We were on the verge of the impossible Sunday. A game that looked to be a no-win situation for a Vikings fan actually had a chance to work out beautifully. What if the Packers had blown a two-TD lead while a third-string QB rescued the Bears from the depths of Jay Cutler's intense cowering? In a sense, both teams would have lost. Alas, it was not meant to be. So we are left with two weeks of preparation for the Packers in the Super Bowl ... and a day or two (or at least until the results of Cutler's MRI come out) of questioning not only the manhood of the Bears' starting quarterback but the direction of that entire franchise even after he heals.

In this year of taking football injury prevention more seriously -- or at least pretending to do so -- it was kind of refreshing to see Cutler taken to task by so many folks for essentially removing himself from the biggest game of his life. This wasn't a head injury. This wasn't even an arm injury.

There are plenty of similarities between Cutler and the Gunslinger who just hung up his No. 4 jersey with the Vikings. But no matter what you say about Brett Favre, know this: The 40-plus QB hobbled around on a mangled ankle and almost produced an amazing comeback victory in last year's NFC title game. The 20-something QB excused himself from that very same game this year and left it to less-talented backups to try to clean up the mess.

Where do you go from there, Chicago?