Cutler shoulders blame for picks
Bears Coach Marc Trestman didn’t blame quarterback Jay Cutler’s decision-making for his 3 interceptions — and neither did Cutler.
It was more a lack of execution for the Bears quarterback after three straight passer ratings of over 90.0 to start the season.
Despite 2 TD passes and 317 yards through the air, the 3 picks dropped Cutler’s rating against the Lions to 65.6. He put the blame on himself, although the first pick was the result of Lions safety Louis Delmas ripping a ball from the clutches of Alshon Jeffery after what was a simultaneous catch for a split second.
“It was a bang-bang play,” said Jeffery, who caught 5 passes for 107 yards, including a 14-yard TD. “It hit my hands and then he just came (in). He broke on the play. He made a great play.”
The second pick brought back bad memories of seasons past because it came on an underthrown ball that Cutler lofted off his back foot. Pick No. 3 was a rocket that sailed over Jeffery’s head.
“I underthrew B. (Marshall) and overthrew Alshon,” Cutler said. “Those are throws I’m accustomed to making. The offensive line battled all day long and did a great job. We got slowed down due to my turnovers, and we just have to do a better job.”
Trestman said Cutler wasn’t the only one to blame.
“If we take those three plays out of the game, I thought he was extremely accurate,” Trestman said. “We had some dropped balls, and we normally don’t drop any. It wasn’t about decision-making. I think it was more about the fundamentals of finishing the two throws that were high.”
Too little, too late:Finishing Jay Cutler lived up to his #147;Mr. Fourth Quarter#148; nickname by completing 16 of 23 passes for 148 yards and 2 touchdowns in the final 15 minutes for a 115.9 passer rating.Players looking for silver linings mentioned the strong fourth quarter.#147;As bad as it hurts, at the end of the day, you have to feed off something,#148; offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod said. #147;You have to take the positives out of it some way. That#146;s all we#146;ve been doing.#148;Bushrod admitted the offense didn#146;t play as well as they needed to, but the same could be said for the defense and special teams.#147;It#146;s a team game, and we have to have each other#146;s backs,#148; Bushrod said. #147;That#146;s just how the flow of the game goes sometimes. Sometimes we have to lean on the defense, sometimes the defense leans on the offense, sometimes the offense and the defense have to lean on the special teams for us to get that momentum back. We didn#146;t really didn#146;t get momentum until the second half of the fourth quarter, and by then it was too late.#148;Sitting it out:There were a couple surprises among Sunday#146;s inactives. Wide receiver Joe Anderson did not dress for the first time this season, and defensive tackle Zach Minter was inactive for the fourth straight week. Defensive tackle Henry Melton was placed on injured reserve last week with a torn ACL in his left knee, but instead of Minter, the coaches chose to go with free-agent tackle Landon Cohen, who was signed Friday.The other inactives were offensive linemen Jonathan Scott and James Brown, cornerback Sherrick McManis, wide receiver Marquess Wilson and defensive end David Bass. Two undrafted rookies, running back Michael Ford and cornerback C.J. Wilson, were active for the first time.