As Super Bowl week approaches, we continue our countdown of the Chicago Bears’ biggest playoff wins of the Super Bowl era. They had 11, we’re counting the top 10 (Sorry Bears 16, Saints 6, you didn’t make the list). Where does your favorite game rank? You’ll find out before Super Bowl 60 kicks off on Sunday.
What made it possible to classify these games? I think it matters which team they beat. I think it matters how they won. I believe that individual performances in the game matter. Was it dramatic? Did they blow up the opponent? What made the game interesting or compelling from the Bears’ perspective? All of these factors were instrumental in determining how these games should be ranked.
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Number nine on this list was when Smokin’ Jay Cutler was on fire.
The 2010 Chicago Bears were somewhat of Lovie Smith’s last venture with the Bears. It was his last division title and the last time one of his Bears teams qualified for the playoffs. And of course, Lovie would be fired two years later.
But the 2010 club won 11 games and won the NFC North. They had a strong enough season to earn the second playoff spot. It was, of course, Caleb Haine’s NFC Championship Game loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game season, but before that game, the Bears needed a win to propel themselves into this game, and they did just that against the Seattle Seahawks.
This game ended 35-24, but it was a much bigger blowout than that score indicates.
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Jay Cutler had his best day in a Chicago Bears uniform as he was fantastic, earning his only playoff victory in a Bears uniform. He threw two touchdowns, including a nice strike to Greg Olsen for a 58-yard touchdown, and he ran for two more touchdowns. Cutler ran hard and ran over a defender or two on his way to the end zone on those runs.
The Bears dominated from the start, taking a 28-0 lead. Pete Carroll may have had a great career as head coach of the Seahawks, but he had one of the epic surrender kicks of this game, kicking a field goal on fourth-and-goal with less than 17 minutes of football remaining.
The Bears would lead 35-10 before the Seahawks scored two deadline touchdowns with less than 3 minutes to play.
Cutler showed he can make plays when the game counts, and one has to wonder if the second half of this game plays out differently if Cutler plays. If Cutler played and the Bears won this game, what would have happened against the Pittsburgh Steelers? And how much would it have changed Aaron Rodgers’ legacy if he never won the Super Bowl?
It’s certainly fair to wonder what a more stable environment and better coaching would have done for Cutler during his tenure here as the Bears’ quarterback.
