Boomer at  BearGogglesOn.com was nice enough to exchange a few Q & A’s with me this week.

MB – Lovie Smith will obviously start everyone for Sunday’s game, with a secured number 2 seed, how much do you think the starters will play regardless of the score?

BGO – When he came to Chicago, Lovie’s goals were 1. Beat Green Bay, 2. Win the division and 3. Win the Super Bowl  If he rests his starters, it would be going against his #1 goal.  I expect to see Cutler, Peppers, Urlacher and Briggs out there for at least a quarter, maybe a half.

MB – Jay Cutler has been sacked 46 times this year, yet he continues to be successful game after game.  That should speak volumes about a quarterback’s ability, yet it seems he gets little respect in the NFL.  Do you think he’ll reach “elite QB” status during his tenure at Chicago?

BGO – Cutler took a bulk of those sacks in the first seven weeks, before the bye.  The offensive philosophy changed a bit after the bye week and the O-line has been steadily improving.  I think those two factors have helped put Jay in a position to succeed.  He’s shown that he can be dangerous when given time to survey the field and throw, like last week against the Jets.  With another year in Mike Martz’s system and even more improvement from the offensive line, the sky’s the limit for Jay.  He has all the talent in the world and we’ve all seen what Mike Martz was able to do with Kurt Warner. (more…)