It was a big day for Jay Cutler and Bears fans Saturday night, the night Cutler made his Solider Field debut in front of thousands of screaming fans. After a below average performance last week, fans were hoping to see a much better Cutler this week, and a better Cutler is what they got.
What Bears fans haven’t had in any other QB of recent vintage is one that can actually run away from rushing defenders. Cutler showed his mobility Saturday as he was able to get out of a collapsing pocket to make a 14-yard run. This is something that Cutler is really good at doing, and Bears fans will love him for it.
Matt Forte made his preseason debut Saturday, and it looked nothing like his first day on the field in around eight months. Forte blew through defenders and found holes like the Giants were handing them to him. Forte finished off a great drive, that included a 17-yard run, with a 34-yard TD.
Forte was pretty much untouched during the TD run. Don’t give all the credit to Forte though. He deserves a lot of it, but the O-line is obviously a key in having a good running game and they opened up the lanes for Forte to take advantage of.
The hole was there,†Forte said. “The O-line did a great job of creating that running lane. I stretched it and I saw the safety come down and just made one cut and took it up the field.â€
There were also other players that played really well Saturday.
Earl Bennett had a spectacular day. He had 2 catches for 42 yds. It was really nice to see Bennett get some catches in there. He can be a threat now that he has Cutler throwing to him.
Additionally, Caleb Hanie is still playing really well. He went 10 for 18 while throwing for 120 yds. Hanie is showing to be a good backup QB even though Don Banks of SI thinks Hanie is the worst backup QB in the NFL. I now would have to disagree with Banks there. Yes, Hanie has no real experience, but he has shown he can play the position very well in what we have seen of him so far.
One player I was disappointed in was Devin Hester. He missed a perfectly good throw to him that would have been a TD if he didn’t slow down and actually caught the ball. He had the defense beat by a good six yds. It just showed that Hester needs a little more time to become a deep threat.
The Bears play Denver at Denver next week, and boy should that be a fun game to watch. Orton against Cutler. It will be a must see game just to find out which QB performs the best. Cutler will sure get booed at Denver.
The real problem the Bears have is the Vikings. With their pickup of Farve, the Vikings are on their way to maintaining their stronghold on the division. Still, Saturday’s preseason game contained a lot of positives that should have Bears fans at least feeling like their team can compete. And at this stage of the preseason, that’s really about all you can as for.
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* – Jay Cutler / Matt Forte photo credit: Chris Sweda, Chicago Tribune / August 8, 2009 via CLTV.com
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