THREE & OUT
Cutler finishes his preseason by failing to lead offense to any points vs. Chiefs
After the Bears’ offense spent most of Saturday afternoon taking two steps backward a yard at a time, quarterback Jay Cutler was asked why anyone should be upbeat about the unit improving.
‘‘ I don’t think they have any other choice,’’ he said. It can’t get much worse. A 23- 7 preseason loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Soldier Field closed the book on the Bears’ firstteam offense in depressing fashion. The starters gained 18 yards in the first half. After they came out of the locker room and marched 55 yards in the second half, Robbie Gould missed a 48- yard field goal.
Cutler was 6- for- 15 for 45 yards, though Alshon Jeffery dropped two passes — including a post route he suspected would have gone for an 80- yard touchdown — and Kevin White another.
‘‘ Come two weeks, we’re going to be ready,’’ Jeffery said.
Injuries or not, they haven’t been this month.
Put together Cutler’s three preseason starts to get the rough equivalent of a full game, and the picture doesn’t get any rosier. In 12 drives under Cutler, the Bears scored one touchdown, kicked one field goal and missed another. The clock ran out on one drive. The rest — eight drives — ended in punts.
Bears running backs ran 24 times for 100 yards with Cutler in the game. He completed 17 of 31 passes for 146 yards, took five sacks and threw neither a touchdown nor an interception. His 67.4 passer rating was worse than it was in all but one game last season — the overtime loss to the 49ers.
‘‘ You know, we still have time,’’ said Cutler, who won’t play in the fourth preseason game Thursday against the Browns in Cleveland.
Time heals all weapons, he hopes. Were guard Kyle Long to return from a shoulder injury in time for Week 1, he would transform an offensive line Cutler said — charitably — was ‘‘ good and
bad’’ against the Chiefs.
Tight end Zach Miller and receiver Eddie Royal haven’t played in any preseason games after being placed in the concussion protocol Aug. 1, but they have been practicing. Coach John Fox and Cutler referred to them when searching for reasons for optimism.
‘‘ They’ve been out there working with the team, working on the timing,’’ Fox said. ‘‘ I don’t think it’s real good to be banging on them that much in the preseason.’’
Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains has played the preseason conservatively — and probably wisely so. Despite the presence of a healthier Jeffery, the Bears’ makeshift offensive line doesn’t lend itself to seven- step quarterback drops.
‘‘ Protection- wise, I don’t think we wanted to put anybody in danger back there,’’ Cutler said. ‘‘ And there’s some stuff we don’t really wanna show.
‘‘ We know what Alshon can do with deep balls; that’s documented material out there. We know what we have there. And there’s just other things with Kevin we kinda wanted to work on. We know he can run fast.’’
Knowing it and showing it, though, are two different things.
‘‘ We’ve got the talent on this team,’’ rookie left guard Cody Whitehair said. ‘‘ We’ve got the guys to do it. We’ve just gotta keep getting better every day.’’
Follow me on Twitter @ patrickfinley.