Good Cutler makes it easy to forget bad

Contrary to his preseason publicity campaign, Jay Cutler has not yet walked on water.

But Cutler proved he doesn't need to in order to win football games.

He just needs to walk in step with his receivers, and that process began in Game 2.

Bad Jay from the opener gave way to Good Jay against Pittsburgh, and there's every indication that the good version will dominate as Cutler becomes more familiar with the offense, his receivers, the coordinator and his own limitations.

There have been times in his career when he believed he had none, including at Green Bay in Game 1.

That's not good, but it's also nothing like what Rex Grossman brought to your nightmares, er, uh, to your TV each Sunday.

Not only did Grossman not know what he was doing, but it was false bravado whenever he and his teammates, not to mention coaching staff and management, talked of his supposedly great arm and great confidence.

The truth is he didn't have a great arm, he had no confidence, and all the cheerleading in the world couldn't make him an NFL QB.

He got lucky in a few games early in 2006, and that was about it for him.

Cutler, on the other hand, does have a great arm and does have great confidence, and what he showed Sunday against the Steelers - and didn't display at Green Bay - was a willingness to take what was offered and make plays when needed, without the unnecessary chances.

He also showed real arm strength and great ability to read and buy time under pressure.

The 7-yard TD pass to Johnny Knox that tied the game at 14-14 was a throw rarely seen in these parts.

Getting blitzed with an empty backfield, and moving backward, Cutler made a very quick read while firing off his back foot. The strike was perfect, delivered with calm and certainty.

The first TD pass to Kellen Davis, a 6-yarder late in the first half that tied the game at 7-7, was more impressive.

It had a certain Brett Favre quality to it, as Cutler looked left and across the middle before going to his second or third option, Davis to the right.

Cutler fired a bullet through traffic, and Davis caught it between two defenders.

Those aren't always going to work, but if that had been picked it's almost one you could live with, supposing there is such a thing.

Different from the Grossman-style, up-for-grabs, Three-Stooges picks of the Green Bay game, this Cutler believed he could thread the needle and hit a spot only his receiver could find.

Not sure when there has been a Bears quarterback who had the arm and the guts for that.

So you have one very good game and one very bad so far, but the bad was for a number of reasons that shouldn't exist beyond the opener.

And there should be a lot more good days, and Good Jays, to come.

Catching on?

While we're still skeptical of the Devin Hester experiment, here's some credit where it's due.

Hester made two very good - and crucial - plays down the stretch against Pittsburgh.

On a third-and-3 from their own 35 on the game-tying drive in the fourth, when the play broke down, Cutler escaped, threw high, but Hester went up (surprise), got it (surprise) and then held on (surprise) when sandwiched, for a gain of 13 (surprise).

That was huge, as was a first-down grab on a third-and-4 from the Pitt 39, when the Bears needed 1 more first down to get in field-goal range for the game-winner.

Hester took a step beyond the marker, went down to get the ball and kept the drive alive.

He's speeding up his routes and, believe it or not, Hester actually seemed to know a few routes last weekend.

Stay tuned.

Ivan Boldirev-ing

The four bench bosses who began the NHL season in Europe a year ago were all fired before season's end.

Michel Therrien (Pittsburgh), Craig Hartsburg (Ottawa), Barry Melrose (Tampa Bay) and Tom Renney (N.Y. Rangers) were all whacked.

We're certain Joel Quenneville, whose Blackhawks open in Finland against Florida Oct. 2, won't suffer the same fate this season.

Howling

The Wolves open at home Oct. 3, and it sounds like there's a pretty good chance Chris Chelios will be on the roster sometime in the first few weeks of the season. For ticket info, visit chicagowolves.com.

Seam stress

Sometimes, good umpires make a bad call, like the horrible pitch Bill Welke called a strike on A.J. Pierzynski in the ninth Wednesday night.

But the good umpires, like Welke, don't compound the mistake by chasing a player back to the dugout when he screams.

Welke let Pierzynski have his say and that was the end of it.

The quote

Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett: "I don't know why on God's earth Tony Romo has been anointed a superstar in the National Football League."

Wanna get away?

S.F. Chronicle's Scott Ostler, on Usain Bolt taking a vacation: "When you live in Jamaica, where do you vacation? Akron?"

And finally -

Foxsports.com's Mark Kriegel: "I don't fault Sam Bradford for returning to Oklahoma. But going back after losing four starters on the offensive line makes me wonder whether the value of a college education has been completely wasted on this kid."

brozner@dailyherald.com