For sports fans, the only convenience of having a shattered heart appears to be that the heap of pieces provides an arsenal of jagged missiles to lacerate the athlete or coach most deserving of a serious gouge or two.

So, when Chicago Bears fans finally emerge from the underneath their woogies, put their boxes of tissues back in their bathrooms, and wash the dried tears from their faces after Sunday’s 21-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers Sunday at Soldier Field on the doorsteps of a Super Bowl birth, they should take a moment to aim.

For now, the obvious choice seems to be Jay Cutler.  After all, he is the quarterback of the football team.  No player on the team is more responsible for a football team’s success. And no player on the team is more deserving of a little malice when team fails.  Right?

Wrong.

Football is a team sport.  At any given moment there are 11 players representing their teams and working together to either get some points or keep their opponents from doing so.

Yes, one player can throw a wrench in either process, and in the Bears’ case, it’s what Cutler didn’t throw that was the most devasting.  He didn’t throw any touchdowns or enough completions to help the Bears win the NFC Championship.  But football is a team sport.  It wasn’t Cutler vs. the Packers. It was the Bears vs. the Packers, and the Bears lost the game.

Of the four pro bowlers on the Bears’ roster, only one had much of an impact.  Brian Urlacher had nine tackles, a sack and an interception in the third quarter that was thrown to waste by a handful of embarassing attempts by Todd Collins to play football.

Julius Peppers and Devin Hester barely mustered a peep into the stat box, and Lance Briggs added an interception, but Aaron Rodgers had no problem finding open targets in the middle of the field.

Caleb Hanie emerged as a definite second-string option at quarterback, but his performance was not without fault as he threw two interceptions in seven minutes.

The coaching staff was no better either. Lovie Smith’s decision to bench Cutler because of an MCL Sprain was the right one.  His decision to pour the Packers a Todd Collins at the start of the second half was not.

And whatever Mike Martz was thinking on that end around during the Bears’ final drive of the season, the one that was supposed to bring the Bears back into the game and into the Super Bowl, was wide of the mark.

So, all things considered, Chicago Bears fans should spread their jeers and jagged judgments around a bit.  Give Jay a break- figuratively speaking of course.