Bears Blitz

Published by Mike Chiari on November 30, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

He’s likely out for the remainder of the regular season with a thumb injury, but not everything is going badly for Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler. According to the Twitter page of actress and Dancing With the Stars contestant Kristin Cavallari, she and Cutler are engaged to be married.

The couple has had a well-documented, tumultuous relationship, as they were originally engaged earlier in the year, although the engagement was called off in July. They were able to reconcile, however, and they got back together in October.

Reuniting with Cavallari shows that Cutler has grown as a person, and that mirrors his growth as a quarterback this season. Prior to getting injured two weeks ago, Cutler didn’t have eye-popping statistics with 2,300 yards and 13 touchdowns, but he had clearly made great strides as a leader.

Cutler was widely criticized for failing to finish last season’s NFC Championship Game with a mild MCL tear. While much of that criticism was unfounded, Cutler had to overcome the label of being a soft player, and he has done that despite his latest injury.

The Bears have an incredibly rough offensive line, meaning Cutler has taken plenty of punishment all season long. Despite that he continued to push forward, make big-time plays and lead his team to victory.

Early in his career Cutler was all about gaudy passing stats, but I believe he has developed into a signal caller that cares about winning above all else. He has also learned to take care of the football, as evidenced by the fact that he was on pace for his fewest interceptions over a full season since 2007-08.

I think Cutler gained a reputation of being a “me first” kind of player, but I think he has finally learned to put the team above all else. The same can now be said for his personal life as well. I don’t want to speculate on why the engagement was initially called off, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Cutler’s attitude had something to do with it.

For one reason or another, though, Cutler just seems like a different person and player than he has been in the past. Because of this new-found maturity, the Bears no longer win in spite of Cutler, as they have at times over the past few seasons, rather they win because of him.

It certainly won’t be easy for the Bears to keep their heads above water with Cutler on the shelf, but if they can sneak into the postseason they stand a decent chance of getting Jay back.

I wouldn’t say that the Bears will make a run to the Super Bowl, but with the new and improved Cutler, they could certainly make some noise come playoff time. Cutler has proved that people can change, and his engagement is merely an extension of that.

Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com