Bears can't quite take flight against Eagles

Week 11: Eagles 24, Bears 20


The Bears actually showed somethin' on Sunday night. Showed a few things, even. For example:

• A pass rush. Three sacks and consistent pressure on McNabb. Kudos to Alex Brown who, though he didn't record a sack, made Jason Peters give some early thanks for the fact that he won't have to face Brown again this season.
  
• A little fight. The Bears trailed 10-0 early on, Cutler looked terrible, a few boo birds were out while many more were peeking out of their nests. But with their backs against the wall, the Bears found a way get the Soldier Field crowd cheering again and found a way to make a game of it.
• It is in fact possible for Cutler to enter the red zone and not s**t his pants. While the Bears were limited to two field goals in their first two trips inside the 20, Cutler threw a beautiful pass to Kellen Davis for a big TD in the third quarter. And even when they had to resort to Robbie Gould, at least Cutler gave him the opportunity to put three points on the board instead of turning it over.
• Speaking of turnovers, the Bears were +2 in that category. Since they came into the game at -5, that was really nice to see. And it's all that kept the Bears in the game.
  

Unfortunately, the biggest thing the Bears showed was an ability to find a way to lose. They put up a fight, they came back, they made it a game. But all for naught, as they allowed the Eagles to charge down the field late in the fourth and then blew opportunities to win the game as Cutler missed a wide open receiver on one drive and threw an ill-advised pass for an interception to end it.

Have I mentioned in the past that Cutler is overrated? Because Cutler is overrated. Can bears not see well at night? Is that a thing? Because though Cutler not only threw another interception on the heels of his five-interception game, he was also just 24/43 for 171 yards. And most importantly, he missed wide open receivers on three different occasions. Is he allergic to touchdowns? Morally opposed to points? A conscientious objector to the concept of big plays?

Cutler has talent, and he will get better. But you can pretty easily argue that he has cost them victories in each of the last two games. Instead of 6-4 and in the thick of the Wild Card race, it's 4-6 and see you in 2010. But not until the third round of the draft.

Something else we saw last night: there is no limit to the number of Bears running backs who can average more yards per carry than Matt Forte. Kahlil Bell, an undrafted rookie free agent who was signed Friday, had four carries for 72 yards. Forte, on the other hand, averaged under three yards per carry. The sophomore slump extends.

Sorry, but one final piece of bad news: next up is a road game against the Vikings. Uh-oh.