Cutler just makes everything better for Bears

The suggestion here two weeks ago was that Caleb Hanie’s primary assignment was to reduce Jay Cutler’s importance to the Bears.

Hanie’s performances, as well as his butt, were supposed to look so good on the field that Kristin Cavallari would leave Cutler for him.

Instead, the backup quarterback is making the injured starter look better than ever.

Maybe someone like Donovan McNabb could come here and persuade fans to forget Cutler. ESPN even reported Monday that Brett Favre said he would talk with the Bears if they phoned.

No word yet on whether Bart Starr or Jim Plunkett would.

Meanwhile, Bears coach Lovie Smith reiterated Monday that “Caleb Hanie is our quarterback.”

He added with a straight face and earnest delivery, “We have our quarterbacks here.”

The Bears’ current QBs are Hanie, Nathan Enderle and Josh McCown. Doesn’t exactly remind you of Joe Montana and Steve Young, does it, even if a Piggly Wiggly bag boy was No. 3 on that depth chart?

“We’re not looking on the outside,” Smith said. “We’re not going to have quarterback tryouts or anything like that.”

So Cutler figures to be all-world by the time he returns to the field.

Until Matt Forte sprained a knee in Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs, Hanie’s supporting cast was pretty much the same as Cutler’s was.

Yet now the Bears look like they aren’t contenders for the Hungry Muffler Beef Bowl, much less the Super Bowl.

Why does Cutler look so much better now? Because everybody else associated with the Bears looks so much worse.

Cutler’s mobility made the offensive line look good. His arm made the wide receivers look adequate. His presence on offense helped the defense look world-class.

Moving right along, Cutler made the Bears’ front office look like it put together a playoff roster and the coaching staff look like it was coaching players up to new heights.

Before Cutler’s thumb was broken, the Bears won five straight games, so everybody looked better than they were.

Here’s a little inside sports writing for you.

I had a column finished after the Bears beat the Chargers on Nov 20. It never made the paper or Internet because news broke that night that Cutler’s thumb was broken.

The theme of that brilliant piece of unread contemporary American literature might surprise you:

The 2011 Bears at the time were the franchise’s best team since Mike Ditka’s string of teams that included a Super Bowl champion.

Yes, the Bears of November were playing better than Dave Wannstedt’s team that won a playoff game, Dick Jauron’s that had a 13-3 regular-season record and Lovie Smith’s that reached the Super Bowl.

To me the Cutler Bears were better than all of them because he is better than all of their quarterbacks.

Saying this is the best Bears team over the past two decades isn’t saying much. Nor is saying that Cutler is their best quarterback over that period of time.

Still, until two weeks ago the Bears were winning when Forte played well and then when he didn’t; on consecutive weeks they beat the Lions with defense and the Chargers with offense; their special teams consistently complemented the other two phases.

Most of all, Cutler was making teammates look better than they are like a quality quarterback is supposed to.

Now Caleb Hanie is making Jay Cutler look better when he’s supposed to be making him look worse.