It’s old news by now, but we thought it was worth bringing up once again …

In an interview last week with Michael Silver from Yahoo! Sports, injured Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher wondered the same thing we have about his team’s quarter back situation.

How could a Bears team that went 9-7 with Kyle Orton be 5-7 with Jay Cutler?

“Look, I love Jay, and I understand he’s a great player who can take us a long way, and I still have faith in him,” Urlacher told Silver. “But I hate the way our identity has changed. We used to establish the run and wear teams down and try not to make mistakes, and we’d rely on our defense to keep us in the game and make big plays to put us in position to win. Orton might not be the flashiest quarterback, but the guy is a winner, and that formula worked for us. I hate to say it, but that’s the truth.”

We’ll give Urlacher that much. No fan of Cutler’s, Urlacher made it clear in the spring that he wasn’t happy about Orton getting traded.

So that’s where things sit after week 13 of Cutler-Orton Watch. Orton has his team on the cusp of a wild-card playoff berth. Cutler is trying to survive the season. Who could have seen that coming back when this trade was made last spring?

Here’s how both quarterbacks fared this week, complete with touchdown passes by each, from the NFL Network:

JAY CUTLER

Team’s record: 5-7

Completions-attempts/percentage: 261-421 (61.9 percent)

Yards: 2,814 (234.5 yards per game; 6.68 yards per attempt)

Touchdowns: 17

Interceptions: 19

Sacks: 24

Analysis: Statistically, it wasn’t impressive, as Cutler completed only eight of 17 passes for 143 yards. But the key stat: no interceptions. He was sacked twice, and appeared to have some issues with a finger on his throwing hand after a hard hit by Leonard Little. He had two big strikes in the first quarter – 48 yards to Devin Hester and 71 yards to Earl Bennett – to stake the Bears to a 10-0 lead. Things get tougher in the next three weeks with games against the Packers, Ravens and Vikings.

KYLE ORTON

Team’s record: 8-4

Completions-attempts/percentage: 229-369 (62 percent)

Yards: 2,627 (218.9 per game; 7.11 per attempt)

Touchdowns: 14

Interceptions: 7

Sacks: 18

Analysis: A pretty ugly outing for Orton, with two fumbles lost and an interception against the lowly Kansas City Chiefs. But he had two touchdown passes and led the Broncos to seven scoring drives. And it’s a victory, and the Broncos and Orton do just enough to stay in the AFC Wild-card hunt and West Division race.

-- MIKE REILLEY
Follow him on Twitter @bearsblogblitz