Bears Blitz

Published by Jake Perper on September 25, 2012
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The Bears offense through three weeks of the 2012 NFL season hasn’t impressed anybody.

Jay Cutler has completed 28 of 58 passes for two touchdowns and five interceptions in his past two outings,  tossing two touchdowns in the team’s Week One win over Indy.

Offensive coordinator Mike Tice called a better game against St. Louis this past Sunday compared to the game last Thursday night against Green Bay.

The offense is still not up to par.

The Bears’ offense doesn’t need to dominate games in order to get wins, but they need to put better performances together. The schedule doesn’t get much easier for them.

In the next two weeks, the Bears travel to Dallas on Monday Night Football and Jacksonville the following Sunday.

Cutler fared well against the Cowboys the last time the Bears and Cowboys squared off in 2010. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns as he posted an impressive QB rating of 136.7.

Don’t expect Cutler to have a great game like that on Monday night, but he could have similar success with time in the pocket.

Cutler has been sacked 11 times this season. He has been getting pressured by opposing defenses, but at the same time, many of the sacks have been on Cutler. He needs to step up in the pocket and make a quicker decision. He needs to either throw the ball away or make a run for it.

He is pretty solid on the run, and he showed that last week against St. Louis on a 21-yard scramble in the third quarter.

I’m not saying Cutler needs to scramble on every drive, but it doesn’t hurt to gain yards instead of taking sacks.

The offensive line hasn’t plagued this offense as much as people may think.

J’Marcus Webb is certainly a below average left tackle, but with more protection on the left side of the line with a tight end or a back, it would help that problem.

The running game is the first option for this team. If Forte can return against Dallas from his ankle injury, that would give the Bears a much better offense. Forte is great out of the backfield running and blocking, but he is arguably the most gifted receiver on the offense.

Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery are big targets for Cutler which is great, but they need to get separation from opposing cornerbacks. Earl Bennett and Devin Hester haven’t seen much time in the offense, but they have to make plays when their names are called.

WR Dane Sanzenbacher hasn’t been active yet this season, but Cutler likes the quick undersized wide out. Don’t be shocked to see Sanzenbacher suited up on Monday night.

With all of that being said, the Bears’ offense needs to take the next step in order to be an elite team overall.

They don’t need to be the best offense in the league to win games, but they need to be better than what has been on display these past two weeks.

Bears fans are saying things like “We can’t with Cutler leading our team,” or “Cutler will never win a Super Bowl.”

That is not true at all. The 2006 Bears made it to the Super Bowl with a power running game led by Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson. Rex Grossman was under center.

The 2012 Bears have a solid running game with Matt Forte and Michael Bush. Jay Cutler is under center. The Bears defense was dominant in 2006. The Bears defense looks to be dominant once again through three weeks of the 2012 season.

If the Bears offense fails to take that next step over the next couple of games, it could be a long season. But if they can succeed and play consistent on offense, they could be well on their way to New Orleans.

Jay Cutler needs to put his teammates in better positions to succeed. He overthrew Marshall, Jeffery and Hester multiple times in the game vs. St. Louis.

Obviously, no quarterback is perfect, but Cutler needs to play better than what he showed on Sunday and he knows he can.

Next Monday night’s matchup with the 2-1 Dallas Cowboys will tell us a lot about the 2012 Chicago Bears.

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.

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