Chicago Bears: Jay Cutler Talks Big Game, But Fails to Back it up in Loss to Green Bay Packers

By Bear Heiser
Senior Writer

Jay Cutler played a very forgettable game in the Bears’ 23-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Well, maybe not forgettable, per se, but it will be remembered for the wrong reasons.

Cutler had been talking the Bears up all week in preparation for Green Bay, obviously too much, in hindsight. And Cutler was downright awful in the loss, as he completed just 11-of-27 passes for 126 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions; yes, four interceptions.

In all fairness, though, one interception was the fault of wideout Earl Bennett, who elected to not come back to the ball on a broken play where Cutler eluded multiple Packer defenders. The other, which happened to be the last, came on a fourth-and-five play where safety Jerron McMillon appeared to have picked off the pass, but it hit the ground. Because it was fourth down, the play was not reviewed.

Anyhow, not only did Cutler have a bad night, the offensive line did as well. After putting together a very strong performance against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1, the offensive line regressed significantly by allowing seven sacks on Cutler. Linebacker Clay Matthews was absolutely beastly, nabbing 3 1/2 sacks all by himself.

Matthews found the most success against J’Marcus Webb on the left side. Time after time, Matthews was able to move past Webb with ease, using spin moves, speed to the outside and his unrelenting motor.

While Cutler can’t exactly block for his line, he can help out by getting rid of the ball quicker. The last three sacks were coverage sacks, all because Green Bay dropped seven back and only rushed four. It’s instances like that where Cutler needs to make the smart football decision and get rid of the ball.

Green Bay had wide receiver Brandon Marshall wrapped up in a blanket, which didn’t help matters. After receiving 15 targets against the Colts, Marshall was targeted just five times, and he caught only two of them for 15 yards. And he dropped a sure-fire touchdown in the third quarter that would have surely altered the momentum of the game.

Not only did the Bears lose this game, they may have lost running back Matt Forte for a while, too. Forte left the game after having his ankle rolled up on by safety Charles Woodson. Forte went to the sideline to have the ankle taped, but he couldn’t cut without pain, according to NFL Network sideline reporter Alex Flanagan. We do know that Forte had x-rays, but we don’t yet know the outcome.

Cutler and the Bears lost out on a huge opportunity to put the Packers on high-alert, but they elected to soil their pants, instead. This loss will sting for a while, but the Bears now have 10 days to forget before matching up against the St. Louis Rams at Soldier Field in Week 3.

Check back for more on the Bears’ loss and Forte’s injury.

Follow Bear on Twitter: @BearHeiser

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