Bears quarterback Jay Cutler caught a break, when coach Lovie Smith didn’t play him in the season opener.
The Bears allowed six sacks.
On Saturday, Cutler stayed clean, and he completed seven of 13 passes for 122 yards. When he left the game, the Bears were up 17-0.
“We challenged them all week, challenged them before the game,” Cutler said of the offensive line. “Everything starts with them. Whenever those guys are playing and doing their job, it’s going to let us do our job. That was the biggest difference from the first preseason game to the second preseason game. When they do that, we have a lot of weapons outside. We just got to get them the ball.”
J’Marcus Webb started at left tackle, and he appeared to play well.
“I definitely think that I improved this week,” he said, “and I definitely feel like I have to continue to do that.”
Chris Williams, though, rotated with Webb at left tackle in the first half.
Asked if it’s hard to rotate, Webb said, “I don’t think so.
“You’ve jsut got to have a mindset that you’re still going to be playing and you’ve got to get used to working with different guys.”
Cutler said he doesn’t pay attention too closely to who is manning the position.
“Honestly, I don’t even know which one is out there. My communication is mostly with [center Roberto] Garza, and he communicates with those guys,” Cutler said. “I’m aware of which one is in there but it doesn’t change. I’m not feeling different.”
Veteran Chilo Rachal also got some work with the starters, rotating in with starting left guard Chris Spencer. Rachal mostly was in the game with Williams, although he played at least one series with Webb in the third quarter.
Garza was pleased with his unit’s play.
“We knew we had to come out and take a step forward in the right direction and we did that,” Garza said. “Our skill position guys had a great night. We had a rough time running the football, but that’s something we’re going to work on and we will be better at.”
