No receiver envy for QB
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| Larry Fitzgerald (right) and Anquan Boldin give the Cardinals one of the NFL’s top receiving tandems. The Bears counter with starters Devin Hester and Earl Bennett. (AP) |
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CHICAGO – There’s no truth to the notion Jay Cutler will turn green with envy, if not Cardinals red, at the sight of the receivers on the other side when the Chicago Bears host Arizona on Sunday.
No offense to Larry Fitzgerald or Anquan Boldin; he likes what he has.
“I think we’re fine in that area,” Cutler said. “I think we have three or four very reliable if not above-average guys who can go out there and make things happen. They’re a young group. I think that’s may be their only fault, but they’re not playing like they’re young.”
And the Bears will need more of that if they’re going to make a playoff run.
At 4-3, they’re at an important point after a 30-6 win over lowly Cleveland that followed losses to Atlanta and Cincinnati. Three of their next four games are against division leaders, starting with a visit by the defending NFC champion Cardinals (4-3).
The Bears don’t have much room for error in their quest to get back to the postseason after back-to-back misses.
It would help if they beat Arizona, the team on the receiving end of one of Chicago’s most memorable wins in recent memory. That was three years ago, when the Bears rallied from 20 down at the half to win 24-23.
That team reached the Super Bowl. Now, the Bears are tough to figure.
Their offensive line isn’t holding off defenders. Cutler is taking a beating, and drives inside the 20 are stalling, with their touchdown conversion rate at just 44.4 percent. So there certainly are issues. The wide receivers, however, are not on that list.
While Devin Hester, Earl Bennett and Johnny Knox have a ways to go before they’re mentioned in the same breath as Fitzgerald, Boldin and Steve Breaston, they’re at least backing up the Bears’ decision not to bring in outside help.
Chicago reportedly backed out of talks for Boldin because Arizona wanted too much in return, and never made a strong push to add anyone else. Instead, the Bears went with one receiver (Hester) who had only one full season at the position, another (Bennett) who did not catch a pass as a rookie last year, and a third who is a rookie (Knox). The results?
Bennett has 334 yards and Knox is third among rookies with 24 receptions for 310 yards. Hester is establishing himself as a No. 1 receiver, and with 454 yards, he’s on pace to finish with 1,038.
“I definitely see bigger things,” coach Lovie Smith said. “He’s learning. He hasn’t been in the position long enough to have perfected it yet, but he gets a little bit closer each week.”
