Cutler steps up, 'makes play after play'

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Updated: December 6, 2010 1:46AM

DETROIT -- Consider it another sign of progress that Jay Cutler was sacked four times, lost a fumble on one of them and sounded afterward like he was in a comfort zone all day Sunday.

''It's starting to get fun for us,'' Cutler said after the Bear' 24-20 victory over the Lions. ''The guys aren't thinking as much. They know exactly what their responsibilities are. Mike [Martz] is calling a great game. He's getting a real feel for what we're good at, what we feel comfortable doing. We're clicking. We can't let off the gas now. We have to keep getting better.''

Cutler shook off the four sacks and the fumble that defensive end Cliff Avril forced and teammate Turk McBride recovered at the Bears' 9-yard line to complete 21 of 26 passes for 234 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for a 117.0 passer rating.

''We did a great job early,'' Cutler said. ''We knew [the Lions] were going to bring some pressure; with [Kyle] Vanden Bosch out, they were going to have to attack us in different ways. We weathered the storm. Earl [Bennett] played well. We ran the ball well. It was a good game for us.''

But it all starts with Cutler, who has completed 74 percent of his passes over the last two games (35-for-47) with five touchdowns, no interceptions and an average of 10.2 yards per attempt.

''In games like this, you need your special players to be special,'' Bears coach Lovie Smith said. ''He stepped up and made play after play.''

Cutler was unfazed by the difficulty the Bears had against the 2-10 Lions, who were without Vanden Bosch and had to start third-string quarterback Drew Stanton.

''Coming off a high like the win against Philadelphia, it's easy to have a letdown,'' Cutler said. ''We knew going in that this team is veteran enough to know what type of game we were in for. It was going to be tough. It was going to be a fight. It was going to be four quarters. We weren't going to come in here and just blow anybody's doors off.

''This kind of knocks us back down a bit. It gets our feet back on the ground.''

Cutler responded to the Lions' heat by leaning on Bennett (seven catches, 104 yards), but also running back Matt Forte (2-36) and even tight end Brandon Manumalena, who caught a seven-yard TD pass that gave the Bears a 24-20 lead with 8:39 to play, then caught a 16-yard pass over the middle to the Lions' 29 on second-and-11 with 1:34 left that clinched the game and moved the Bears to 9-3.

''It's huge,'' Cutler said. ''All the turmoil we went through this summer. Learning a new offense. Everyone was discouraged with it early on. But we stuck it through, and we're starting to get some dividends. We can't be satisfied with where we're at now.''