Bennett growing with offense

Earl Bennett’s emergence as a focal point of the Bears’ passing game doesn’t come as much of a surprise to quarterback Jay Cutler.

“Earl’s had it in him, it’s just a matter of putting him in situations to play,” Cutler said. “He’s growing with this offense. He’s got a really good feel for what we’re trying to get done, and he just gets it, and he’s fun to play with.”

Bennett has 11 receptions in the past two games for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns. At an even 6 feet tall and a solid 204 pounds, Bennett has always been more physical than most wide receivers, and he’s never shied away from doing the dirty work of blocking or catching throws in traffic over the middle. This year he’s also shown better tackle-breaking strength than ever before.

“Earl’s one of those guys, (tight end) Greg (Olsen), we trust them inside, and we put a lot of responsibility on them,” Cutler said. “They have to do a lot of different jobs for us, whether it’s blocking, whether it’s hitting hots (the go-to guy in blitz situations), or whether it’s getting vertical. They’ve got a big load, and they’ve handled it well throughout the year.”

Bennett has caught a pass for 25 yards or longer in five of the past seven games.

Weather or not:

Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked during the week how he prepares his team to handle the elements that are expected at Solider Field today.

“We just go outside,” Belichick said. “We’ve been in windy and cold conditions here (in Foxborough, Mass.) at points in the year.”

But the Patriots may face conditions today that they’ve never played in before. Snow throughout the day is almost guaranteed with wind gusts possibly up to 50 mph and temperatures around 20 degrees for the 3:15 opening kickoff and dropping sharply through the late afternoon creating wind chills of minus 15.

“In Chicago? In December?” Bears coach Lovie Smith said, feigning surprise. “For us, it’s the typical Chicago game in December. Do we game plan for it? Yes. This is our homefield advantage … or, I shouldn’t say advantage. It’s at least our home field we play on. But you prepare for all situations that come up each week. It’s not like we’re going to start doing anything differently than we normally do at this time of the year.”

So what:

Last week’s ninth victory assured Jay Cutler of his first winning season since he was a senior at Heritage Hills High School in Lincoln City, Ind., the significance of which was lost on him.

“I’m not worried about it,” Cutler said. “We’ve got to worry about the Patriots and try to get in the playoffs.”

Follow Bob LeGere’s Bears reports via Twitter@BobLeGere. Check out his blog, Bear Essentials, at dailyherald.com.