Chicago Bears: Despite Loss to Green Bay Packers, Backups Shine

Before this article begins, the obvious has to be gotten out of the way: The Chicago Bears lost to the Green Bay Packers and are now eliminated from the playoff picture.

The Bears have lost five in a row, the longest losing streak since Dick Jauron was head coach in 2002. Injuries have decimated the offense, with Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Marion Barber and Johnny Knox all out.

When Cutler went down, the Bears turned to Caleb Hanie, and everyone by now knows how atrociously that went.

Hanie, who was Mike Martz's choice for a backup at quarterback, failed to perform with any sort of success. For a month, he was trotted out by the Bears, who hoped the undrafted quarterback out of Colorado State could finally live up to the potential someone saw in him.

He didn't.

The last two years, the Bears have used late draft picks on quarterbacks. In the 2010 draft, they grabbed Dan LeFevour, who is currently a free agent. This year, they selected Nathan Enderle, who hasn't seen a snap yet.

Instead, against arch rival Green Bay, the Bears turned to Josh McCown.

McCown, who hadn't started an NFL game since 2007 and began this season coaching high school football in North Carolina, performed vastly better than Hanie ever has.

Despite McCown's awful interception—thrown to Clay Matthews—he still showed much better poise and ability to lead an NFL team in an emergency.

Personally, I'd be very happy seeing McCown stay as the backup next season, and I haven't liked a Bears backup quarterback since Brian Griese and Kyle Orton backed up Rex Grossman.

On the rushing side of the ball, the Bears have shown surprisingly quality depth.

The original game plan was to have Matt Forte be the feature back, with Marion Barber the change-of-pace back.

Kahlil Bell was slated only to appear on special teams, and Armando Allen was simply an afterthought, an undersized running back signed to the Chicago practice squad after being waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

However, on Christmas Day 2011, Bell found himself making only his second career NFL start, and Allen, his NFL debut.

Both depth backs had themselves solid performances.

Bell—who holds the NFL record for the longest first rush of a career, with a 72 yard run against the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009—had 121 yards on 23 carries, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Bell also caught four passes for 38 yards, averaging 9.5 yards per reception.

Allen didn't make any catches, but he picked up 40 yards on 11 rushes, averaging a solid 3.8 yards per carry.

In his first start since 2007, McCown also looked surprisingly solid against the Packers, who improved to 14-1.

McCown went 19-for-28, throwing for 242 yards, with one touchdown and two picks.

However, McCown seemed much more comfortable, making better decisions and really driving his throws, two things that seem to plague Hanie.

While the Bears lost, it's safe to say that all three of these offensive players will wind up getting long looks from the Bears GM for a role on the 2012 squad.

Hopefully, that GM won't be Jerry Angelo.