Nov. 24--The points came in a flurry for the Bears after halftime Sunday, all 21 of them in the third quarter, including two Matt Forte touchdowns in the span of 1 minute, 49 seconds.
But don't let that brief burst fool you. And don't twist the context of a much-needed 21-13 win over the Buccaneers either.
The Bears' offense remains unreliable, as rickety as that car in the old Victory Auto Wreckers commercials.
Too much evidence surfaced Sunday to argue otherwise, particularly in a first half in which the Bears managed only 68 yards and plunged into a 10-0 halftime hole.
Once again, it was familiar territory for a team that would struggle selling T-shirts if it marketed what may be coach Marc Trestman's most-used 2014 talking point.
"We stopped ourselves," Trestman said again.
And the Bears coach didn't need a detailed postgame film review to diagnose the problems.
"To me it was very easy," Trestman asserted. "Dropped balls. Penalties. Tipped balls. All of that. And as I said to the guys at halftime, there was no one guy (to blame). We passed it around to everybody. You just can't be efficient playing football that way."
For six consecutive games, the Bears have failed to score in the first quarter. They have a grand total of 34 first-half points in that span. And Sunday's error log proved lengthy and full of culprits.
Brandon Marshall? He jumped early on the game's second play, a false start that led to a three-and-out.
Guard Brian de la Puente? He was little more than a traffic cone against Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy on the next drive, beaten badly on third-and-15 and leaving Cutler with no time to react before getting crushed from behind and losing a fumble.
The quarterback never saw McCoy coming.
"I didn't even feel him," Cutler added.
Marquess Wilson, Martellus Bennett and Forte? They all dropped passes, albeit on less-than-perfect Cutler throws, as the Bears offense averaged 2.5 yards per play, allowed three sacks and had four three-and-outs in another execrable first-half showing.
All that against a defense that began Sunday ranked 30th in the NFL in points allowed and 27th in yards allowed.
"We all took our turns," left tackle Jermon Bushrod said.
Added Cutler: "It's hard. It's hard to get in a rhythm playing like that. That's happened a few times to us. And it's just unacceptable."
Forte's two TD runs in the second half each capped short-field drives set up by defensive takeaways -- 13- and 15-yard marches, respectively. The Bears' only other scoring drive was a six-play, 58-yard TD drive coming early in the third quarter.
But then, even after taking a 21-10 lead, the Bears' final four possessions netted 43 yards and all ended with punts.
Headed for a Thanksgiving clash against a strong Lions defense, the worry for the offense should be heightening.
dwiederer@tribpub.com
Twitter @danwiederer
