Jay Cutler's Thumb Injury Means Chicago Bears Have To Hitch onto Caleb Hanie

The fickle finger of fate is a funny thing.

Five weeks ago, sideline microphones caught Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler hurling an expletive in the general direction of offensive coordinator Mike Martz.

The Bears were 2-3, Cutler was getting mauled by opposing pass rushers and the team was light years away from looking like the squad that was a game from reaching the Super Bowl a season ago.

Something happened in Chicago, though, that was unexpected. Cutler took on a bigger role in the playcalling. Martz's quarterback-endangering offense was shelved in favor of an attack which featured shorter drops for Cutler, more protection and heavy doses of Matt Forte.

Wins began to pile up. After Sunday's 31-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers, the Bears were 7-3, winners of five straight games and squarely in the thick of the NFC playoff race.

The Bears are a game ahead of the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons for the final wild-card position as of today.

Cutler himself was in the midst of something of an image rehabilitation project. When wide receiver Johnny Knox slipped and fell, San Diego defensive back Antoine Cason made the interception. It was the type of play that would have often sent Cutler into full pouting mode.

But in an era when many quarterbacks job the other way after tossing a pick, Cutler suddenly morphed into Brian Urlacher. Rather than shy away from any potential contact, Cutler streaked downfield in a dead sprint and helped to bring Cason down.

Coach Lovie Smith called it the biggest play of the game, but it was the type of team-first play we don't generally expect from Cutler. After all, this is a guy with a well-earned reputation for being at best somewhat aloof or, at worst, an island unto himself within a sea of 52 other guys on the team.

The venom that was hurled at Cutler after he injured his knee in last year's NFC title game seemed like a distant memory.

That's when fate stepped in.

Just like that, it appears the party is over for Cutler—at least for awhile. Multiple news outlets were reporting Sunday night that Cutler broke his thumb in the win over the Chargers and will require surgery that will force him to miss six to eight weeks.

Just like, that, seldom-used backup Caleb Hanie will be thrust into the spotlight as the Bears' starting quarterback.

When Chicago visits the Oakland Raiders next Sunday, it will be Hanie's first NFL start and just his eighth regular season game since signing with Chicago as an undrafted free agent in 2008.

He hasn't attempted a pass this season, but he did take a few snaps mopping up in relief of Cutler in blowout victories over the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears.

His most extensive action was last January, when he played the entire second half of the Bears' loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game. After Cutler went down, Hanie was 13-for-20 for 153 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw two interceptions, including a back-breaking pick-six with a little more than six minutes remaining that put the Bears down 21-7.

Hanie's regular season resume is even less inspiring: 8-for-14 for 66 yards and an interception in seven games.

Behind him on the depth chart is rookie Nathan Enderle, a fifth-round pick out of Idaho in April's draft.

So the big question in Chicago becomes this: Will Caleb Hanie be the next Matt Cassel as an untested backup forced into action? Or will we be looking at another in a long line of Kyle Boller-type replacements?