Bears' Jay Cutler misses targets vs Eagles

CHICAGO - The Chicago Bears' receivers did not wear glow-in-the-dark numbers to help Jay Cutler spot them. Cutler did not walk onto Soldier Field wearing night-vision goggles, as plenty of Bears fans had suggested all week.

Cutler's No. 6 jersey reminds Bears fans more of "pick six" than the number of points for a touchdown after he entered the game against the Eagles last night with 17 this season.

He lasted 59 minutes, 8 seconds before he kept alive his streak of six straight games with an interception when Eagles safety Sean Jones picked him off to seal the Eagles' 24-20 victory.

Cutler looked to pass long before making that throw.

"I missed some throws early," Cutler said of his night, in which he missed a lot of throws overall.

Maybe he shared something more personal with Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb when they met on the field afterward and ended their conversation with a hug. Or maybe he asked McNabb about his years of dealing with frustrated Eagles fans, because he clearly has his own disgruntled group in Chicago now.

"He's a first-class guy, a guy I've admired from afar," Cutler said of McNabb. "He's gone through some ups and downs. I think [he's] one of the best quarterbacks in the league."

Cutler's popularity in Chicago has plummeted thanks to his five interceptions in a loss to the 49ers on Nov. 12 and his performance against the Eagles last night.

He connected on 24 of 43 attempts for 171 yards, but Cutler led the Bears to just one touchdown.

Give Cutler credit for scoring on his third trip to the red zone for a brief 20-17 third-quarter lead, when he delivered a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kellen Davis and then completed a two-point conversion pass to Matt Forte.

But the Bears' defense was what kept Chicago in this one. It produced three turnovers, and the offense could only squeeze a field goal out of them.

After the Bears scored the go-ahead touchdown, the Eagles held them to three and outs on their next three drives before the ill-fated final Chicago series.

"They get field position and turnovers," Cutler said. "We've got to take advantages of those. The defense did as much as they could out there for us."

The Bears took a 12-10 lead in the third quarter, but they didn't spend Oprah-like money to bring Cutler to Chicago from the Broncos to have kicker Robbie Gould collect all of those points.

The Bears were 0 for 2 in the red zone in the first half, while Cutler connected on 11 of 20 passes for just 69 yards.

That came after the Bears' defense gave Cutler the ball after two first-half turnovers and three sacks on McNabb.

It seemed that Cutler got off to a bad start and couldn't shake it.

"I have no explanation why," Bears coach Lovie Smith said of his quarterback's performance. "He missed some throws early. It's as simple as that."