The Chicago Bears were puttering along in the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. They were running the ball well and playing their usual outstanding defense, with the passing game was looking for some rhythm. Bears quarterback Jay Cutler threw an early interception and he was off target much of the 1st half, but his offensive line was keeping him upright.
The FOX camera kept panning to Jay Cutler, but the gun-slinging QB wasn’t giving them much to run with. He had his share of first half frustrations, but not a bump or a shun was seen. It was business as usual for the Bears, but they could only muster a lone field goal, and they went into the locker room tied 3-3.
But there’s two halves to every football game, and that 3-3 tie quickly turned into a lopsided game.
Spurred on by a motivational halftime speech by head coach Lovie Smith, the Bears put up 38 unanswered points behind a dominating defense and two interception returns for touchdowns. The offense was helped along by a 100 yard rushing day from Matt Forte, and a 100 yard receiving day by Brandon Marshall. The only bumping that took place was the fist bump between Jay Cutler and his offensive coordinator Mike Tice, who called another good game. Cutler found some consistency in the second half finishing up 23 of 39 for 292 yards and 2 TDs to go along with that 1st quarter pick.
The Bears offense is slowly starting to get comfortable with the new Tice system, and they only need to put together all four quarters. If you step back and look at the 5 games they’ve played, the “team” dominated in all 4 of their wins, and the D did enough to win the Green Bay game. The 2012 Chicago Bears are getting closer to that top tier of the NFL teams.
With the Bears sitting tied atop the NFC North at 4-1, their bye week awaiting for week 6, there should be smiles around Halas Hall for the foreseeable future, and a lack of negative Jay Cutler articles.
Then again… A nationally televised Monday Night game is on the horizon in week 7, and the ESPN cameras will be positioned on Jay Cutlerm watching his every move.