Rozner: Moral victories only kind for Chicago Bears right now

After 60 minutes, the Chicago Bears appear to be exactly who we thought they were.

So it would be easy to trash them for being unable to make a big play when it really matters, and to rip Jay Cutler for being, well, Jay Cutler.

It would also be true.

But to be that simplistic would overlook the genuine positives that came out of their 31-23 loss to the Packers on Sunday at Soldier Field.

Yes, the John Fox era began the same way the Marc Trestman era ended — with a defeat — but the Bears were actually leading this game at the half and running the football to keep the Packers' offense off the field, a noticeable change from trailing by 6 or 7 touchdowns after 30 minutes.

It should be noted that Green Bay gave away 4 points and handed the Bears 4 on penalties. Combined with a meaningless late score that pulled the Bears to within 8, that's a 15-point difference and so they could have gotten blown out again.

But they didn't.

And while there are no moral victories in the NFL, the Bears did make progress in the first game of a rebuilding process that at times promises to be unpleasant.

Still, it was the professional coaching that stood out more than anything else Sunday afternoon.

“We have trust in the coaching staff and they have trust in us,” said Kyle Long, after playing his first game at right tackle. “They let the players play. You want to play for guys like this because they turn us loose and you want to reward them for giving us the chance to play out there.

“The staff empowers us and they put the game in our hands. They're good coaches, good teachers.”

It was evident early as the Bears went no-huddle and ran it well, Cutler looking comfortable calling plays at the line and checking out of passes to runs with the players understanding the changes quickly.

It tells you that Adam Gase is not only very good at scheming but also educating, and it's a significant change from the clown college of the last few seasons.

“The offensive coordinator has confidence in us and lets us run the offense, and Jay did a great job checking when he was supposed to,” said left tackle Jermon Bushrod. “We knew what to do and (Gase) knows what we're capable of. Now, when we go to the line we have confidence and we know what we're doing. That's just going to allow us to do more on our own.”

After just two series — and 2 sacks — Gase could be seen making a protection adjustment on the sideline, getting Long some help, and the Bears didn't allow another sack.

Matt Forte carried the ball 24 times, more than every game last season except one.

Midway through the second quarter the Bears held a huge time-of-possession advantage (15:56-6:15), and they had two chances to tie the game in the fourth quarter.

All of this is progress.

“We have to continue to gain their confidence, but we got the calls in at the line and guys understood and knew their assignments,” Bushrod said. “That's going to be really good going forward.”

With Green Bay up 8 midway through the fourth, the Bears had first-and-goal from the 6, but of the next four plays two should have been picked and one was badly overthrown, and the Bears wound up with nothing.

“On fourth down, I took the wrong guy and Jay had to rush it,” Long said, as usual taking the blame and refusing to make excuses. “That's on me.”

Again, the Bears had the ball with 6:05 left with a chance to tie and this time Cutler didn't get away with a mistake.

Clay Matthews baited Cutler at the line, feigning a rush from Cutler's left. As soon as the ball was snapped Matthews moved to Cutler's right in the underneath zone, watched Cutler's eyes and undercut the route.

“He's a good player,” Cutler said of Matthews. “As soon as I let it go, I knew we were in trouble.”

Cutler threw a perfect pass to Matthews and that was the game. The Packers went down and scored, aided by a 34-yard pass interference call on Kyle Fuller.

“What did I see? I didn't see anything,” said a clearly aggravated Fuller. “What happened on the play? They called a penalty.”

While there was plenty of bad, there might have been nothing worse than the Bears' secondary, which can't cover anyone and can't tackle. The Bears' rush never sniffed Aaron Rodgers. And their linebackers are invisible.

Good quarterbacks are going to eat them alive regardless of how good the coaching is this season.

Fox was also tricked into throwing a red flag when Rodgers rushed to line after a completion, thus wasting a timeout.

And Cutler was really good managing the offense and calling plays at the line until — of course — it mattered most, and then he looked precisely like the Cutler who's been giving away games for 10 years.

“We did some good things,” Bushrod said. “It's in the loss column and that's bad, but there's a lot of good to build off.”

That may be true, but the Bears are a dozen starters away from having a competitive team again.

Still, it says a lot about where the Bears are coming from that this loss felt better than some victories the last two years, that you can clearly see coaching and professionalism and a path to prosperity.

It says much about the last couple of years when you are praised in defeat.

It says a lot about their lack of talent that they squeezed all they could out of this game and still looked like the little brother being teased by the older brother until he takes the game away.

It's a team severely lacking in talent that shouldn't be on the same field as Green Bay, and yet the Bears made a game of it for a while.

That says something, too.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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