Lots of Love For Jay Cutler in His Return

Dec 15, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) celebrates with quarterback Josh McCown (12) after defeating the Cleveland Browns 38-31 at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Be sure to check out Page 3 for a slideshow of the love that was shared between Cutler and the Bears.

It was an emotional day for Jay Cutler, returning from injury amid controversy.  He was bumping the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week to the bench, though you wouldn’t hear one complaint from Josh McCown.  Then the game started.

Cutler moved the Bears well on their first drive, getting them all the way to the red zone before he tried to get the ball to his favorite target, Brandon Marshall.  The ball was tipped up and intercepted.

Then halfway through the second quarter, tragedy struck again.  Cutler again tried to force one to Brandon Marshall, but the ball sailed on him.  Call it rust, maybe a gust of wind took it or maybe it was bad mechanics.  This one was intercepted again and taken back for a touchdown.  Things were looking grim for the Bears, trailing the Browns 10-3 with their playoff lives in the balance.  The Twitterverse exploded and fans were grumbling for Cutler to head to the bench.   Brandon Marshall talked about the situation in the post-game comments:

"“Well, you guys have been around him for a while now and he’s not going to show it. The human side of things, you have a guy in Josh McCown playing lights out. Probably playing the best football of any quarterback in the National Football League. I can only imagine the commentators and the fans back at home after the first and second pick, what they were saying. I’m sure they were ready to hang him. This team has been resilient all year, faced adversity really well all year and it was nothing short of that today.”"