Bears’ Cutler not overly efficient, but the ‘W’ is all that matters
Most of Jay Cutler’s contributions to Sunday’s 37-13 victory over the Lions can’t be measured in numbers, which is a good thing for him, since his personal statistics weren’t very attractive.
Cutler completed just 9 passes on 19 attempts for 123 yards, and he did not throw a touchdown pass for just the second time this season. But he also wasn’t intercepted, for the fourth time in the last five games. With his skill set, and in Mike Martz’s offense, Cutler is rarely asked only to “manage” a game, but that’s really all he needed to do vs. Detroit.
“(He was) a winning quarterback two weeks in a row,” coach Lovie Smith said. “His numbers were better last week (against the Eagles) than they were this week, but he did what the team needed him to do.
“We didn’t have a lot of completions, but some of those throws that he did make (were into a) small window. He took a couple of tough shots; just showing toughness, just being the leader. Each week there’s something different we’re asking our quarterback to do, and Jay has filled that role perfectly for a long stretch of time.”
Cutler hit Earl Bennett with a 15-yard dart while rolling to his right to set up Robbie Gould’s first field goal. Gould’s next 3-pointer was set up by Cutler’s third-and-13 pass to Bennett for 17 yards, followed by a diagonal laser across the field to Johnny Knox for 18 yards.
In his three seasons with the Bears, Cutler has thrown and completed fewer passes just once in a game he started and finished, a 17-9 victory over the Rams on Dec. 6, 2009.
Changing of the guard:
With left guard Chris Williams going on injured reserve Monday following Sunday night’s wrist surgery, Edwin Williams could get his first start of the season Sunday against the Chargers. Williams, who started three games at right guard last season when Lance Louis was hurt, replaced Williams in the second half against the Lions.
“Edwin came in and did a good job for us,” coach Lovie Smith said. “Edwin has started for us, knows what we do (and) there’s a reason he’s on the roster. We feel good with Edwin stepping in, if that’s what duty calls.”
Frank Omiyale started 12 games at left guard in 2009, 16 games at tackle last season and three at right tackle this season, but he was benched in two of those.
“We don’t normally talk about who’s going to start this early in the week,” Smith said. “But, if Edwin ends up being the starter there, then we’ll be pretty excited about that.”
Shut it down:
Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson leads the NFL with 11 touchdown receptions, but Bears cornerback Charles Tillman kept him out of the end zone Sunday.
Actually, Johnson was targeted by quarterback Matthew Stafford six times either in the end zone or inside the Bears’ 10-yard line, but he failed to make a single catch, thanks mostly to Tillman.
“Charles Tillman, I could talk about him quite a bit,” coach Lovie Smith said. “Putting our game plan in, we let Charles know he was going to guard their best receiver all day. He knew what type of duty that would be for him. He just had control of him most of the day.”
Stafford threw 19 passes to Johnson but completed just 7 for 81 yards.
Coming and going:
Defensive end Chauncey Davis was signed to a two-year contract Monday, and defensive end Nick Reed was waived.
Davis played in 96 games, including 25 starts over six seasons (2005-10) with the Atlanta Falcons after entering the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick (128th overall) in 2005. He has 204 career tackles with 10 sacks, 2 interceptions, 8 fumble recoveries and 2 forced fumbles. He has scored 2 touchdowns: a 26-yard interception return and 24-yard fumble return.
Reed played in seven games this season and had 11 tackles and 1pass breakup.
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