Bears camp report: The QB is here, now turn him loose

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- The Chicago winters are cruel and biting and they have sometimes dictated the style of football the Chicago Bears have used, which has been to run the football a lot.

Sometimes, I think that's been a built-in excuse, in large part because they didn't have someone capable of throwing the football. It's time now for the Bears to give that style a kick in the behind. Brutal cold doesn't have to mean brutal offense.

They have Jay Cutler now.

Open up the damn offense.

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Of the eight home games, how many actually are impacted by the weather at Soldier Field? One? Two, maybe -- and that's only if you let them.

"I'd say one," Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner said.

And that's only wind. If there's snow, that actually helps the passing game. So take the restraints off the offense.

"I think we'll throw it a lot," Cutler said here during a break in training camp. "At the same time, we'll run it too. You have to throw the ball to win."

Getting Cutler from the Denver Broncos in a trade is a fleecing of Madoff proportions. You know how they named the Ponzi scheme after that Italian rip-off artist? Now we have "The Cutler."

Watching him throw for two days here only enhances my belief that the Bears finally have their franchise passer after years of trying to fill in with stopgap players.

There were more completed passes in two days here than there had to be in a week of camp last summer.

Sid Luckman, you have company as an elite Bears passer.

That's why Chicago can't hold him back. Eject the laborious passing attack and let Cutler wing it in whatever the conditions. His arm might get it 50 yards in a hurricane.

Yet in talking with coach Lovie Smith, I get the impression it won't change all that much.

"We're a running football team with a great quarterback," Smith said. "There is nothing wrong with that. A great running game can make a great passing game better. We're in Chicago. Here it is the first of August and look at this [chilly and windy]. Think what it's like in December. We have to be able to run the football. That's how we're set up."

The Bears were 21st in passing last year with Kyle Orton as the quarterback. They threw it 528 times. Cutler threw it 616 times for the Broncos. Probably closer to 575 attempts would be about right, but more than the numbers it's how you throw.

Do you let it loose on early downs? Do you let it loose early in games?

Orton threw 465 passes, but only 95 of those came in the first quarter of games in 2008 for about 20 percent of his passes. That means the Bears didn't play as open early in games as they did later in games, a tell-tale sign of a team playing it close.

By comparison, Curler threw 143 of his 616 attempts in the first quarter of games last season for Denver for 23 percent.

The Bears need to get that number up. Throw to score, run to win.

"I think we'll get a lot of chances here," Cutler said.

If he does, the key might be receiver Devin Hester.

If Hester were a car, you'd compare him to a sleek Ferrari, one capable of blowing past anyone he wants.

But at times in 2008, he felt more like your family mini-van.

The jets he showed off as an electrifying return man didn't have the same juice when he lined up as a receiver. Hester said he played at 80 percent of his speed capabilities last season, and it showed.

The preseason excitement about his move from simply being a return man to a receiver/return man was met with disappointment by fans and Hester himself.

The No. 1 receiver never became the No. 1 go-to guy. The adjustment was far greater than expected.

"I was always second-guessing myself coming off the ball," Hester said. "I never could get to full speed. It was like I was going 80 instead of 100."

Hester ended 2008 catching 51 passes and scoring three touchdowns. It certainly wasn't what was expected when the Bears gave him the chance last summer to become a full-time receiver.

What compounded the anger about those limited numbers was the fact that Hester, who had 12 touchdown returns in his first two seasons, didn't have one in 2008.

Who popped his tires?

That Hester, he says, is gone. This year's version is far different. This one knows the offense. This one isn't thinking, but just reacting.

"Me playing at 100 MPH, you'll see me flying everywhere," Hester said. "You can't put a fast car on a slow track."

That track was slower because of his thinking troubles, but also because the Bears didn't really have a passer that scared anyone down the field.

They do now in Cutler.

I know it sounds strange to associate a potent passing game with the Bears, but the ingredients are there.

When you add in tight end Greg Olsen -- fantasy players watch him closely -- and the hopeful step up of Earl Bennett at the other receiver spot, this could be a much different team to watch. Running back Matt Forte, who is a capable receiver out of the backfield, should also play a key role in the passing game. His rushing totals should be better now that the quarterback can hit passes down the field.

Stodgy the Bears shouldn't be.

"We have Jay and we have the weapons," Bennett said. "I can't think why we wouldn't be able to have big success throwing it."

The only reason would be if the coaches don't let them.

That would be like turning a racehorse into a recreation pony.

Don't let the past impact the future. Throwing it can work in Chicago with Cutler.

The Air Bear is now at quarterback. Let him loose.

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