Days before the Bears faced their third straight must-win proposition, leader Olin Kreutz challenged his teammates by saying stars need to play like stars in games this big.
Kreutz didn’t name names. But everybody knew what he meant.
So naturally the 54th guy on the roster signed off the practice squad Friday answered the bell better than any Bear.
Kahlil Bell, that is.
If you have never heard of Bell or can’t spell his first name without peeking, don’t feel too badly. He is an undrafted free agent from UCLA who was unnecessary until third-stringer Garrett Wolfe was placed on injured reserve.
Rest assured it never crossed Bob Costas’ mind to ask to speak with Bell last week, and it would never occur to Bell to say no if Costas had before the Bears’ 24-20 loss to the Eagles Sunday night at Soldier Field.
You can’t even find Bell’s name on the flip card handed out to media members in the press box. But expect to hear it called more often after his 72-yard run in the first half — the Bears’ longest in 20 years — gave the offense a spark it lacked.
Do you congratulate the Bears for giving the kid a chance or criticize them for taking two months to promote him?
That question was less pressing Sunday night than the one Kreutz raised when he essentially called out Cutler even if that wasn’t his intent.
The Bears needed their quarterback to match the level of Donovan McNabb’s. He just didn’t.
Not until after McNabb hit DeSean Jackson with a 48-yard TD pass in the third quarter to give the Eagles a brief lead did it seem like a fair matchup. But Cutler responded with a gutsy drive that culminated with a nicely placed 15-yard TD pass to tight end Kellen Davis that put the Bears back in front.
That was the type of touch missing in past games as the Bears so often left the red zone red-faced after another unforced Cutler mistake. That was the precision that frankly Cutler hadn’t proven he was capable of providing against the Eagles until that throw.
Whether Cutler was pressing or suffering from effects of diabetes that are unknown, he spent most of the night shaking his head. Just like the rest of Bears fans.
When the Bears needed Cutler to make a play on the TD throw to Davis, he made it. But this wasn’t sharp Cutler-y on display to America.
Pick a series, any series. In the first quarter, Cutler threw a near-interception to Philadelphia safety Quintin Mikell that reminded everybody who leads the NFL in picks. Considering Cutler was coming off a game in which he threw five picks, the bad decision was hard to figure.
Most people were just stunned later when Cutler slightly overthrew two straight receivers on plays that would have been touchdowns. On the first, tight end Greg Olsen got wide open on a play-action fake but the ball bounced off his fingertips. It would have been a difficult catch but, in fairness, guys in the stratosphere Olsen wants to live make that catch. Jeremy Shockey makes that catch, right?
The second overthrow required no debate. Devin Hester made a great fake to shake Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel and could have backpedaled into the end zone if Cutler was on the mark. But the touch pass sailed badly over Hester’s head and the Bears had to settle for a field goal.
Cutler defied belief again early in the second quarter when, with the Bears in the red zone for the first time all game, tried to force the ball to Olsen between three defenders. Rookie safety Macho Harris broke up the pass and should have intercepted it. The Bears had to settle for another Gould field goal.
By the time Cutler’s third-down pass went over everybody’s head on the Bears’ second unsuccessful trip into the red zone, doubts about Cutler continued to grow.
If this was a game in which the stars were supposed to shine, why was the Bears’ brightest one hiding in the night sky?
If the Bears didn’t have to settle for field goals on even one of those drives, the defense wouldn’t have been put in the position to protect a fourth-quarter lead it couldn’t.
Sure, this will go down as a game the defense could have played better.
Afalava could have made a better play on the ball on Jackson’s touchdown. Danieal Manning could have made a better tackle on Michael Vick’s 34-yard run in the first quarter. The run defense could have been more stout on LeSean McCoy’s 10-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
But the defense did create three turnovers and devise ways to pressure the quarterback. It wasn’t good enough but it wasn’t the reason the Bears lost.
As Kreutz accurately pointed out, this was when the Bears needed their stars to play like stars. And the Eagles just had more of a constellation.
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dhaugh@tribune.com
