Chicago Bears Week 13: What To Look For

Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Get Cutler away from the Lions’ front four.

The Bears have started to move Jay Cutler around out of the pocket lately. With the injury troubles on the line, he has been harassed a lot this season. Brian De La Puente is the latest lineman to go down, landing on injured reserve with ankle trouble.

A moving Cutler buys him some time away from the Lions’ fearsome front four. The pass rush has been causing havoc again, though they have not gotten a great number of sacks. They are still disruptive, and put a lot of pressure on quarterbacks.

As I have written before, I feel Cutler is a better thrower when he moves around. When he drops back, he seems to be worried about the pressure and he tries to get rid of the ball before he has to. He also has a tendency to throw off his back foot while standing straight up and the ball sails on him.

Cutler will also need to throw short passes. As our own Jordan Campbell wrote recently, Cutler expects to do just that. He cannot hold onto the ball long because that pass rush will be on top of him. Also, completing a few of those short passes can open things up for passes downfield.

Cutler needs to do anything he can to avoid that dangerous pass rush. If they get to him, I fear he will make bad decisions again.

Next: The Bears' pass rush must take advantage of Lions' line troubles