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CHICAGO - Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was erratic, but at least he was only intercepted once last night.
And for Bears fans, that's progress.
RON CORTES / Staff photographer
Trent Cole takes down Bears QB Jay Cutler in third quarter for the Eagles' only sack of the game.
Better yet, Cutler completed a 15-yard, third-quarter touchdown pass to Kellen Davis and then fired a two-point conversion pass to running back Matt Forte as the Bears claimed a temporary three-point edge over the Eagles.
But Chicago couldn't hold the lead.
Donovan McNabb, a Chicago native, showed how a veteran runs a game-winning drive. He guided an 11-play, 62-yard effort capped by LeSean McCoy's 10-yard touchdown run with 5 minutes, 30 seconds to play.
That was all the Eagles needed to claim the 24-20 victory.
"I just missed some throws," Cutler said. "That's going to happen."
Chicago offensive coordinator Ron Turner said he couldn't immediately tell if Cutler was off.
"I don't know," said Turner. "I'm going to have to look at the film and see."
"He missed some throws early," said Bears coach Lovie Smith. "It's as simple as that. He missed some. We recovered from that and got ourselves back in position. We just could not pull it out."
Cutler entered the Soldier Field clash with more interceptions (17) than any other NFL quarterback and was picked off five times on Nov. 12 in San Francisco. He wasn't picked off until 45 seconds were left in last night's game when free safety Sean Jones intercepted his final pass of the night.
Eagles defenders, naturally, were eager to get in on some of that action.
Strong safety Quintin Mikell had a golden opportunity in the first quarter on Cutler's second throw. The ball bounced off Mikell's arms, but had he maintained control the result would likely have been a bolt downfield for a touchdown.
In the first half, Cutler was 11-for-20 for 69 yards, the longest a 19-yard toss to wide receiver Edward Bennett. But he also has several overthrown passes, including back-to-back end-zone throws.
In the third quarter, he went 6-for-10 for 65 yards, and he ended the game 24-for-43 for 171 yards. His top target was Bennett with five catches for 57 yards.
"Obviously, we're all frustrated because we felt this was a game we should have won," said Davis. "The Eagles were just four points better than us tonight. Overall we played well and our defense played very well."
Safeties had picked off the first-year Bears quarterback nine times, and cornerbacks had picked him five times.
McNabb, the onetime Chicago high school star, showed how it's done when he connected with wide receiver DeSean Jackson on a 48-yard touchdown pass with 5:53 left in the third quarter.
And so Cutler, billed as the solution to the Bears' quarterback woes when he was acquired from Denver, saw his record as a starter fall to 4-6.
"We're running out of time," he said. "The window is getting smaller and smaller. Anything can happen. You get strange happenings in November and December, but for us it's smaller and smaller."
