No reason to pick Cutler apart

An odd calm circulated through my body on Sunday.

Jay Cutler threw an interception. Jets defensive back Dwight Lowery ran it back 20 yards for a touchdown. Groans circulated through Soldier Field.

Yet my response was more of a, well, a nothing.

Apparently I have become numb to Cutler's trademark bad throws, bad decisions and bad mechanics.

They are amusing now in a contorted sort of way.

Everything is amusing when a team's record is 11-4, which the Bears' record is after they beat the Jets 38-34.

Heck, even the bad can be good and the discouraging can be encouraging.

The expectation now is that Cutler will shake off all that ails him early and rally himself later into doing what needs to be done to win the game.

“It's like a pitcher,” tight end Greg Olsen said. “Give up a home run and come back with another fastball.”

To be honest, I always was uncomfortable with the notion of turning Cutler into a game manager.

Please, no, don't even think of making this guy another Shane Matthews, Steve Walsh or any of those other Bears office managers, uh, game managers from over the years.

I have waited all my life for a Bears quarterback with the size, mobility and arm strength to be, dare we say, a gunslinger.

So now if — OK, when — Cutler throws one to the other team, my simple suggestion is that the Bears' defense get the ball back for him.

If the error results in a touchdown for the opposition, then Cutler himself is responsible for getting those 6 points back and more.

You know, just as he did against the Jets.

Cutler and his entire offense were a bit befuddled early by the Jets' defensive schemes, which contributed to a 21-10 New York lead.

Even after driving the Bears to a touchdown late in the first half, Cutler's quarterback rating was a meager 43.2 compared to 110 for the Jets' Mark Sanchez.

“They show a lot of crazy looks,” Cutler said of the Jets' defense. “Once we ... once I settled down ... the offensive line played exceptional all game long ... the receivers made some plays for us ... ”

The third quarter arrived like Santa down the chimney. Cutler threw a TD pass to Johnny Knox, another to Devin Hester and yet another to Knox.

However, let's not give the impression that Cutler was throwing the ball all over the place all of the time.

Cutler needed just 7 passes to compile 6 completions, 117 yards and those 3 touchdowns. If he was a gunslinger, he was discreet with his ammo, a game manager with a fun streak.

Bears fans must have fantasized the past 50 years or so that some day in their lifetimes this franchise's quarterback would be like this.

Anyway, after beating the Jets, Bears head coach Lovie Smith commented on his offense by mentioning the receivers, the line and the running game.

Smith had to be asked specifically about Cutler and whether the third quarter was his best during two seasons as a Bear.

“He's played well a lot of times,” Smith said. “He's just been playing outstanding football. You expect that, though.”

I guess I do now. Not even the interception was a deal breaker.

That odd calm had to be taking for granted that Jay Cutler would turn a bad throw into a good game.