Community Faceoff: Worst of Week 11? Door Matts? Bears disappointment?

CBSSports.com Community members take on the hottest issues of the day.

thatlsk: I'm definitely not forgiving the Bengals or Steelers for losing to two of the worst teams in the league... but the NFL is a crap shoot. While some teams are clearly better than others, and I hate to sound cliché, on any given Sunday any NFL team can beat any other team. The Cowboys, on the other hand, have shown a pattern of poor play, and they aren't putting anyone's mind at ease by barely beating a terrible and injury-riddled Redskins squad. The Cowboys are struggling to score points, and Dallas is one of the most disorganized 7-3 teams I have ever seen. Jason Garrett and Wade Phillips appear to be on two different pages when it comes to how the offense should be run. There are defensive coaches and players shouting at each other and getting in to shoving matches. Miles Austin has disappeared, and Tony Romo has done little to prove that he can play well deep into a season. He has a history of starting fast and finishing slow, and over the past two weeks, has shown that trend to be continuing into this year. After last week's games, there are more questions about the Cowboys than any other division leader.

ktopp24: The Steelers overtime loss to the Chiefs has got to be the worst of the three. While the Cowboys close call was pathetic, a win is a win in my book, and they're still in first place in their division. The Bengals loss was pretty bad too, but they're also in first place in their division, and have a fairly easy schedule remaining, including games against the Browns, Lions, Chiefs and Jets. The Steelers, however, could not take advantage of the Bengals loss to move up into a first-place tie in the AFC North. So they remain one game back as their record drops to 4-3 in the conference, which could be huge should a tie breaker come in to play. Also, their remaining schedule doesn't look promising. Pittsburgh now faces a tall order, with games at Baltimore, Cleveland and Miami, as well as home games against Oakland, Green Bay and Baltimore. Cleveland and Oakland should be wins, but the other four will definitely be difficult games. If all their games were played at home, where they are 4-1 this year, things might look a little more promising. But that, of course, is not the case, and the Steelers are 2-3 on the road this season. And, finally, with the head injury to Roethlisberger looming in their near future, things are looking dicey at best in Pittsburgh.

thatlsk: Even though he's played the best football of the three, I would have to say the most disappointing of the group is Matt Ryan. Going in to the season, most people expected the Chiefs and Seahawks to be in the bottom half of the league. The Chiefs, especially, are in a major rebuilding period. The Falcons, on the other hand, had a great season last year, and were expected to contend for a playoff spot, if not the NFC South title. A lot of those expectations were based on how well Ryan played last year, but unfortunately, I think he's taken a step back. While he's on pace to throw more touchdowns then he did last year, he's also on pace to throw more interceptions. In his last 6 games, he's thrown 10 interceptions, so it's not a huge surprise that the team is 2-4 over that stretch. His inability to protect the ball is a huge factor in why the team is 5-5. At the end of the season, his numbers will be the best of the group, but his mistakes will also cost his team the most. That fact makes Ryan the most disappointing.

ktopp24: Got to go with Matt Cassel on this one. Matt Ryan has about the same stats as he did last year through 10 games, and the Falcons are only one game off of where they were at this time in 2008. Matt Hasselbeck, meanwhile, was hurt for nine games last year, and it's always tough to come back from an injury and play at a high level the next season. With that being the case, it's hard to blame a lot of Seattle's difficulties on him. Matt Cassel, on the other hand, had vastly different numbers in 2008. He averaged 230.8 yards per game, threw 21 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and led the Patriots to an 11-5 season (6-4 through 11 weeks). Now, I know that being on a team with Randy Moss and Wes Welker is a quarterback's dream, but a good signal caller should be able to work with what's been dealt to him. Dwayne Bowe, (now suspended until week 15), Leonard Pope and Mark Bradley have proven their worth, and with the addition of Chris Chambers, things should start to look up a little bit for him. But, so far, Cassel's passing yards are down by 480, and his yards-per-game average is down by 27.7. The Chiefs are ranked 26th in passing, and at 3-7, are just barely hanging on to any playoff hopes they might still have. Better start looking towards 2010.

thatlsk: Jay Cutler would have to be the most disappointing, because the Bears gave up so much to get him with the expectation that he'd be their franchise quarterback. When a team gives up two first-round draft picks, a third-rounder and Kyle Orton, they're obviously expecting Cutler to deliver more than 15 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. The only problem is that they put their hopes behind a guy who has never shown he was a franchise quarterback. While nobody would deny Jay Cutler is more talented than Kyle Orton, Orton has actually been more successful in his career. Orton is 27-15 as a starter, and has been to the playoffs. Cutler, meanwhile, is 21-26, and has never been to the postseason. He didn't win in college, and he hasn't won in the NFL. Before the deal, the Bears must not have known that it takes more than a strong arm to be a franchise quarterback in this NFL. Jay Cutler was supposed to push this team over the edge and make them legit contenders and all he's down is make mistakes over and over. As for the other areas... The defense lost their leader in the first game, and Lovie has at least shown he can coach at a high level.

ktopp24: The Chicago Bears' defense is not much different than last year... allowing 20.45 points per game this season, compared to 21.00 through 11 weeks in 2008. Also, while it's easy enough to blame the coach, I'm going to have to go with Jay Cutler being the biggest disappointment. Denver and Chicago make this monumental trade just before the 2009 draft, sending Cutler eastward and Kyle Orton westward. And here's how things turned out for Chicago... In 2008, with Denver, through 11 weeks, Cutler had 2832 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, 11 picks, and five 300-yard games. This year, in the same time, he has 2524 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 18 interceptions, and only three 300-yard games. These may not seem like big differences, but look at it this way; at this time last year Kyle Orton and the Bears were sitting atop the NFC North. This season they sit in third; five games back, and two games out of the wild card. And it doesn't get much easier in the remaining weeks. Still to come, Cutler faces Green Bay, Baltimore, and Minnesota, twice. And that means things are not looking so good for the Vanderbilt wonder.