Bears win, and that’s all that really matters
This week should be a lot less controversial for the Bears.
A methodical 23-6 victory over the mundane St. Louis Rams will sort of put to rest the restlessness around town.
At least for now, that is.
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder whether Jay Cutler enjoyed a chuckle while listening to the chatter of the past 10 days.
“Yes, I did,” the Bears’ quarterback said.
But then Cutler proceeded to talk about the banter between the Rams and Bears leading up to Sunday’s game at Soldier Field.
No, no, no … not that chatter.
The question referenced the chatter concerning Cutler’s sideline bump of offensive lineman J’Marcus Webb and overall the Bears QB’s worthiness of franchise status.
“I didn’t chuckle about that, no,” Cutler said. “When you lose a game, it’s tough. You have to go back and look at your own performance and get better and move on. That’s not a laughing matter.”
OK, closer now, but the loss wasn’t quite the issue either. Nor was the team’s disappointing performance generally and Cutler’s poor showing specifically.
What we wanted to find out was whether … oh, forget it.
One victory later all that other stuff is old news anyway. Current news is that the Bears’ record is 2-1 and they’re back on balance.
“This was a bounce-back game for us,” said Bears head coach Lovie Smith.
Not that the bounce was all that high. The Bears did what little they had to do to win the game and started looking toward next Monday night at Dallas.
Cutler and the offense will have to play better in that one or the chatter will surface again faster than you can say Moody QB.
But that’s the NFL, isn’t it? Lose and move on. Win and move on. Get better or get out. Take criticism or take a hike.
The 49ers were the consensus team of the century last week until they went to Minnesota and had their hubris handed to them by the mediocre Vikings.
Don’t even mention the baffling Lions losing at Tennessee or the preseason darling Saints being 0-3 after losing at home to the previously winless Chiefs.
The NFL has been weird like that during the season’s first three weeks. Every team’s goal for now is to not let anything wacky happen that it’ll regret later.
The Bears escaped the Rams with what in the end amounted to less than a scare.
The crowd began booing the Bears late in the third quarter for having only a 4-point lead in a game expected to be less stressful.
More was expected of Cutler, whose play resembled his lackluster performance at Green Bay but gratefully against a lesser opponent.
Actually, more was expected of the entire offense after it scored 41 points against the Colts when last seen at Soldier Field.
“I expect the offense to do what’s required of them on that day,” Smith said. “Some days we may have to score 41 points to win. Other days it may be about ball security and making plays when we have to.”
Fans relaxed in the fourth quarter when the Bears moved the ball a tad batter, Major Wright scored on an interception return, and the outcome became inevitable.
This week no one will confuse what chatter was being asked about because it will have moved on to places like Detroit, San Francisco and New Orleans.
The noise you hear around town the next several days will be more about football and less about Jay Cutler’s haircut.
How boring.
mimrem@dailyherald.com