10 Bears questions: on The Dude, Robbie Gould, TV ratings & more

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Brian Hoyer broke his left arm Thursday. (Getty Images)

Aaron Rodgers abides.

The Packers quarterback wore the same sweater donned by Jeff Bridges in the 1998 cult classic “The Big Lebowski” after the Bears’ 26-10 loss at Lambeau Field on Thursday.

While we wonder what Bridges outfit Jay Cutler should wear during a press conference — Bad Blake? Rooster Cogburn? — here are 10 more Bears questions:

1. So the Bears can’t score?

The Bears could average a league-high 37 points the rest of the season and still fall a point short of Marc Trestman’s 2013 team, which was second in franchise history with 445 points.

They’re averaging 15.9 points per game — and that’s counting one defensive and special teams score.

2. Then why’s Brian Hoyer in the record books?

Statistics are funny. Hoyer’s broken left arm Thursday left him as the Bears’ single-season completion percentage leader; his 67 percent clip — 134 for 200 — edged Josh McCown’s 66.5 mark in 2013.

His 98.0 passer rating is third-best in franchise history behind McCown’s 109 in 2013 and Sid Luckman’s 107.8 in 1943.

The Bears’ minimum standard for completion percentage is 75-plus completions; for passer rating, 100-plus attempts.

3. Did Robbie Gould break some kind of curse?

Call it The Curse of Butthead. When Gould kicks for the Giants on Sunday, he’ll become just the second ex-Bears kicker since Kevin Butler left in 1995 to land a full-time job with a new team.

Paul Edinger was the exception, playing the entire 2005 season with the Vikings and setting the franchise record with a 56-yard field goal.

If Gould attempts three field goals on Sunday, he’ll become the second-most prolific ex-Bears of the post-Butthead era. Jaret Holmes, who made two Bears kicks in 1999, tried two more for the Giants in 2000.

The other seven players to kick for the Bears since Butler’s departure — Carlos Huerta, Brian Gowins, Chris Boniol, Jeff Jaeger, Doug Brien, Olindo Mare and Jay Feely — had a combined 1,584 career field goal attempts the day the Bears let them go.

And zero afterward.

4. Did you even watch the game?

The Cubs’ Game 5 appearance on Fox Sports 1 drew a 24.1 overnight Nielsen rating in the Chicago market, almost twice the 12.5 figure the Bears drew while playing on CBS and the NFL Network.

5. Why would anyone, nationally?

With “Monday Night Football” looming, the Bears have been outscored 86-41 and gone 0-3 in primetime games. They were 2-0 in night games, outscoring opponents 39-32, in John Fox’s first season with the team.

6. What was the plan if Matt Barkley had been hurt?

Zach Miller was the team’s emergency quarterback. He played that role for four years in Jacksonville, though the tight end was never pressed into duty.

“I move around a lot on the offensive anyway, so I know most every position,” Miller said. “I don’t think it’d be a very extravagant game plan, but it’d be something where we’d be able to function.”

If the Bears had needed him, they would have given Miller a wristband with plays on them. Each team can have as many as three radio receivers for their quarterbacks, but Miller is not one.

7. Wanna bet?

After Thursday night’s loss, the Bears are 1-5 both straight up and against the spread in their last six road games, dating to last year. In the six road games before that, the Bears were 4-2 straight up and 5-1 against the spread.

8. How close is the Bears-Packers rivalry?

You wouldn’t know it from recent years — the Packers have won 10 of the last 12 meetings — but very close. When the Packers took a 3-0 lead Thursday, they tied the head-to-head regular-season score between the two teams at 3,247 apiece. With the win, the Packers fell behind in the all-time series, 94-93-6.

9. How’d Eric Kush fill in for Pro Bowler Josh Sitton?

“I thought I played really well,” said Kush, the starter at left guard.

It marked his first serious exposure at the position; a center by trade, he only learned guard midway through last season.

“I’ll keep learning the position and working on technique and body position and everything,” he said.

10. I’m depressed. Got one more stat?

The Bears failed to score an offensive touchdown for just the third time in their last 62 games. Only one game featured Cutler; they were blanked last year in Seattle with Jimmy Clausen at quarterback.

With Cutler, they kicked only three field goals in Minnesota in 2014. Trestman was fired the next day.

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