Bears hear boos as offense flops its way to a loss

A scoreless 21/2 quarters by the first-team offense and 4 more sacks of quarterback Jay Cutler were not what the Bears were looking for in the most extended playing time of the preseason for their starters.

The offensive shortcomings resulted in a third straight exhibition loss for the Bears, who fell 14-9 to the visiting Arizona Cardinals (2-1), as the home crowd repeatedly booed the fitful offense.

"We have a lot to improve on," center Olin Kreutz said. "We're nowhere near where we want to be."

The first-team offense played the entire first half and through the first possession of the second half, and the lack of production after halftime actually got worse.

On the starters' last possession, Cutler was sacked for the fourth time back to the 5-yard line. Chester Taylor lost 2 yards, the fans booed again, and Brad Maynard punted again.

At that point the Bears made the wise decision to remove Cutler rather than subject him to continued punishment and lack of success, along with the rest of the offensive starters.

"We're not playing good enough football, it's as simple as that," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "We never got any consistency, and Jay was under too much pressure."

Cutler's night ended with a passer rating of 31.0 thanks to 2 interceptions. He completed 10 of 20 passes for 129 yards.

"That's not how we planned it," Smith said of the offensive ineptitude. "We had opportunities early on."

The defense wasn't as bad, but it continued its aggravating habit of allowing third-down conversions at an alarming rate. The Cards converted 4 of 7 such opportunities in the first half, including two third-and-8s and one third-and-7 on their first TD drive.

"There are no excuses," defensive end Julius Peppers said. "We just have to play better. We're not as good as we want to be right now, but we will be."

An inconsistent and disappointing first half ended on a bad note for the offense when Cutler was intercepted for the second time, this one by Greg Toler on a pass intended for Devin Aromashodu, who had inside position.

The Bears were lucky to be trailing just 7-0 at halftime. With the Cardinals threatening for a second TD, Danieal Manning ripped the ball loose from Beanie Wells' grasp and Zack Bowman recovered for the Bears at their own 7-yard line.

With 39 seconds remaining, Cutler took a knee as the offense received a chorus of boos.

The Bears had threatened the Cardinals' lead midway through the second quarter when Cutler flashed his running ability with a 15-yard scramble.

After a holding call on right tackle Frank Omiyale, Taylor broke loose for a 34-yard run with a sharp cutback at the line of scrimmage and some elusive running when he reached the second level.

But for the second time a promising drive ended with a missed field goal when Robbie Gould's 48-yard attempt hit the left upright and bounced back onto the field.

"Not getting any points out of the 2 field-goal (attempts) hurt us," Smith said.

A couple of impressive hookups between Cutler and Johnny Knox moved the Bears from their own 12 deep into Cardinals territory, but they came away empty.

Knox got the Bears out of the hole when he got behind Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and came back to catch an underthrown ball for a 4-yard gain despite interference by Rodgers-Cromartie.

But Gould's 38-yard FG attempt was tipped by Calais Campbell at the line of scrimmage and landed well short.

The Cardinals responded with a 72-yard TD drive as journeyman quarterback Derek Anderson connected with rookie wide receiver Stephen Williams three times for 54 yards.

The last connection was good for 27 yards and a touchdown, giving Arizona a 7-0 lead with 10:47 left in the first half.

On the touchdown, Williams beat cornerback Charles Tillman, and safety Chris Harris came over too late to help.

Cutler, who had a league-high 26 interceptions last year, threw his first of the preseason when Rodgers-Cromartie stepped in front of Knox along the west sideline to thwart the game-opening drive.

"Offensively we talk about starting fast," Smith said. "But that first turnover really hurt us."

After 3 straight preseason losses, the Bears have yet to get started at all.

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