Smith prefers a more sportsmanlike Cutler

The only blemish on Jay Cutler's masterful performance Sunday was a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that didn't affect the outcome but could have.

Cutler complained that intended receiver Matt Forte was interfered with on a third-down pass that was incomplete with 8:28 remaining.

After Brad Maynard's punt, the Philadelphia Eagles drove to a field goal, cutting the Bears' lead to 31-19 with 4:47 left.

“Everyone saw the replay; everyone knows what happened,” Cutler said. “(There will) probably be a fine, but whatever. We're out there trying to do everything possible to win this ballgame and something like that happens, I'm going to say something.”

Coach Lovie Smith would prefer that Cutler say less in the future.

“You want your quarterback to be into the game, and Jay is a fiery leader and all of that,” Smith said. “But you have to keep your emotions under wraps a little bit when you're dealing with officials.

“I'll be the first guy out there screaming and yelling if I saw them changing calls. They don't. I can see why he was upset; we were all upset. We weren't perfect in the game.

“The officials, they definitely weren't perfect either. (But) officials don't win or lose games. They're going miss some calls during the course of it.”

Long ball:

The big-play Eagles had seven plays of 20 yards or longer Sunday but none over 30 yards. The Bears also had seven plays of 20 yards or longer, but five of them went for 30 yards or more.

“If you look at the players we have on the offensive side of the ball, we're supposed to be making big plays,” coach Lovie Smith said. “Devin Hester, Johnny Knox, Greg Olsen, Matt Forte … we have big-play guys, and we expect them to make those plays each week.”

Forte had runs of 61 and 28 yards. Hester had catches of 34 and 39 yards and a 46-yard kickoff return. Knox caught passes of 34 and 20 yards, Olsen had a 9-yard TD catch, and Earl Bennett had a 30-yard reception and TD catches of 10 and 6 yards.

“We said the same thing about Philly,” Smith said. “The defense did a good job of keeping their receivers out of the mix as far as big plays. (Jeremy) Maclin and (DeSean) Jackson both caught a few passes, but they never really got going in their offense.”

Maclin caught 4 passes for 47 yards with a long gain of 24 yards, and Jackson had just 2 catches for 26 yards and a long gain of 21.

Condolences:

The death of a 23-year-old Woodstock man who plunged from a Soldier Field ledge during the Bears-Eagles game has been ruled an accident by the Cook County medical examiner's office.

A statement from the team Monday said: “The Chicago Bears are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic accident that claimed the life of Stuart Haverty yesterday. Our hearts go out to his family and friends. They will be in our prayers during this difficult time.”

National stage:

The NFL announced Monday that the Dec. 12 game with the New England Patriots at Soldier Field has been moved from noon to 3:15 p.m.