3-1. A winning record. Two comeback victories. I would say that Jay Cutler’s performance has been good enough. Yes, the Green Bay game is still fresh in people’s minds. The four interceptions and lone touchdown that night will resonate for a while. But after beating two good teams in comeback fashion (yes, the Seahawks are good), Cutler has justifiably redeemed himself in the public eye of Chicago’s harsh fans.

It’s funny that we all get worked up over the summer for a guy that has yet to reach the postseason in his career, or rank among the top 10 quarterbacks in QB rating. Then we mount all these expectations to go along with his suddenly growing legend, all before he ever puts on a Bears uniform. In the preseason he was, for the most part, impressive. The expectations grew even larger and the Bears were Sports Illustrated’s pick to win the NFC.

Then came the first actual football game of the regular season, one that the Bears were expected to compete in. Cutler was awful, and the same goes for the rest of the team. If you had logged on to Facebook that night you would have seen the choice words that were used ever so “politely” to describe our lovely starting quarterback. With such comments from the common, irate fan as, “We traded Kyle Orton and a first round draft pick for this guy?” and “We want Orton back!” things were not shaping up for Cutler.

But the great thing about Cutler is….he just doesn’t care. Trailing late in the games against Pittsburgh and Seattle, Cutler rounded up his troops and just played football. The shoulder shrug he often sports around the field late in games is what puts a capper on his whole demeanor. The aura that Cutler gives off is something of great interest to most Bears fans.

And even if the Bears (3-1) happen to falter Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons (3-1) and Cutler isn’t quite as good as “Mattie Ice” Matt Ryan, there is no cause for concern among Bears fans. Let us rejoice in the fact that we actually have a Pro Bowl Quarterback that is capable of winning the big game, something that we did not have in the Super Bowl three years ago when Peyton Manning trounced the mighty Bears’ defense. Despite the fact that former Bears QB Kyle Orton is now thriving in Denver where he has the Broncos at 5-0, the Broncos would be undefeated with Cutler under center as well, not to mention that they have gotten some pretty lucky breaks in games against Cincinnati and New England.

On the flip side, if you were to take Orton and put him back in Chicago, the Bears would be 2-2 at best, if not 1-3. Orton would not have orchestrated those comeback drives against Pittsburgh or Seattle, and would have struggled to fare any better against Green Bay. One could make the argument that this is not true, and that the Bears would still be 3-1, if not 4-0 with Orton. Well, then look at Denver’s team as a whole. They’re better than the Bears in every aspect with the exception of the running back position.

So I ask of you fellow Bears fans to just….relax. It is still early, and Cutler is already showing signs of a QB with poise after bouncing back nicely from the worst game of his entire life. Take it easy on the kid, will ya? Of course, he probably couldn’t care less what you think.

So no matter what happens this weekend at the Georgia Dome, Cutler will still be the man with a plan. And through it all, even if the Bears must shrug off a tough loss, at least we’ll know they won’t be the only ones shrugging.