Weather or not, Bears simply outclassed by Pats

For the last two years, Jay Cutler has taken more than his share of abuse for bad body language and even worse demeanor at the first sign of difficulty.

That Cutler reappeared Sunday at Soldier Field and he was hardly alone.

From the moment the game started the Bears looked miserable in the ferocious gusts and blinding snow, with corner Tim Jennings actually removing his face shield because of snow buildup.

Yet, the below zero wind chill had a warming effect on Tom Brady and the Patriots.

“We're very comfortable in whatever conditions we have to play in because we practice in it every day,” Brady said. “We don't go in our bubble very often. If it snows, we practice in it. If it's windy, we practice. If it rains, we practice.

“They don't cancel football games very often. This isn't baseball. You're out there in the elements and you've got to be mentally tough enough to play in them.”

After every three-and-out, Cutler couldn't wait to get to the bench and the heaters, while donning his parka and ski hat.

And after every New England TD, Brady neither took off his helmet nor put on a coat, merely sitting with his teammates, who looked as comfortable as they might on a warm evening in the South Pacific.

“It's one of those days that people would rather be cozied up near the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate,” Brady said. “But we work on Sundays and all of us are pretty committed to coming out here and trying to execute in tough conditions.”

Every now and then, Brady would pick up a ball on the sidelines and play catch with a teammate, staying warm and alert, while Cutler would slink to the bench, searching for an escape.

His offensive teammates were right there with Cutler, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere but playing football in Chicago in December.

The opposite was true of New England.

“It looked,” said Brian Urlacher, “like the weather didn't affect them at all.”

He got no argument from the Pats.

“We love this weather,” said Patriots receiver Deion Branch, who had 8 catches for 151 yards. “It kind of looked like (the Bears) were a little uncomfortable.”

It would be easy to say that this is merely cosmetic, that after a 36-7 beating, no amount of heart would have mattered, as the Bears were clearly outclassed by the class of the NFL.

But if you were unfortunate enough to be at the game, you witnessed a Bears team that offered more effort fighting for space near the sideline heaters than they did fighting to find the football on offense or defense.

And the irony is that this weather was supposed to favor the Bears.

“They came in here, our field, our weather, and they pounded us,” Urlacher said. “We didn't expect this result.”

Brady has had plenty of success on bad tracks like Sunday's, including the famous “tuck-rule” game in a blizzard against Oakland in January 2002, and on the 28-year anniversary of the “snowplow” game he shredded the Bears' vaunted defense to the tune of a season-high 369 yards and a 113.4 QB rating, keeping his team on the field for a ridiculous 39:41 with no help from mechanical equipment.

The Cover-2 was a dream come true for the underneath routes of Brady's bunch, while Cutler threw for only 152 yards on 12 of 26 passing, 2 picks and a 32.9 QB rating.

“We could have been playing anywhere on any field,” said Cutler, who also fumbled deep in his own end. “Their offense puts so much pressure on you. If you don't convert, if you don't sustain drives, if you turn it over, they're going to take advantage and make you pay.”

The Pats claimed to be unaware of Urlacher's claim last week that the Bears were the better team. Maybe he meant the best-dressed team.

“They were all bundled up,” said New England corner Kyle Arrington. “The guys talked a lot about it this week, how we would enjoy it. We did. We enjoyed the weather.”

Well, whether or not the bad weather factored, Cutler's probably right.

This had beating written all over it from the start, when the Bears' defense couldn't get off the field and the Bears' offense couldn't stay on it.

And now the Bears' hunt for respect nationally and in some cases locally is right back where it started, with the Bears craving it and an opponent crushing it.

To many, the Bears remain an extraordinarily lucky team that got a huge break Sunday when Aaron Rodgers suffered another concussion and the Packers lost in Detroit, and probably gets another huge break next week if the Vikes can't host the Bears at the Metrodome, forcing Minnesota away from a loud crowd and to a neutral site.

But leave it to Lovie Smith to sum up Sunday's events in true Bears fashion.

“We went into this game in first place in our division,” Smith said, “and we still are.”

Even in a blizzard, it wasn't hard to see that one coming.