Offense bear of big plays
By TOM MUSICK -- Shaw Suburban Media
LAKE FOREST – At times this season, the Bears' conservative approach on offense has reduced quarterback Jay Cutler’s cannon arm into something resembling a squirt gun.
But if Cutler and his teammates want to go deep, they didn’t make a peep about it Wednesday. The Bears returned to practice in full pads at Halas Hall, where they insisted that no hangover effect existed three days after a 45-10 beating that marked the franchise’s worst loss in more than six years.
“We’re not even thinking about last week,” Cutler said. “It’s over with. It’s one game.”
In its place, the Bears might want to think about stretching the field more frequently on offense. Cutler completed one pass for more than 20 yards Sunday at Cincinnati, where his first four completions tallied a meager 15 yards and set the tone for an ugly afternoon on both sides of the ball.
Bears coaches marveled at Cutler’s arm strength when he arrived in April. But a combination of passive play calling, patchwork pass blocking and costly interceptions has formed some troubling trends.
• Cutler is No. 14 among NFL quarterbacks with nine completions of 25-plus yards this season. Younger or less talented quarterbacks such as Kyle Orton, Mark Sanchez and David Garrard all have more.
• Cutler is 19th among quarterbacks with 6.95 yards per pass attempt. That is about two-thirds as good as Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who leads the league with 9.25 yards per pass attempt.
• Cutler’s 10 interceptions are tied for second-most in the NFL. He is on pace to throw 26 interceptions, which would trail only Sid Luckman’s 31 in 1947 for the worst in team history.
“There’s some situations where I’ve taken some chances in ball games, and I’ve got to be more aware of that and take care of the ball,” Cutler said. “This offense in general, we’ve all got to do a better job of that.”
The Bears offensive line has not done many favors for Cutler, who has been sacked as many times (11) in six games as he was all of last season with the Denver Broncos. Bears coach Lovie Smith batted down questions Wednesday about whether he would make any changes to the offensive line, such as starting Josh Beekman at left guard in place of Frank Omiyale.
Cutler said everyone on offense was responsible for the team’s troubles to score big.
“There are certain times where we ask those extra [seconds] to protect me and we’re going to take some shots down the field, and there are certain times where I’ve got to get the ball out faster,” Cutler said. “We’re all learning from each other, and it’s just going to take a little bit more work during practice.”
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