Josh McCown Is Good Now, For Some Reason

As Jay Cutler's recovered from two separate injuries—one to his groin, the other to his ankle—Josh McCown has stepped in and played excellently. Weird.

Outside of three games for the Bears in 2011—with a 68.3 QB rating—the 34-year-old McCown hasn't played a significant amount of time since he was with the Raiders in 2007. He's never started more than 13 games in a season. Through six games (with five starts), McCown's passed for 1,106 yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception. Also relevant: the Bears have won two of those games, just keeping them in the edge playoff contention in a weak NFC North. It's not ideal, but what the hell was expected of Josh McCown?

The Bears might have lost to the Vikings 23-20 in overtime, but McCown had a hell of a day today, throwing for 355 yards and two touchdowns. Both scores went to Alshon Jeffery, who had a ridiculous performance with 249 receiving yards and two touchdowns, one of them going for 80 yards. Matt Forte produced a solid ground game with 120 yards on 23 carries, but McCown's excellent passing against a horrendous Vikings secondary was the offense's biggest strength.

Obviously, once Cutler's healthy enough, he'll get his job back. There's no quarterback battle here. But McCown, who's on a one-year contract, has been a pleasant surprise, and maybe he'll net a little more money as an insurance policy after the season ends.

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