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Bears should admit their mistake with Cutler

The Chicago Bears are in complete disarray, starting at the top and all the way down the line.

Sunday's 51-23 loss to the New England Patriots was one of the most shameful displays by a Bears team I have seen in a long time. I was actually embarrassed as a fan.

The organization needs to acknowledge its mistake and move Jay Cutler at the end of the season. He's a talented kid, but it hasn't worked as expected.

I heard it all when Chris Carter said on ESPN before the game it wasn't just on Cutler because the Bears didn't have talent any other team would want. I agree with him on the defensive side of the ball, but how about Brandon Marshall, Martellus Bennett, Matt Forte and Alshon Jeffrey on the offensive side? They would all be claimed by other teams.

Marc Trestman is just too nice to be a head coach; he has offensive coordinator written all over him.

Bears general manager Phil Emery should be on a short leash too, but the unpopular and erratic Cutler will always be a stain on Trestman. The front-runner could only put up some points after New England played soft and the game was out of reach.

Mike Ditka picked the Bears because they had played well on the road, and he thought they would have some pride in a bounce-back effort. I was hoping he was right.

Hey, the season was over last week, but the coffin is shut now, with burial forthcoming.

Football not the same game:

The NFL, as I suspected, has turned into a flag football league interspersed with some illegal holding, illegal contact and pass interference calls.

The Indianapolis Colts- Pittsburgh Steelers game started at 3:25 and didn't end until 7 p.m.

Now ask yourself this: should a football games take 3½ hours to finish? People talk about baseball being too long, but what about football? The Bears game should have had a running clock after New England went up 38-7.

While the league has made wholesale rule changes to combat the concern over concussions, their adjustments have altered the game and made it predictable and boring.

Remember when you didn't know if the next play was going to be a run or a pass? Teams run now just for play action, and they rarely use the run as a weapon anymore. Even good running backs like Matt Forte and Kansas City's Jaamal Charles are more valuable as receivers half the time.

People are excited now because Pittsburgh's quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, threw for six touchdowns for their fantasy team - they don't even care if the Steelers won or lost.

Oh well, I'll still be back on Sunday to watch all the games. Of you're the NFL, however, you should be worried.

Program notes:

Follow me on Twitter@ north2north, and tune in Friday as I fill in on WLS 890-AM from 2-6 p.m. Catch me on Fox Sports Daybreak with Andy Furman from 5-8 a.m. Monday through Friday on Fox Sports radio, and check me out on iHeart radio or Foxsportsradio.com.

• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.

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