Gush over the way Jay Cutler made himself right at home in the place he used to play at rowdy Invesco Field with an impressive exhibition showing Sunday night against his former team, the Broncos.
Gasp at the audacity of the guy who spent the first half jawing at Broncos defensive linemen when he wasn’t picking apart their defensive backs with throws fans in Denver might be used to seeing from a quarterback, but we in Chicago sure aren’t.
Go ahead, get excited over the way Cutler has given the Bears’ passing game credibility it just didn’t have when Sunday’s opposing quarterback, Kyle Orton, was running Lovie Smith’s offense.
But the most encouraging development for the Bears in the third exhibition game — considered the truest barometer for regular-season success — had little to do with the joy of No. 6.
Consider we already knew Cutler could throw accurately on the run and in the pocket, and going 15 of 21 for 144 yards and a touchdown for a passer rating of 106.1 only confirmed that. We already knew Cutler tends to wear his emotions on his jersey sleeve, as he did in motioning demonstrably for offensive coordinator Ron Turner to call the play and when Cutler got in the face of Broncos linebacker Elvis Dumervil.
But to this point of the preseason, we hadn’t yet learned if the Bears were capable of playing defense and executing on special teams well enough to complement what could be the NFC’s most improved offense. Now we know, or at least have a much better idea.
Devin Hester’s 54-yard punt return to the Denver 4 in the second quarter offset the dumb decision he made earlier in the game to signal for a fair catch at the Bears’ 5. The Bears will put up with Hester’s erratic decision-making on punt returns if he can break one with more regularity than he did in 2008.
The Hester the Bears saw Sunday night against Denver was the Hester the league saw in his first two seasons, the electrifying threat the team needs him to be now that they have a quarterback who can take advantage of great field position.
The Bears’ defense looked familiar too, at least in the first half. Yes, that was defensive end Mark Anderson making a sack and batting down a pass. That was defensive tackle Tommie Harris moving laterally to make plays as fluidly as he has all preseason. That was free safety Kevin Payne knocking down an Orton pass on a blitz. All are good signs.
Sure, a touchdown drive by the Broncos’ second-team offense to open the second half stole some of the momentum from the defense, which seemed to relax with rookie Tom Brandstater replacing Orton. But that series was played without Harris and the key completion was a 16-yarder to Brandon Lloyd in front of cornerback Trumaine McBride, who had a rough night and won’t be in the starting lineup when it matters.
Here’s what matters most to Bears coaches and future opponents: A No. 1 defensive front needed almost as much as Cutler this season was as active as it had been all preseason against a competent Broncos offensive line. For Smith’s formula to work, even with Cutler, defense and special teams must make impact plays like they did Sunday.
“It makes life easy, especially with stuff like that,” Cutler said of Hester’s return. “With this defense and special teams, they make things easy for us out there.”
Nothing came easily for Cutler early in a stadium where he was booed, on cue, and full of fans who wished him ill.
In the first quarter, it would have been nice for the Bears if their offensive line made Cutler feel a little safer in the pocket. Dumervil made left tackle Orlando Pace look every bit like a guy who will turn 34 in November. Blitzes were difficult to pick up. Initially, Cutler appeared rattled, looking visibly perturbed in the first series when he couldn’t get the play called quickly enough.
But a 25-yard completion to tight end Desmond Clark on third-and-1 at the end of the first quarter that came on a nifty bootleg proved to be a sedative for Cutler. From that point on, the dominance shown against the Giants was obvious again in a familiar, if not friendly, venue.
“It meant something to me, it meant something to this entire offense,” Cutler said. “We wanted to come out here and set a tempo and we did a good job.”
More significantly, they weren’t the only ones.
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dhaugh@tribune.com
