Aside from "Why am I still watching this?" and "Good God, how much worse can the Bears get?" there was a random thought that occurred Sunday night, sometime before the last Jay Cutler pick-six.

This just wouldn't happen to the Bulls or Blackhawks.

And I'm not talking about a rout or a losing streak, but rather this current Bears' free fall that seems so out of everyone's control.

Obviously, it's technically an apples-and-oranges debate, but for the sake of that debate, here are some of the significant reasons why we would not see this happen to either our basketball or hockey teams as they are currently made up:

Coaches

For a second, try to imagine a similarly humiliating few weeks happening to the Hawks (and no, their three-game home losing streak most certainly does not compare) or to the Bulls.

If you can't, it's because neither Tom Thibodeau nor Joel Quenneville would have allowed it to get this far without some definitive signs that it was going to stop. Mostly by demanding accountability.

Marc Trestman's Chicago counterparts -- Tom Thibodeau and Joel Quenneville -- demand accountability from their players, and the results are clear. Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports

Remember when Thibodeau benched Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer in the fourth quarters of games because, well, they weren't doing anything to affect the outcome in a positive way? While it was never easy to know what Boozer was thinking, Noah was named to the All-Star team the next season and even more prestigious, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year the season after that.

"I remember one day we were working out at the Berto Center," Noah said in his acceptance speech last spring, "and Thibs was putting me through a real grueling workout and I told him, 'You know, Thibs? If we weren't winning games, I would really, really hate you.' And he said, 'Trust me, Jo. I feel the same way about you.'"

The point is, Thibs didn't care if Noah hated him. The Bulls coach never has cared if he hurt his players' feelings -- at least they were united in hating him -- and while some might argue that his approach might eventually wear thin, it has resulted in four straight playoff appearances in his four years here, most of two years without Derrick Rose.

Thibodeau has consistently had among the best bench play, defense and hardest-working team in the league. He has had a tag team of backup point guards who did everything they needed to under his guidance. And all with his players knowing unequivocally who's boss.

"Know your job. Do your job." It's almost comical how many times Thibodeau has repeated those words over the years, but his players understand. Somehow it did not look as if the Bears' secondary did.

Quenneville might not come across as quite the same level of taskmaster, but he is also unafraid to make changes and to assert his influence. Look no further than his latest coaching move, demoting Brent Seabrook to the third line and splitting up Seabrook and defensive partner Duncan Keith after Seabrook made a costly mistake last week in a loss to the Capitals.

Seabrook, a veteran of 10 NHL seasons, responded with a goal in the Hawks' win over the Sharks Sunday night, and said he understood. For Quenneville, who has moved Marian Hossa down to the third line and healthy scratched veterans like Kris Versteeg and Nick Leddy (in the second round of last year's playoffs, snapping Leddy's 296-consecutive game streak) without flinching, it's just part of being a head coach.

Leddy opened up a bit Thursday when explaining his feelings after being a healthy scratch for the first time since he became an every-day player in January of 2011. He had played in 296 consecutive games, which included regular season and playoffs, prior to being made a healthy scratch against the Minnesota Wild in Game 3 of the second-round series on Tuesday.

"Sometimes you got to do things," Quenneville explained. "You got to make tough decisions. You got to try whether it's motivation, get their attention, whether it's get more focus out of a guy, get him playing with more confidence. Whether it's who's your partner, quality ice time, there are different ways. But at the end of the day, we want everybody to be consistent and predictable ..."

Leadership

We've heard this word too many times. But while Cutler and Brandon Marshall might want to be leaders and are generally referred to as such, they don't seem to know exactly what that entails.

For Jonathan Toews, there is no question. The team captain since his rookie year, Toews, according to those in the locker room on a daily basis, leads naturally, simply doing whatever it takes to guide his team and without exception, by playing hard.

Jay Cutler's speed compared to Green Bay's Casey Hayward made it evident he wasn't putting in a full effort anymore. AP Photo/Mike Roemer

When Cutler jogged casually alongside Green Bay's Casey Hayward Sunday night as Hayward galloped into the end zone to make the score 55-7, he made it clear to his teammates that not only did the touchdown not mean anything in the final result, but also that it did not mean enough for him to put out a full effort anymore.

Marshall, like Cutler, has played in pain, but provoked similar questions about his effort under trying circumstances when he took himself out of the game in Foxborough on a fourth-and-10 in the fourth quarter of the Bears' 51-23 loss to the Patriots two weeks ago.

Toews has the benefit of being surrounded by plenty of proud veteran leaders who have won two or more championships, players who all seem to understand what being a professional means. But it's not like there haven't been tough times.

When the Hawks went through their nine-game losing streak two seasons after their 2010 Stanley Cup title, their confidence sometimes wavered, but their resiliency seldom did.

The games weren't marked by blowouts or questionable efforts and they snapped the losing streak with four straight victories and 13 wins in their next 18 games. They lost in six games in the first round of the playoffs that year, but won their second Stanley Cup in four years the next.

Noah also leads by relentless example, by making himself accountable even when it's not his fault, by growing into the type of leader the Bulls needed desperately when Rose was injured.

Bulls' players rally around Noah. Can we say the same about Cutler and Marshall?

It doesn't seem like it.

Management

It is apparent that Bears general manager Phil Emery, who hired head coach Marc Trestman, is fond of his coach, and the feeling seems mutual. They generally are on the same page, which is no doubt why Emery hired him in the first place. But management and coaches don't have to like each other to succeed.