It's only the preseason but in the first half of the Bears and Titans game the Bears first team offense looked quite explosive. Jay Cutler has played maybe his best game in a Bears uniform. It could be because they are playing the Titans or maybe being back in his college town of Nashville, but whatever it is Bears fans can only hope this is the Cutler they see in the regular season.
Things started off slowly for the Bears on their first possession Saturday evening. On the first play of the game Cutler hit Roy Williams for a 17 yard gain. This was Williams first catch as a Bear. On the second play of the game though, Cutler tried to hit Williams again but the pass was deflected and resulted in an interception by Titans safety Michael Griffin. The Bears defense would hold tight though and Titans kicker Rob Bironas would miss a field goal from 51 yards.
The second drive of the game was great for the Bears. The drive went 12 plays for 59 yards and ended with a Matt Forte touchdown run. Some of the highlights from the drive included three third down conversions and some great throws by Jay Cutler to multiple wide receivers.
The Bears next drive was even better. The third drive went 14 plays for 61 yards and chewed up over seven minutes. Robbie Gould missed a field goal from 29 yards which spoiled a great drive. Cutler was fantastic again and Matt Forte ran the ball well.
The Bears first unit would play into the third quarter which is typical of the third preseason game. Jay Cutler finished his night going 13-21 for 170 yards and the one interception. Matt Forte carried the ball 17 times for 74 yards to go along with a touchdown. Forte also caught one pass for 15 yards. Roy Williams finished his night with two catches for 33 yards.
The much criticized offensive line of the Bears played well Saturday night. The group opened some nice holes for Matt Forte and more importantly gave Cutler time to throw and limited the amount of hits the quarterback took.
With the offense controlling the clock for much of the first half the defense wasn't on the field very much. They did give up one touchdown on a 10 play drive that featured a few long passes from Matt Hasselbeck. With the exception of that drive, the defense played ok against an average Titans offense.
The Titans, who were clearly outplayed the entire game, scored the game winning touchdown on an interception return of 90 yards by Tommie Campbell. Bears backup QB Caleb Hanie threw a terrible pass that was taken to the house that gave the Titans the lead for good.
The Bears did have a few injuries in the game. Marion Barber left with a shin injury and Desmond Clark a knee injury. The severity of those injuries in not known at this time.
The Bears will conclude their preseason on Thursday evening at home against the Cleveland Browns.