Cutler doing much with little for Chicago Bears
Quarterback Jay Cutler did a masterful job of working with what he had - and it wasn't much - late in Sunday's 26-21 victory over the Tampa Bay Bucs. But that's nothing new.
Of the Chicago Bears' six leading pass catchers, five were unavailable in the fourth quarter.
Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (54 catches) didn't play because of a tender hamstring. Tight end Martellus Bennett (53) is on injured reserve with a rib injury.
Running back Matt Forte (41) was temporarily sidelined with back issues. Wide receiver Eddie Royal (37) was in and out of the game with an illness, and wide receiver Marquess Wilson (28) is on injured reserve with a foot injury.
Still, Cutler directed the Bears to the go-ahead touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter - his 1-yard pass to Ka'Deem Carey.
Then he led a pair of field-goal drives that provided enough cushion to withstand the Buccaneers' 43-yard, desperation TD pass with one second left.
"It's not new to us," coach John Fox said when asked about playing short-handed. "It's not the first opportunity that we've had in that situation. Jay has done a great job. He doesn't care who's out there."
Cutler ran twice for 21 yards in the fourth quarter. On a third-and-7, he scrambled for 16 yards to help position the Bears for Robbie Gould's 50-yard field goal. On the next possession he ran for 5 yards to set up a third-and-2, which became a third-and-12 after a holding penalty on Vlad Ducasse.
But Cutler's 25-yard pass deep down the middle to Marc Mariani picked up the first down and led to Gould's 39-yard field goal. It arguably was the biggest offensive play of the game and a throw that not all quarterbacks can make.
"It's an art he's good at," Fox said of Cutler's throw. "He's good at it, and he's done it a lot."
The difficulty factor was huge, according to the Bears' coach.
"You're going to have protection issues," Fox said. "Everybody in the stadium knows you're throwing on third-and-(12), so they pin their ears back, especially on the road. It's a tough spot.
"But he has a good feel for it. He's been way better in his pocket presence all season long, finding holes, buying time. In that case it was Marc. They're developing a chemistry. Marc's played a quite a bit of football for us and established that."
The same can be said of tight end Zach Miller, Sunday's leading receiver with 7 catches for 69 yards. Miller had just 3 catches for 35 yards in the first seven games. But in the past eight, he has caught 31 passes for 404 yards and a team-best 5 touchdowns.
"Our coaching staff has done a great job of getting guys ready (on the) spur of the moment," Fox said. "It's kind of a tribute to our players. They just keep handling it and don't look for excuses. It's next man up, and they always keep fighting for it."
Sunday was the sixth time this season Cutler did not throw an interception, which is tied for his personal best, set in 2007 with the Denver Broncos and tied in 2012 with the Bears.
Cutler has not thrown more than 1 interception in a game all season (14 starts), and he's the only NFL quarterback with at least 10 starts and no multiple-interception games.
Against the Bucs, Cutler threw for just 156 yards, but he completed 20 of 27 passes, wasn't intercepted and was sacked just once. His passer rating of 100.2 was his fifth of 100-plus this season, and he has been below 88.0 in just three games.
Cutler's 92.8 rating for the season is 3.6 points higher than his previous best season.
"He's been doing it all season," Fox said. "He missed the second half of the Arizona game and all of the Seattle game (both losses). For six quarters, when he wasn't in there, you feel it. The rest of the games he gives you a chance.
"That's part of the reason we've had success on third downs (ninth best in the league). He's had a variety of receivers. It's not an excuse; it's just a reality. And when you figure that in, he's had a very good season."
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