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

No, I’m not referring to the terrible 2007 Jim Carrey movie. 23 is the number of passing yards Cleveland quarterback Derek Anderson amassed on Sunday afternoon against the Buffalo Bills. 23 passing yards in a 60 minute game. Tony Romo had almost three times that amount on one play in overtime. Cleveland managed a grand total of six points on the afternoon. Pathetic. But, the Cleveland Browns picked up their first win of the season, a 6-3 decision over the Buffalo. This game was completely beyond my football understanding. Being away from TV for the Thanksgiving holiday and having to rely on a faint internet signal and the FAN 590 for my football coverage, I was almost sick upon hearing the stats of the Cleveland/Buffalo game. Derek Anderson completed two of 17 passes on the afternoon. The Browns rushing game torched the Bills for 171 yards, but they were unable to muster even a single touchdown.

The Bills, on the other hand, had 152 yards passing and 145 yards on the ground – and still no touchdowns. How can two teams be so incredibly inept? I wrote Friday night that Cleveland had only a 25% chance to go winless on the season, with the fact that they were playing the Buffalo Bills largely on my mind. But a 6-3 win? There is no excuse for that, for either team. Both of these teams have serious talent issues surrounding them, but they’ve crossed a line. I’ve never the rain of ‘boo’ last as long as Sunday afternoon at Orchard Park.

I’m done with the Denver Broncos for a while. Each week I examine how they’ll probably lose a game or crumble when their schedule gets tougher, only to see them triumph over my football beliefs. With back-to-back wins over Dallas and New England, I’m more than willing to give them a tip of my hat. But looking at their roster, I still don’t understand how they win games. So for the time being, I’m going to use some ancient wisdom I was once told: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

And so much for my game of the week. Atlanta completely demolished San Fransisco 45-10, with 329 passing yards from Matt Ryan and 210 receiving yards from Roddy White.  Monday November 2nd is a game I’m really looking forward to right now: Atlanta at New Orleans, with the NFC South lead potentially on the line.

TWO POINT CONVERSION

- I guess Matt Hasselbeck really does make a difference in Seattle

- even without having television: turkey/potatoes + NFL = bliss. Why does this only happen twice a year?