I’m not sure that anyone out there is still cutting Jay Cutler any slack, but anyone who still is needs to stop it immediately after last night. There are a lot of excuses for why he is struggling – the team has no running game of note, their offensive line is deeply troubled, and they can’t seem to consistently snap the ball. None of those can account for why Cutler is leading the league in interceptions, though, or why the Chicago offense no longer seems to exist. A couple of Cutler’s interceptions yesterday weren’t entirely his fault, but at least two – including the last one – definitely were. Cutler insists on trying to force his passes into places where he should know better than to try anymore, and he is getting locked n on a receiver and not looking past him – even when clearly better options exist elsewhere. We knew that there was going to be an adjustment period for Cutler in Chicago, but this is way beyond acceptable. This year is lost, and next year he very likely will have to get comfortable with a new coach and a new system. The guy already clearly doesn’t seem to adjust well to change, so it’s hard to be optimistic about next year, either. It’s obviously way too early to say that the Cutler trade was a mistake, or that it won’t work out, but you definitely could look at this as a warning against elevating a player to a level that he isn’t deserving of. The interceptions have reached a new level of ridiculousness this year, but Cutler has always forced his passes and turned it over way too much, so why did people assume that he would suddenly be a superstar when you put him on a team with a weaker offense line and significantly worse receivers?

Tonight’s Big east showdown between Cincinnati and West Virginia is an extremely compelling one. Here are five good reasons why I am intrigued:

1. Line movement – This one has bounced around – it opened at 9.5, jumped quickly to 10, fell to 8.5 almost as quickly, and has now risen slowly back to the original 9.5. About two-thirds of bets have been onCincy, but there is clearly a lot going on with this one, and people have some different, strong opinions.

2. Cincy’s QBs. A few weeks ago Tony Pike was on Heisman shortlists. Now he’s a backup. When Pike was hurt, Zach Collaros was looked at as a place filler – a guy who could hopefully avoid disaster until the star was back again. All he did was set offensive records en route to stealing the starting job away. The decision to give Collaros the job when Pike returned was a particularly bold one by coach Brian Kelly, and it will be very interesting to watch and see if it will work out for him.

3. West Virginia’s injuries. Both QB Jarrett Brown and RB Noel Devine – clearly their best offensive weapons – are dealing with ankle injuries. If they are good enough to contribute then they could have a big day – UConn ran all over Cincy last week and could do it again. That’s a big if, though.

4. The stakes – There is no conference playoff in the Big East, but there practically is this year. The winner of this game will basically play a one game playoff with Pitt for the conference’s BCS bid. The loser would need some real help to still have a shot at it. This game really, really matters, and those are always the best games.

5. The potential for fireworks – West Virginia has a pretty good offense. Cincinnati has a great one. Neither team plays defense particularly well. This one could wear out the scoreboard.