As football common sense slowly returned to Chicago from its off-week vacation, the fascination continued Wednesday with offensive players who either no longer are Bears or never will be.
An amused Jay Cutler dismissed a wild rumor about Terrell Owens-to-the-Bears that had the legs of a marathoner on the 26th mile. Cutler also obliged a question about Kyle Orton and the surprising 5-0 Broncos, his old team, by saying he missed Denver’s comeback victory Sunday.
“I was on a plane,” Cutler said.
Hope Cutler had his DVR set. How else would he learn to author a game-winning fourth-quarter drive of epic proportions without watching Orton, right?
Based on all the love expressed the past few days for all things Orton, you would think Cutler was part of the Orton Trade and not the other way around. How many draft picks did the Broncos throw in again?
Can’t wait for the public outcry next week demanding to know why Cedric Benson never did for the Bears what he’s doing for the Bengals.
From T.O. to K.O., WTH?
Enough Ced already too.
Reality check: Heading into a pivotal road game that may require five touchdowns to win, the Bears offense is better equipped with the players they have than the ones they don’t who generated more discussion this week.
In a matchup where his defense could struggle, Cutler and Co. give the Bears legitimate reasons to believe if they have the ball last, they can go home victorious.
How often have the Bears been able to believe that in coach Lovie Smith’s tenure? Certainly not when either Orton or Benson wore Bears uniforms.
Last week the Falcons scored 45 points. The Bears hung 48. Only six NFL teams, in fact, average more points per game than the Bears’ 26.3. The Bears no longer go into shootouts shooting blanks.
“Low-scoring, high-scoring … we have the ability to win any kind of game we get into,” offensive coordinator Ron Turner said.
Asked how many past Bears offenses he could say that about, Turner paused.
“Not a lot,” he acknowledged.
But now Turner has a quarterback who, since the second half of the season opener, has a higher passer rating (107.8) than any of his peers not named Manning. They have a surprisingly dependable receiving corps that includes the NFL’s fastest duo in Devin Hester and Johnny Knox.
They still have to tweak the offensive line, improve third-down efficiency and involve tight end Greg Olsen more. They have flaws, but they also have more confidence as a unit than any veteran can remember.
“As long as everybody is playing well, with a quarterback like Jay, we always have a chance,” tight end Desmond Clark said. “He’ll make sure he gets you the ball where you can do something with it. You don’t need a Randy Moss or Brandon Marshall or T.O. to win games for you.”
Not that Owens ever popped up on general manager Jerry Angelo’s radar, unless it was as a storm warning. As stated here previously, Owens is anthrax in shoulder pads who would ruin good chemistry in the offensive huddle.
As for Benson and Orton, anybody around Chicago suddenly pining for the good ol’ days must be enrolled in revisionist history.
Benson never ran with the purpose he has shown in Cincinnati and there are about 13 million reasons why. It required a face mask-to-face mask encounter with his NFL mortality before he grasped the concept of professionalism. His final off-the-field betrayal of trust meant Benson had to go, and the Bears have missed him like they miss an IRS audit.
Orton, the AFC offensive player of the week, deserves all the credit coming his way. But realize Orton has more wide receiver talent with the Broncos, as well as an offensive line that has protected him better than the Bears did a year ago when they couldn’t call seven-step drops for fear of a sack.
Envy or angst aren’t appropriate for Bears fans watching Orton. Gratitude is. Be thankful he got good enough to be worth trading. Those bashing Turner for impeding Orton’s development should consider that Orton improved enough on Turner’s watch that the Broncos wanted him more than they did the Redskins’ Jason Campbell in the Cutler Trade sweepstakes.
By the way, it’s still the Cutler Trade. Not the Orton Trade.
The Bears would make that deal today, tomorrow and in the fall of 2013.
“The difference now is you have somebody behind center you feel that you could put the game on his shoulders and he could go out and win it for you,” Clark said.
Sunday at the Georgia Dome, if that somebody has to do just that, the Falcons could be in trouble.
– – –
All Ex-Bear offense
Players who look better in the memories of Bears fans than they ever did on film in Chicago.
QB: Kyle Orton, Broncos
RB: Cedric Benson, Bengals
FB: Lousaka Polite, Dolphins
WR: Bernard Berrian, Vikings
WR: Mark Bradley, Chiefs
WR: Justin Gage, Titans
TE: John Gilmore, Buccaneers
LT: Marc Colombo, Cowboys
LG: John St. Clair, Browns
C: Casey Wiegmann, Broncos
RG: Terrence Metcalf, potential Texan
RT: Mark Levoir, Patriots
ON THE INTERNET
David Haugh takes you down memory lane at chicagotribune.com/sports
– – –
Take a pass
59%
Of more than 8,000 respondents to a chicagotribune.com poll say the Bears should not go after disgruntled receiver Terrell Owens.
———-
dhaugh@tribune.com
