Jay Cutler. Steelers lose.

I hate to do this, but the Steelers really did play well enough to win. Except for one. One player could have won the game, and didn't, while his Bears counterpart did. That player is Jeff Reed.

He knows it too.

Now I love Jeff Reed and I hate to blame him for a loss, and since I have a personal policy of not blaming the referees (not that that was an issue today) I need throw blame somewhere else. So in honor of this loss, I am making a new declaration: Jay Cutler is a Steeler-killer. Two years ago he tore it up against the Steeler defense and looked like an all-pro on Sunday night. Today wasn't quite the same but he still outplayed the Steeler defense.

I wasn't counting, but it seemed like the Steeler defense would get a guy or two in on Cutler only to miss him or just barely get a hand on him and see him escape to complete a pass, usually for a first down. I wonder if this is what it feels like to play Ben Roethlisberger? Either way, Jay Cutler more or less had his way with the defense today.

Did the lack of Troy Polamalu affect the defense's performance? Yes. Is it fair to use that as an excuse? Maybe. Cutler was finding the middle of the field wide open all day. Sometimes you wondered if the Steelers had simply forgotten to put in a replacement for 43. Still, I'd like to think that the defense can still win games without one or two players.

Speaking of, the Packers handled Jay Cutler, Jay Cutler handled the Steelers, and Cincinnati went into Lambeau Field today and came out with a win. Next week the Bengals are on the clock. Normally, as a Steeler fan, you kind of don't think about this game. But considering the chain I just mentioned, this matchup becomes a bit more interesting.

That's for another day though. One positive we can take from this Bears game is the improvement of the running game. Anyone else notice a few more holes opening up? Notice Parker breaking a few nice runs? Mendenhall improvising for a first down? All imprivements, and hopefully next week we can see even more from them.

Now there's a week to prepare for the Bengals. Bring it.