America’s most hated quarterback is not exactly the contest that either Tony Romo or Jay Cutler wants to win. Ask most football fans who their least favorite quarterback in the NFL is and the majority would immediately mention Romo or Cutler.

Fans hate them for their publicized celebrity relationships – Cutler with reality star Kristin Cavallari and Romo with singers Jessica Simpson and Carrie Underwood – and more importantly, their less than stellar playoff record (one win each).

Both throw head-scratching interceptions and appear to pout when things do not go their way but both can make plays with their arm and feet that will leave you in awe.

So why do fans hate them both so much?

Both quarterbacks are in the top twelve in passing yards and touchdowns in the last five years along with the greats like Brady, Manning, and Rodgers.

Many would argue that neither quarterback matches up to the success that those quarterbacks have had in the playoffs, which is true, but neither has Matt Ryan or Philip Rivers, yet fans would rather have those two leading their teams before Romo or Cutler.

Perception is unfortunately reality for both quarterbacks as on-field screaming, sideline grumblings, and playoff miscues have come to define both quarterbacks.

Both quarterbacks have suffered with bad offensive lines and since his arrival in Chicago, Cutler has been sacked a staggering 121 times and Romo 84 times. Many of their sacks have been a product of their own desire to hold onto the ball but both have been saddled with poor ofensive line play and seemingly a game of musical chairs in front of them on a weekly basis.

Romo has had receiving weapons with Terrell Owens in the past along with strong play from Jason Witten and Miles Austin more recently. Cutler had success with Brandon Marshall in Denver but when traded to Chicago had to deal with the likes of Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, and Johnny Knox. All three receivers are serviceable, but not number one options like the Bears made them out to be. Cutler got his weapon back this year with Marshall, and through three games has connected with him 16 times.

Monday night the two quarterbacks will square off in a showdown between two 2-1 teams.  Expectations were high in both Chicago and Dallas heading into the season and although they have winning records, there is still cause for concern.

The offensive line has been an issue with both teams as they struggle to protect their quarterbacks.  The Bears line will need to protect Cutler from vaunted pass-rusher DeMarcus Ware while Dallas contends with the NFL sack-leading defensive line of the Bears that will be out for blood against Romo.

These issues will likely continue to plague both men for the rest of the season and possibly their careers.  Even if both of them eventually win a Super Bowl when fans are asked who their least favorite quarterback is, many will still say”Jay Cutler, but Tony Romo is a close second.’

Matt Eurich is a contributor to Bearsbacker.com. Follow Bears Backer on Facebook and Twitter for up to the minute news about the Bears. Also, check out Matt’s work onBleacherreport.com and follow him on Twitter @MattEurich.

Both Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs enjoyed a season with 100-plus tackles and good health in 2011.

The star linebackers don’t seem to be slowing down one bit from year-to-year.

With Nick Roach projected as the strongside linebacker, the unit should be strong once again.

Veteran Geno Hayes was brought in this off-season to provide some depth at the position and should battle Roach for the third linebacker spot.

Expect Blake Costanzo to be used mainly on special teams, while Dom DeCicco, J.T. Thomas andJabara Williams fight for the last couple of roster spots.

Here are the career stats for each linebacker on the Bears’ current roster.

Brian Urlacher: (170 games, 168 starts), 999 tackles, 41.5 sacks, 21 interceptions, nine forced fumbles and 13 fumble recoveries.

Lance Briggs: (140 games, 137 starts), 791 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 13 interceptions, 11 forced fumbles, and seven fumble recoveries.

Nick Roach: (64 games, 45 starts), 110 tackles, 2.0 sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Geno Hayes: (56 games, 43 starts), 201 tackles, 7.0 sacks, four interceptions, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Blake Costanzo: 61 games and 55 tackles.

Dom DeCicco: 15 games

Patrick Trahan: five games, one tackle.

Jabara Williams: seven games, two tackles.

J.T. Thomas, Ronnie Thornton, Adrien Cole: n/a.

Staying healthy will be key for this unit. Last season they were certainly lucky considering the lack of depth at the position.

With the addition of Geno Hayes and possible progression of second-year player J.T. Thomas, the depth looks better.

Expect a solid year from this bunch as they continue to rack up big numbers every year.

Next Up: Secondary

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.

Take a look at Devin Hester’s collection of just Michael Jordan brand shoes. The amount of Jordan shoes he has insane.

It might blow your mind. Hester shared the photos with the Twitter world yesterday afternoon.

He claims that he has worn each pair once. Which is astonishing to me.

More pictures of his Jordan shoe collection can be seen here.

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.

The New England Patriots and New York Giants will square off at 6:29 p.m. ET in Super Bowl XLVI tonight in Indianapolis.

Which team will prevail?

The Patriots are led by the tight-end tandem of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, while the Giants are led by wide receivers Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, and Mario Manningham.

Of course both teams have Super Bowl winning quarterbacks in Eli Manning (NY Giants) and Tom Brady (New England Partiots).

The Partiots have a shaky defense that has played much improved in the playoffs.

Former Bears defensive end Mark Anderson has been the most consistent pass rusher besides Andre Carter for the Patriots.

The Giants have a vicious pass rush. Jason Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka, and Justin Tuck have all been dominant during the playoffs.

New England has to get good protection from their offensive line because the biggest threat the Giants bring is from their defensive line.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will have a solid gameplan. Tom Brady isn’t the type of quarterback who has two straight bad games.

Look for the veteran quarterback to bounce back from a disappointing performance against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship.

Score Prediction:

Patriots 33, Giants 30.

Final Thoughts:

The game will be close, but Tom Brady will prevail in the rematch of Super Bowl XLII. Don’t be shocked if Chad Ochocinco is a valuable piece of this offense as well.

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. He is also the Chicago Bears writer for NFLTouchdown.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.

The Bears found their offensive coordinator, his name is Mike Tice.

Today the Bears announced the promotion of Mike Tice to offensive coordinator.

Last season, the Bears didn’t allow the Tennessee Titans to interview Tice for their offensive coordinator position, which upset Tice.

Tice isn’t upset now. He will be taking over the offense and bringing a run-first mentality back to the unit.

The Bears offense ran for over 2,000 yards this season for the first time since 1990.

Tice was in charge of one of the most troubled units on the team, the offensive line.

He did a fine job with what he had to work with on the line, especially this season when they lost two key starters in Chris Williams and Gabe Carimi.

The Bears will be looking for a quarterbacks/passing coach and offensive line coach along with a new general manager

Tice has never been an offensive coordinator, but he was often in control of plays with Martz being unpredictable at times this season.

Bears fans weren’t pleased to hear Lovie Smith would be back next season, so they likely won’t be pleased to hear Tice is taking over the offense.

This move could make or break the Bears.

Key question:

Will a new general manager be pleased with Lovie Smith’s current staff or will that be a turn off for the new GM?

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. He is also the Chicago Bears writer for NFLTouchdown.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.

The Bears have dropped four straight games.

After going on a five game winning streak and coming together in all three phases, the Bears have dropped out of the NFC playoff picture rather quickly.

Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Johnny Knox, Chris Conte, and Major Wright have all been seriously injured during the four game skid.

Don’t blame the injuries as the sole problem for the Bears recent losses, but it certainly hasn’t helped.

The coaching has been dreadful and will likely lead to some major changes at Halas Hall next season.

Caleb Hanie has been ineffective tossing nine interceptions in four starts for the injured Cutler.

Veteran Josh McCown relieved Hanie today, but didn’t fair too much better, tossing an interception almost immediately after entering the game in the fourth quarter.

The Bears held a 14-7 at the half after the Bears defense came up with fumble return for a touchdown and Caleb Hanie led the offense down the field for a score.

The third quarter wasn’t friendly for them though. The Seahawks put 21 points on the scoreboard and over 200 yards of offense.

The Bears offense turned the ball over five times. They fell in the game 38-14.

The Bears offense was able to run for 132 yards. Kahlil Bell had 65 yards rushing, while Marion Barber had 33 and Hanie had 34.

Bell also reeled in 43 receiving yards, including a 25 yard touchdown reception.

The Bears travel next week to Lambeau for a Christmas matchup against  the 13-1 Green Bay Packers.

The Packers fell to the Kyle Orton led Chiefs today in Kansas City.

The Bears will likely provide updates on their two injured players from today’s game. Johnny Knox was hit hard and lost a fumble in the first quarter. He was carried out on a stretcher, but was said to have a minor back injury.

Safety Chris Conte left before the first half with what seemed to be a foot injury.

At 7-7 the Bears season isn’t over, but it would be a miracle if they finished at 9-7, even with that the playoffs wouldn’t be a definite.

These next two games are important either way. The Bears need to evaluate everyone in the organization including coaches and their young talent.

Maybe rookie QB Nathan Enderle will get some playing time these next two weeks.

Don’t expect Jay Cutler or Matt Forte to rush back from their serious injuries anytime soon.

The Bears, who were once playoff favorites sitting at 7-3 four weeks ago, are now on the outside looking in.

Every Bears fan should be upset, but change could be coming soon for this organization and that can only be a good thing for this team’s future success.

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. He is also the Chicago Bears writer for NFLTouchdown.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.

The Chicago Bears receivers haven’t done much this season to help quarterback Jay Cutler out.

The receiving core has combined for 752 yards on 57 receptions through five games this season. Johnny Knox, the third-year receiver, leads the unit with 14 receptions for 254 yards

RB Matt Forte has more than half the amount of receptions (30) and almost half the amount of receiving yards (345) than all the Bears receivers this season.

Last week against the Lions, the Bears’ No. 5 and No. 6 receivers (Sam Hurd and DaneSanzenbacher) led the team in receiving yards, respectively.

Luckily, the Bears will be facing a Minnesota Vikings team that isn’t very good in pass coverage.

Minnesota ranks 25th in the NFL in pass defense, allowing opposing quarterbacks to throw for about 271 ypg and complete 63.8 percent of their passes. However, they’ve only allowed six touchdowns all season through the air.

Bears receivers have had some success against the Vikings in the past. Johnny Knox has eight receptions for 192 yards and two touchdowns in four career games against Minnesota

In two games last season against the Vikings, Knox reeled in seven passes for 198 yards and one touchdown. He caught a 67-yard touchdown in a Week 15 win in Minnesota, which helped crown the Bears NFC North division champs.

Devin Hester has 17 receptions for 279 yards and four touchdowns in nine career games against Minnesota. In two games last year against the Vikings, Hester reeled in 61 yards and two touchdowns.

Hester also ran back a 64-yard punt to break the all-time punt return record with his 10th record ever.

Also, former Cowboy Roy Williams caught three passes for 28 yards and two touchdowns in a Week 6 meeting against Minnesota.

Matchup to Watch

The Bears’ receivers versus the Vikings’ secondary is a matchup to watch.

With Antoine Winfield out for the Vikings, second-year corner Chris Cook will step in as the starter across from Cedric Griffin.

Johnny Knox, Dane Sanzenbacher and Roy Williams will be called upon to make big plays. Devin Hester could be a key weapon considering he had three touchdowns against the Vikings a season ago.

Unfortunately, Earl Bennett hasn’t been cleared to play yet. It would be a big surprise to everyone if Bennett suited up Sunday night.

The Bears have a perfect situation to put up good numbers on offense, especially in the passing game.

Matt Forte is going to get his carries and his catches out of the backfield.

The Bears need to be able to contain the Vikings’ pass rush, which has been pretty good as of late. Defensive ends Jared Allen (nine) and Brian Robison (five) have combined for 14 sacks on the season.

If Cutler can get time to throw out of the pocket, he could be in line for a good game through the air. He showed last week that he is a very talented quarterback, despite having a very weak offensive line.

The Bears should take advantage of Winfield’s absence and help make Jay Cutler look good for once.

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. He is also the Chicago Bears writer for NFLTouchdown.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker for up to the minute news about the Bears.

Did You Know: Jim McMahon former Chicago Bears QB.

Chicago Bears fans remember that QB Jim McMahon helped the Bears win Super Bowl XX, but what they don’t remember is he won a Super Bowl with the Packers.

Yes, he played for the Bears enemy and in 1996 he played backup to Brett Favre.

He was booed at the beginning of his two years with the Pack, later he was called McBackup to Brett Favre.

The funny part of this story is that the Bears never went to the White House in Washington because of the death of the astronauts on the challenger. So, when the Packers won the Super Bowl in 1996, McMahon wore a Chicago Bears jersey

Many Green Bay Packer fans grew very furious, but then he explained how he never had the chance to go when he was on the Bears.

He is the best Bears QB since Sid Luckman, but he bounced around the league after his departure from the Bears. He later played for the Vikings, Chargers, and Cardinals.

Just a fun fact to know about a former Bears player.