Jay be nimble, Jay be quick to avoid getting sacked

There was no ambivalence in Bears quarterback Jay Cutler's response when he was asked about the few plays last week in which planned rollouts moved him outside the pocket and away from the Vikings' pass rush.

"It was great," said Cutler, who wasn't sacked for the first time this year. "We've got to keep doing it. We've got to keep doing it in different ways, showing different looks, get off the spot as much as we possibly can because it helps with everything.

"It helps (against) the pass rush, gets some easy balls out to the flat, out on the outside and lets the guys run. It's got to be something in our offense that we do more of."

Cutler was sacked 15 times in the previous five games while throwing almost exclusively from the pocket. Moving him occasionally figures to be part of the game plan going forward.

"Every quarterback likes to move and change the passing spot and not be sitting in the same spot," said Bears coach Marc Trestman. "We came out of the bye week, and we looked at it and have done some things to allow him to do that."

Matt Forte has gone over 100 yards in two of the last three games, and an increased ground presence will also keep the pass rush at bay. The Bears also counteracted the Vikings' pass rush by throwing more screen passes, including one for 30 yards to Forte.

"That slows down the rush," Cutler said. "If you look at some really good offenses, they're mixing it up, a lot of screens, moving the pocket, they're running the ball, being unpredictable. We've got to keep incorporating all of those different phases of the offense for us to keep rolling."

Coming up short:

The offense is still looking for its first 30-point game of the season after topping 30 six times last season. This year's team is averaging 21.5 points per game, down 6.5 from the 2013 average of 28 points.

"We've left a lot of points on the field," Marc Trestman said. "We did it last week. We recognize that. It certainly has not been what we wanted it to be or what we would have expected.

"Our focus has been to, not just stay on the field, but finish drives and score. We have not done that. I take responsibility for that. That starts with me."

Last week the Bears controlled the ball for a season-high 38 minutes and 38 seconds and accumulated 468 yards but scored just 21 points.

Familiar foe:

The Bears know their former teammate, Bucs quarterback Josh McCown, well enough to know they can't give him time to let big, fast wide receivers Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson get downfield - where they can make game-changing plays.

"It's going to be important to get pressure on him," said Bears defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. "Whether it's with four or with five or with six, whatever it takes, and we have to have really good coverage behind it whatever we decide to do.

"He's a rhythm passer, so we have to make sure we try to disrupt his timing and his rhythm, and the receivers as well. That will be a challenge for us this week."

The 6-foot-5, 231-pound Evans leads all rookies with 794 receiving yards and lately has been hot. He has three straight 100-yard games, including 209 last week, and is the youngest NFL player ever to record a 200-yard receiving game.

Sacks sells:

Jared Allen was a bit miffed when asked if last week's game, when he had 1 sack and 3 quarterback pressures, was his best of the season.

"Because I had a sack, I played better?" Allen said. "In comparison to what?"

Allen has just 2½ sacks this season, well shy of the 13-a-year pace of his first 10 NFL seasons, but he leads the Bears with 19 quarterback pressures and is second among linemen with 43 tackles, behind Willie Young's 45.

But no one knows better than Allen how much sacks are overvalued.

"This is how the league judges now," Allen said. "I look back at the Carolina game, where I led the team in tackles (with 6 solos) and I thought, 'Hey, that was a pretty dang-good game.'

"So it's relative to what you're judging on. Was (last week) one of my best games of the year? Yeah. I graded out well. I played well. So yeah, (but) I don't know if it was my best game."