30 Day Challenge: Change one moment in Bears history

Being a sports fan means going through both good times and bad. When your favorite team is good, life is good and sports are never more fun to watch (See the Chicago Blackhawks since 2008). When things are at their darkest, it can feel like you're just punishing yourself for continuing to watch.

Sports are funny that way. We watch them for entertainment and joy but simple math tells you you're in for a disappointing time. In the NFL there are 32 teams and only one champion, so 31 fanbases are going to be sad.

It's even worse if your team gets close to winning but doesn't. Sorry Buffalo Bills fans and your four Super Bowls in the '90s.

The Bears have over 90 years of history and there has been a lot of heartbreaking moments that fans wish they could change.

Day 26: What is the one, single moment you would change?

Perhaps it's Mike Ditka starting rookie Doug Flutie in the 1987 NFC Divisional playoff game against Washington. Perhaps it's Charles Martin effectively ending Jim McMahon's career. Maybe you really, really want Super Bowl XLI back. One fumble in that game, one interception and maybe Chicago doesn't fall on that awful February night in Miami.

For me though, it's January 23, 2011, the NFC Championship game. Super Bowl XLI hurts me, but the 2011 NFC Championship game haunts me. Jay Cutler played like hot garbage until he left the game in the third quarter I can't help but wonder what could've happened if he finished the game.

Maybe Mike Martz's playcalling wouldn't have improved, maybe Cutler would've kept getting run over like a sloth on the autobahn, but I just can't help but wonder. Perhaps he would've ended up throwing the same pick to B.J. Raiji that Caleb Hanie did, but maybe, just maybe, there would've been some heroics to get the Bears over the hump.

That game has been a turning point for the Bears. It was the game that permanently turned the tide on Cutler for many fans and led us down the dark hole of division that still rears its ugly head on this very blog when Cutler is debated. That fateful Sunday unleashed the beast that is Aaron Rodgers. Before that game Rodgers was 4-2 against the Bears, since that game he is 7-1. And that one loss is the game that he didn't finish in 2013.

Maybe it's that dominance that has me wishing I could change the past, but that is the one moment I would change. What about you?

Catch up on all the 30 Day Challenges:

Day 1: Earliest Chicago Bears Memory
Day 2: Favorite Bears Memory
Day 3: All Time favorite Bears Wide Receiver
Day 4: Favorite Place to Watch the Bears
Day 5: Least Favorite Bear of All Time
Day 6: All Time favorite Bears quarterback
Day 7: If the Bears could retire one more number...
Day 8: All Time Favorite Bears Running Back
Day 9: All Time Favorite Bears Tight End
Day 10: If you could take 1 historical Bear...
Day 11: All Time Favorite Bears Special Teamer
Day 12: All Time favorite Chicago Bears coach
Day 13: Most hated opposing player of all time
Day 14: Most hated opposing coach of all time
Day 15: Most Respected Opposing Player of All Time
Day 16: Favorite current Chicago Bears player
Day 17: Favorite Bears' team of All Time
Day 18: All Time favorite Bears linebacker
Day 19: The free agent that got away
Day 20: Current player you wish the Bears had on their roster
Day 21: Bears Player to Have a Beer With
Day 22: All time favorite Bears offensive lineman
Day 23: All time favorite Bears defensive lineman
Day 24: Least favorite current Chicago Bear
Day 25: Most overrated Chicago Bears of all time