all superstitious - or else we may be in for more of the creamsicle jerseys.

TWO POINT CONVERSION

- how can people consider New Orleans a better team than Indianapolis? New Orleans was down 24 points at half to Miami two weeks ago, and down 14-0 in the first quarter to Carolina yesterday. If they even try that in the playoffs, they’re going to get bounced by a team that knows how to finish

- I know Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger have both won the Superbowl, and they’re both good-to-great players, but Philip Rivers is the best quarterback from the 2004 draft class. Week in, week out he’s simply outstanding, and watching his game-winning, last-minute drive against the Giants was a thing of beauty