The Rams are awful, and the Bears need to petition the league for more opponents like them. But if ever a team just needed a win, it was the lowly Bears , who avoided the longest losing streak in coach Lovie Smith's tenure. Smith lost four in a row twice in his first season, and the Bears ended a four-game skid by taking the gimme. Beating bad teams doesn't give anybody job security, but losing to them gets you fired.

Miscast QB

Nice to see Jay Cutler (above) produce a healthy passer rating (96.0) for a change. And he threw fewer interceptions than Rex Grossman (one) did for the Texans. In fact, Cutler didn't throw a pick for the first time in eight games. But on a day when Kyle Orton led a 44-point attack for the Broncos, you have to wonder if Cutler really likes the Orton-in-Chicago role he was forced into Sunday. Cutler wasn't the story, and that has to be a feel-good story given the way his year has gone.

3

Best defense

Wretched Rams quarterback Kyle Boller and the one-dimensional running offense prevented the defense from the indignity of repeating its seasonlong third-down failures. The Rams converted only 2 of 14 third downs, and that might help the Bears crawl out of their league-worst status on third-and-long. Holding the Rams to nine points was impressive considering the Bears didn't have any of the three linebackers who started the year. It also was a bad day for the Bears' special teams. Field position was a problem all game.