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A weekly analysis of the Bears’ quarterback play.

Rewind: Jay Cutler reverted to bad habits in the Bears' loss to the Detroit Lions, and that resulted in turnovers, including a fumble returned for a touchdown by Nick Fairley. Tremendous pressure from Detroit’s pass rush played a role in that. Despite the poor performance (65.6 passer rating, 36.6 QBR), Cutler never let the mistakes snowball. He kept the team in the game, and gave the Bears a chance to tie it late. What’s more encouraging is Cutler’s turnovers didn’t come as the result of poor decision-making. He made the correct reads, but didn’t accurately execute the throws he’s accustomed to making. That’s correctable.

Fast-forward: New Orleans' defense entered Monday night’s game against Miami ranked No. 4, and collected four sacks, three interceptions and a fumble recovery in that contest. So Cutler faces a daunting task against the Saints, who sacked him six times during a brutal 2011 outing the last time these teams met. Detroit took away short passes, and dared Cutler to beat the Lions with longer throws. Look for the Saints to employ a similar strategy.

Keep believing in Marc Trestman: Cutler exhibits signs that he totally believes in what the Bears are doing offensively, and no longer lets emotion get in the way of performance on the field. That shows Cutler is evolving into the quarterback the team thinks he can be. Cutler appears to have already put Sunday’s game in the past, and looks forward to rebounding. How he responds against the Saints could be a seminal moment in this season, but that will only be possible if the quarterback continues to believe in the coach, the system and the protection.

Prediction: Cutler likely won’t miss on longer attempts in this game, as he did against the Lions, but he’ll be pressured into at least one interception, and will throw a couple of TDs.

An examination of four hot issues from the Chicago Bears’ 40-32 loss to the Detroit Lions:

Run defense: The Bears allowed Reggie Bush to gain 112 yards in the first half, then held him to 27 yards in the second half. With Henry Melton out, the Bears played Stephen Paea at the 3-technique spot and moved Nate Collins to nose tackle. The Bears might want to consider trying Collins at the 3-technique and Paea at nose.

After the game, Paea wore a walking boot due to minor turf toe on his left foot, and maybe that injury diminished Paea’s effectiveness.

“I’ve played some 3 [technique] before, but it’s just a matter of time, repetitions and practice,” Paea said.

Jay Cutler: This could come off as odd, but despite Cutler’s horrid performance (65.6 passer rating with three interceptions, plus a fumble returned for a touchdown), this game might have shown growth on the quarterback’s part.

Detroit scored 17 points off turnovers, and Cutler appeared to be the culprit on every giveaway but one (his first interception). How the quarterback handled himself in the heat of battle and afterward gives reason for optimism. Despite the mistakes, Cutler held up well and nearly brought the Bears back. After the game, Cutler showed accountability for his contribution to the loss and told it how it was, which signals he’ll take the appropriate steps to correct the issues.

“I have to give us a better chance to win. I mean, three picks. It’s hard to come back from that,” Cutler said. “[I] have to play better.”

Third-down conversions: The Bears converted just one of 13 third downs, and no matter how well the defense plays, it’s difficult to overcome that deficiency. It’s not all on Cutler. In the second quarter, Jordan Mills was whistled for a false start on third-and-10. Two series later, Cutler was in a third-and-21 situation after a 9-yard sack on second down. In the third quarter, a 27-yard gain on third down was negated by a Kyle Long penalty. Then, on the next series, Cutler was sacked and fumbled for Nick Fairley’s 4-yard touchdown.

“The big thing was third down,” Bears coach Marc Trestman said. “We did horribly today [on third down], and that starts with me.”

Too much pressure: Cutler was sacked three times and spent most of the day under duress. This team has invested too much into protecting Cutler for this to continue.

"Either we didn't execute on the play or we didn't give Jay enough time to throw the ball," running back Matt Forte said. "Give credit to them for giving a great rush, but we didn't do our part."

Here's a look at five things to watch during Sunday's game between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions at Ford Field:

Cutler’s poise: Crowd noise should be a factor, along with Detroit’s formidable defensive line, which in the past hasn’t been immune to engaging in extra-curricular activity, whether verbally or through rough play. Quarterback Jay Cutler is also known to be chatty with opposing defensive linemen. But don’t expect him to be drawn into whatever Detroit’s defense tries to instigate. Cutler needs to do what he’s been doing through the first three games: play sound, fundamental football within the confines of the system, and not take unnecessary chances.

“[Detroit’s] front four are good,” Cutler said. “So we have to take care of that. I’ve got to be on time. The receivers have got to get to their spots. Everyone, collectively, we can’t let down this week.”

If Cutler and the offensive line successfully weather Detroit’s initial punch, the Bears could be in for an afternoon of high production on offense. For the most part, Cutler picked apart the Lions in the past with a bad offensive line. Now that he’s got a solid line, Cutler could be deadly in this one.

Rookie O-linemen: Right guard Kyle Long and right tackle Jordan Mills face difficult challenges against Detroit’s front four; especially Long, who will match up with Ndamukong Suh. The Bears will try to help out the rookies on occasion through the play calling and deploying extra help their direction. Long’s matchup appears to be tougher than Mills’, not only because of Suh, but due to Detroit’s wide-nine alignment, which will often put the right guard on somewhat of an island. The rookies won’t win every battle in Sunday’s game, but what’s important is maintaining poise, and coming out on top in the majority of them.

“Sometimes we can slide the line [toward Suh]. Sometimes we can do it with the back. Sometimes, the guards are going to have to handle [Suh] by themselves,” Bears coach Marc Trestman said. “Then you can help with play selection, where you’re running the football, moving things around and making it a little more difficult in terms of where Jay is going to finally be in a passing spot, and throwing the ball quickly.”

CB Charles Tillman: Normally, there wouldn’t be reason for trepidation regarding Tillman’s matchup with Detroit receiver Calvin Johnson. After all, in the past six meetings between these teams, Johnson has produced only one 100-yard outing against the Bears (Oct. 10, 2011), while scoring just two touchdowns. Johnson averages 4.5 receptions per game against the Bears since 2010 for an average of 71.3 yards with Tillman as the primary man in coverage. Tillman, meanwhile, has racked up 37 tackles, broken up eight passes and intercepted two in addition to forcing two fumbles in that span. The problem now, however, is that Tillman is banged up, having missed two days of practice due to an injured right knee and sore groin. It’s likely Tillman will start on Sunday, but how long will he be able to play, and more importantly, how effective will he be?

Pass rush: Chicago generated more pressure from the front four last week at Pittsburgh, but the group needs to be even better against Detroit’s fourth-ranked offense. With defensive tackle Henry Melton out of the picture, that task becomes tougher with Stephen Paea playing the three-technique and Nate Collins moving to nose tackle. But defensive coordinator Mel Tucker showed against the Steelers he can manufacture pressure with blitzes from the linebackers and stunts up front.

“Whether it’ll be more coverage, more pressure, base, blitz or whatever it is, it’s whatever we think we need to do to get the job done to get them stopped. That changes sometimes from game to game or within a game. So we’re equipped to do whatever we need to do to get them stopped.”

Interestingly, the Lions are converting just 32.4 percent of third downs. If Chicago applies sufficient pressure against Detroit, that number is likely to drop even lower, which drastically increases the Bears’ chances for victory.

LB’s versus Bush: Detroit hurt the Minnesota Vikings substantially with the screen pass to Reggie Bush in the season opener. In addition to rushing for 90 yards on 21 attempts, Bush caught four passes for 101 yards and a touchdown in that game.

“Reggie Bush is a talented running back,” Bears linebacker Lance Briggs said. “Not only does he run the ball well but he catches the ball well. He runs well in space. He knows how to make defenders miss. He's a tough guy to also bring down. He's good. He can create mismatches, if you split him out and put him against some linebackers. But he's someone that you need to be aware of and know where he is on the field.”

With the additions of James Anderson and D.J. Williams to play next to Briggs, the Bears certainly became a more athletic group of linebackers which might be better equipped than most teams to handle Bush. If Chicago neutralizes Bush it basically shuts down Detroit’s second-most dangerous player behind Johnson.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler moved up a spot from No. 6 to fifth on the MVP Watch list of ESPN.com New York Giants reporter Dan Graziano, and is certainly deserving of the recognition, considering he currently ranks No. 3 in the NFL in total QBR.

You can rank the candidates here.

Cutler has led two comeback victories, and stepped up to make game-clinching plays during a clutch situation Sunday to put away the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Here’s what Graziano had to say about Cutler: “This is the same guy who got called all kinds of unflattering names for standing on the sideline during the NFC Championship Game a few years back? This guy who lowers his (throwing!) shoulder at the end of a critical run play instead of sliding, leveling a defender in crunch time against the Steelers? Marc Trestman hasn't just turned Cutler into a more efficient passer, he's turned him into a superhero. It's the Adventures of Surly-Man!”

Trestman deserves recognition for Cutler finally starting to realize his seemingly unlimited potential as a passer, but new quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh has also been a major contributor to the signal-caller’s success.

Cutler spoke last week about his relationship with Cavanaugh, who joined Chicago after working as quarterbacks coach of the New York Jets from 2009-12, and admitted it’s easier to accept the coaching at this stage of his career, because he’s “older, a little bit more mature.”

“He’s a grinder, he’s a guy that comes in every single day, and he’s looking to help me get better,” Cutler said of Cavanaugh. “And, like on Wednesday’s, it’s hard, I don’t really want to do that, I’m tired, you know. But he pushes you through it. He does a good job. There’s some give and take there. In my younger days there might have been a little bit more rocky (of a relationship) than it is right now, but it’s going real well right now.”

Cavanaugh agrees, and called Cutler a willing pupil.

“He makes it easy [to coach],” Cavanaugh said. “He’s a talent. He works hard. He’s committed. He’s focused. He wants what we want: He wants the Bears to be successful. If you’ve got those things going for you, it’s hard not to have fun.”

Cutler said he and Cavanaugh share “some similarities,” and joked he doesn’t “know if the guy sleeps.” Cavanaugh, meanwhile, acknowledged the connection between himself and Cutler, before providing insight into the quarterback’s personality.

Head coach Marc Trestman called the pairing of Cutler and Cavanaugh “a good match.”

“I don’t think either one of us are really outgoing,” Cavanaugh explained about Cutler. “I think we’re maybe contemplative before we speak. I’ve noticed that about Jay, and I love that about him. He doesn’t just talk the talk. He’s usually thought something out, and that’s whether you ask him a question or he’s got a question for you. He puts a lot of thought into it. He’s a little introspective that way, and I think I am, too. I’d rather listen first than just pop out an answer if I’m not sure what I’m saying. So I think it allows us to communicate pretty well, and sometimes, it’s quiet around the two of us. We’re not saying a whole lot, but we’re both thinking.”

Then come Sundays, they’re both doing.

Three weeks into the season is too early to start making bold predictions about potential playoff runs, but Chicago’s 3-0 start certainly bodes well for the team’s prospects.

Since 1990, 86 of 114 teams (75 percent) to start 3-0 advanced to the postseason.

“I didn’t go into the season with any expectations at all in terms of what our record was going to be or how good we were going to be,” Bears coach Marc Trestman said. “We just went into it trying to get better every day and not be concerned with what we thought was going to happen. Right now, there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. We’re in a great place, no doubt about it, and we’ve worked very hard to get here. But there’s no light.”

There can’t be, based on recent experience. Chicago advanced to the playoffs the last three times it won three in a row to start the season, capturing at least 11 regular-season victories in each of those years, while to earning trips to the NFC Championship Game (2010) and the Super Bowl (2006). So the Bears know a fast start helps, but it doesn’t ensure anything.

The Bears didn’t start 2012 at 3-0, but they won six consecutive games to take a 7-1 record into a prime-time matchup with the Houston Texans at Soldier Field, only to fall 13-6 and lose four of the next five.

Struggling teams such as the Green Bay Packers (1-2) shouldn’t be overlooked either. Twenty-four percent of teams that started 1-2 (57 of 234) since 1990 advanced to the playoffs. Fifty-four percent of teams to start 2-1 in that span (130 of 242) also made the postseason. Along the way, they’ve got to beat somebody to catch fire and make the playoffs.

The Bears want to make sure it’s not them.

“We’ve got to play Game 1 next week of the next 13, and our guys have that mindset,” Trestman said. “They’re focused with their feet on the ground, as I’ve said over the last three weeks, just trying to get better.”

CHICAGO -- After going through training camp with a new coach and opening the season with a 3-0 record, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said Monday that everything about Marc Trestman has exceeded his expectations.

“He’s better than I thought he was, to tell you the truth,” Cutler said Monday during ESPN 1000's weekly “The Jay Cutler Show.” “You knew he knew he was a smart guy. You knew he knew offense. You didn’t know how well he was going to be in front of the team and being able to juggle the defense and the special teams and getting everybody to buy in, and do things early in training camp that are relative right now. It’s just little things. I would say he’s better (than I thought).”

After a circuitous coaching route over the past 32 years that took him from the college ranks to eight different NFL teams, before heading back to college and then on to Canada to coach in the CFL, Trestman could not have gotten off to a better start in his first NFL head coaching job.

After playing for head coach Lovie Smith the previous five seasons, not to mention a revolving door of offensive coordinators that included Ron Turner, Mike Martz and Mike Tice, Cutler is learning yet another new system that he has embraced thus far.

“It feels right,” Cutler said. “It’s always different with somebody else, but it definitely feels right. I think Trest has a good feel for the team right now, the direction we’re going. I think he’s calling plays really well, with the state of where the offense is. He’s not throwing us out to the wolves.”

In other words, despite a deep playbook, Trestman is not requiring too much of the offense thus far and hasn’t put too much on his quarterback too soon. Cutler has already said that he still will be learning the offense in Week 15 of the 16-game season.

“He’s giving us opportunities to make plays, and he’s protecting us when he thinks he should protect us, even though we might not have the right perspective to see what he’s doing,” Cutler said. “It’s a tough job, it really is, especially in this market, in this city, inheriting a 10-win team.”

And if anybody had any lingering doubts over Trestman’s dedication, they only had to look at his work day Monday, shortly after the 40-23 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night.

“The guy lives and breathes it,” Cutler said. “Last night, me and [backup quarterback] Josh [McCown] were talking to him. We said, 'Go get some sleep, and we’ll come in at 10 or 11 [a.m.] to watch some film and come talk to you.' I went in there at like 10, 10:30, 11 to talk to him. I asked what time he got up. He said six. He had some coffee and came in. The guy just lives it. The whole staff does. The whole staff does a great job.”

If Trestman has shown his dedication, members of the coaching staff have taken it even further.

“We have coaches that are spending the night last night when we got back [from Pittsburgh] to get up in the morning and get going,” Cutler said. “We have a great group of guys. It’s always comforting to know that your coaches are spending those amount of hours to make sure that you have the right plays, offensively, defensively and special teams-wise. It’s not a bad thing to have by any means.”

CHICAGO BEARS (2-0) at PITTSBURGH STEELERS (0-2)

7:30 p.m. CT Sunday at Heinz Field on NBC

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- All week long Chicago Bears players have pointed toward their game on Sunday night, and the national television audience that goes along with it, as one reason for inspiration.

More important, obviously, is the chance to go 3-0 and being prepared for a winless Pittsburgh Steelers team, whose defense still gets respect around the NFL despite its struggles. As for letting the country see what the Bears are all about, though, new coach Marc Trestman could not care less.

"That's the last thing [being considered]," Trestman said after practice Friday. "Honestly, my focus has been consistent, and I truly believe in it. It's just to create the environment daily for our guys to succeed, and I'm not going there."

Trestman continues to show that he doesn't have an ego about anything he is doing in his first NFL head-coaching job. Away in the Canadian Football League for the previous five seasons, nobody would have blamed Trestman if he considered this a statement game to show he's back.

"I know the questions are going to be asked, but I am giving you a straight answer that there is no consideration of any of that going in," he said. "It's just to do whatever we can to be at our best and have our team be at our best."

If there is anything he is considering, outside of things that will help the Bears win Sunday, it is the chance to take his team into a storied NFL town.

"It is Pittsburgh, one of the traditional teams, very similar to the team we're fortunate enough to be with here," Trestman said. "When people come into this city, or go to Pittsburgh, they know great games have been played there with great players and there is great tradition. I think that is all part of it."

Ultimately, though, Trestman has respect for every NFL city and every NFL venue.

"Every place you have the opportunity to coach in the National Football League is a special place because it is something not everybody gets to do," he said. "So I don't know that any one place is more special than the next. I think they're all terribly special."

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The old quarterback showed off his arm after practice Thursday as Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman played catch with tight end Martellus Bennett.

Actually, it isn’t uncommon for Trestman, the former signal caller at the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State-Moorhead, to pick up the ball on occasion and fling it around, even at the age of 57.

“We play catch every day after practice and talk a little bit; a little father-son time,” Bennett said. “It’s always good to get to talk to him while we play catch. He’ll ask me what I thought about practice or different things like that, and I will tell him different things I do to get better and how I think I can help the team in the game plan this week, the plays I like. It’s just like our quiet time with one another at the end of the day.”

Quiet time and Bennett don’t always go hand in hand, although the 26-year old begged to differ, saying he only turns on the charm once the television cameras start rolling.

Told about Bennett’s father-son comment, Trestman bowed his head and laughed.

“It’s not the first time I’ve played catch with another player on the team,” Trestman said. “And I’ve met Martellus’ father. I appreciate the kind words, but he’s a father who is a heck of a man as the father of two great kids. I’ve spent time with them and he doesn’t need me to spend time as a father (figure), but I appreciate the compliment.”

As it turns out, the games of catch started out as more of necessity than an attempt to have a bonding moment.

“Early on, we didn’t have a Juggs machine and I said ‘I’ll be your Juggs machine after practice,’” Trestman said of the device that uses two spinning wheels to thrust footballs forward. “‘I’ll make sure you get the 23 to 30 balls you need to finish your day.’ I’ve done that with other guys and I enjoy doing that. You get to go outside and play catch with the football. Who doesn’t want to do that?”

So how is Trestman’s arm after all these years?

“It’s pretty good,” Bennett said.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- For a meticulous planner such as Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman, the slow manner in which the offense continues to evolve appears to be a function of design rather than circumstance.

Running back Matt Forte indicated as much on Wednesday, revealing the offense hasn’t “really shown a whole, whole lot.”

“I don’t expect us to two games into the season,” Forte said. “This is a hefty playbook. We’ve got a lot of games left. So we have a lot of stuff saved for teams that play certain coverages or certain fronts. We have a lot of stuff I would say left over that we ran in camp and gone over. We know the stuff. We just put it back on the shelf so that when it is the opportune time to call it, it’ll be called.”

Facing a winless Pittsburgh Steelers team, which operates out of a 3-4 front, Sunday on the road might present Chicago that opportunity to expand the playbook. In its first two outings, the club played similar zone-reliant 4-3 teams in the Cincinnati Bengals and the Minnesota Vikings.

The opponent this week presents a radically different challenge offensively for the Bears, who will be tasked with unfamiliar blocking schemes in their attempt to neutralize Pittsburgh’s pressure.

“They’re different than what we’re used to facing. They’re coming from everywhere. They do it a lot of different ways. They come from different places,” Trestman said. “They’ve got size at their linebacker. The unusual aspect of having size at their linebacker positions where they’re pass-rushers, they represent matchup issues for our backs, particularly our backs. So we’ve got a formula for picking up blitzes, and things change a little bit with 3-4. But we’ve had a lot of work against it. I spent time on it in our OTAs, a little bit of time at training camp. We played against a 3-4 team in the preseason, which helped. Certainly there’s nothing like going against the Steeler 3-4. It’s very good conceptually. It’s structured.”

Forte generated 161 yards from scrimmage in Week 2 on 30 touches against Minnesota’s zone-heavy scheme, which focuses on taking away explosive plays while allowing for completions on underneath routes.

Pittsburgh plays a more aggressive scheme than Chicago’s first two opponents, and despite the Steelers’ two losses, it’s worth noting their defense ranks No. 10 in total yards allowed. Pittsburgh is one of just three teams (with Kansas City and Seattle) to allow only one touchdown through the air. The Steelers have also limited opposing passers to a completion percentage of 55.4, which ranks as sixth-lowest in the NFL, and they’ve given up just 18 first downs through the air.

So it’s highly likely the Bears unveil concepts this week that they haven’t shown thus far.

"That’s part of what Trestman does,” Forte said. “He’s a genius in this offense. We have a lot of different plays that isolate a lot of different people in this offense. But it depends on what the defense is running (on) when to call them. He’s doing a great job of calling them in the right situations so that we can make a play.”

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- With all these indoor practices the Chicago Bears have been going through, perhaps new coach Marc Trestman thinks he’s still in Canada in early winter, preparing for a Grey Cup with the Montreal Alouettes.

Despite ideal temperatures Wednesday and only moderate humidity levels with clouds providing natural shade, Trestman had the Bears practicing inside the Walter Payton Center.

Because the Bears have been under the roof more than usual this year, Trestman was asked about his distaste for the outdoors. He placed all the blame on longtime equipment man Tony Medlin.

“Because Tony Medlin said it was going to rain and we didn’t want to practice in the rain,” Trestman said. “That’s the reason. He’s the meteorologist. So if he says we’re going to have some weather, we’re going inside. That was the reason. I threw him under the bus today.”

Of course the rain held off Wednesday, not reaching Halas Hall until nearly three hours after practice had ended.

And it’s not like a rainy practice would have had its advantages with the team heading to Pittsburgh for the first road game of the season. According to weather.com, there is only a 10 percent chance of rain Sunday evening in Pittsburgh with temperatures in the mid-60s.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Those personal-best 249 return yards Devin Hester racked up for the Chicago Bears on Sunday appear to have been born from a conversation early in the summer.

New coach Marc Trestman revealed Monday that it was Hester who suggested that a reduction in responsibilities could help him to once again be the kind of return man who used to pile up weekly honors while heading off to Pro Bowls.

“The conversation, to my recollection, was, ‘It sounds to me like you just want to be a returner, and that’s OK with me. I would like you to be the returner and focus solely on that,’” Trestman said.

The revelation debunks a common belief that Hester was demoted to a return-only role after years of mostly choppy results as a wide receiver.

“I don’t ever remember me telling him that that was the way it’s going to be,” Trestman said. “I remember our conversation being more like, ‘I know that’s what you want to do, and I’m all-in.’ That’s sort of the way I remember it.

“Now, this was six and a half months ago. It was literally the second week I was here, I think. And it just stopped right there. [Special-teams coach] Joe [DeCamillis] started meeting with him, and we started developing a dialogue when we saw each other. It wasn’t complicated at all. It just seemed to happen that way.”

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Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman warned his team just before it came out to the field Sunday that the Minnesota Vikings would throw the first punch, but the most important thing would be how the club responded.

“[Trestman] warned us before the game before we came out, ‘Get ready for them to strike first,’” Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said Monday during “The Jay Cutler Show” on ESPN 1000. “[The Vikings were] coming off a tough loss the first game. We knew we were gonna get their best punch. They didn’t want to go down 0-2. He warned us. He called it. He said get ready for these guys to come out and strike first. It’s gonna depend on how we answered back, and we did.”

Vikings rookie receiver Cordarrelle Patterson took the game’s opening kickoff and returned it 105 yards for a touchdown to put the visitors ahead 7-0 after Blair Walsh’s extra-point kick just 13 seconds into the game. Chicago responded on the ensuing kickoff with a 76-yard return from Devin Hester to set up the Bears at the Minnesota 32.

Five plays later, Cutler connected with Martellus Bennett for a 1-yard touchdown.

So Trestman’s pregame words proved prophetic.

“I don’t know that it was prophetic because it was just a kick return. But they did strike first, and it was great to see how our guys responded,” Trestman said. “I think I was trying to just break the game down to what it was gonna be. They’re coming in here, they had a tough loss in Detroit, and they’re trying to find a way to strike first. You have to anticipate that. You can underestimate that sometimes. I just thought it was the thing to say at the time, that it could have happened anywhere. It could have happened with a play-action pass because our overemphasis on stopping the run. It could happen in the kicking game with some kind of aggressive play. It could happen defensively with some kind of oddball blitz that happens early that we don’t prepare for. So that’s all. It was just a sign of a team that was trying to find a possession, or trying to find something to gain an edge early.”

The Vikings did just that, but as Trestman correctly predicted, the Bears bounced back. With two consecutive come-from-behind victories to start the season, linebacker Lance Briggs said the team is creating a “clutch” identity, that “when the chips are down, some Bear is going to make a play.”

Bennett considers the team’s comebacks a microcosm of real life.

“Things never really go the way you want them to go in life; never goes as planned,” Bennett said on “The Jay Cutler Show.” “So the only thing you can do is pick yourself up and keep going. That’s kind of the approach I take with the offense. It’s never gonna go the way we planned or the way we draw it up on paper because those guys get paid millions of dollars to keep us from doing it correctly. I think we just have a bunch of guys that just never quit and keep playing.”

Here are five things to watch Sunday when the Chicago Bears host the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field:

Faster start from the offense: The Bears started off slowly in Week 1 because Marc Trestman wanted to first see whether the offensive line could adequately protect Cutler, before potentially exposing him to punishment. So after the protection proved sufficient in the first two quarters, Trestman decided to open up the offense, and the results were near immediate. After putting up 97 yards of offense in the first half, the Bears racked up 226 more in quarters Nos. 3 and 4.

The Bears will go into this game looking to open things up offensively from the onset.

“Early in the game especially against a front like [Cincinnati’s] there’s a little bit of uncertainty about what’s going to happen,” Cutler said. “We had two new guys on the right side, four new guys in general. As we progressed through the game I got more comfortable. Marc [Trestman] got more comfortable calling plays and being able to trust them. Even looking at the film on Monday there were times whenever I was moving around or I could have stepped up and I didn’t. That’s just gaining trust in those guys and not only throughout a game, but throughout a season I’m going to get more and more trust with them.”

More pressure from the front four: Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton fired the ball quickly at the end of his drops, but Minnesota will be looking to connect on more home run balls than the Bengals, in part, because the Vikings expect the Bears to be overly focused on stopping Adrian Peterson. The Vikings will give the Bears a big dosage of Peterson, and then look to get the ball deep off play-action to Jerome Simpson or Greg Jennings. But for those types of plays to work, Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder will have to hold onto the ball for a while to let the routes develop.

“They live off of play-action,” Bears safety Chris Conte said. “Their running game is what gets them going, and we really just have to be prepared for [Ponder] on the move. He’s really good outside the pocket. So boots and play-action really is the big thing against them.”

That means players such as defensive end Julius Peppers and defensive tackle Henry Melton might be poised to nab their first sacks of the season.

“We’ve got to generate the pass rush with [the] four [down] linemen,” defensive coordinator Mel Tucker said.

More production from the rushing attack: Rookie right tackle Jordan Mills put together a strong NFL debut, as did veteran left guard Matt Slauson, but the rest of the offensive line -- which played fairly well -- needs to step up its game a notch.

Matt Forte finished the season opener with 60 yards on 19 attempts, and as a team the Bears rushed for 81 yards, averaging 2.9 yards per attempt. Obviously, that’s not good enough.

“We thought we would run the ball better [in the opener]; we didn’t,” Trestman said. “We didn’t run the ball as effectively as we’d like to be able to.”

Will secondary targets step up if Brandon Marshall is neutralized? They’ll certainly have to, but it appears the Bears are equipped to handle the Vikings taking away Marshall. In the opener, Cutler targeted three receivers (Alshon Jeffery, Forte and Martellus Bennett) other than Marshall at least six times, which is promising considering last season, the quarterback completed more than five passes to only one other receiver not named Marshall in a game (Forte).

With another week of practice under his belt, Earl Bennett might wind up playing a more prominent role in the offense. Trestman said Bennett is ready after catching one pass in the opener. It’s also important to note the chemistry Bennett shares with Cutler.

“Oh he’s caught up,” Trestman said of Bennett. “He’s had catches in practice, and been one of the targets in practice and that bodes well for us.”

Devin Hester on returns: Of Hester’s 19 touchdowns on kickoff or punt returns, four have come against the Minnesota Vikings. So he’s victimized Minnesota more than any other team in the NFL, with his last touchdown coming on a 98-yard kickoff return on Oct. 16, 2011.

“The first kickoff return (against Cincinnati last week), obviously, he gets it out to the 31. I blinked my eyes, and all of the sudden, I was like, ‘Wow, he’s at the 31,’” special-teams coach Joe DeCamillis said. “So he’s still got the speed, no question. Hopefully we’ll get more opportunities with the guys we’re playing.”

So if Hester is poised to finally break a TD return, the Vikings would seem to be the mostly likely opponent to do it against.

CHICAGO BEARS (1-0) vs. MINNESOTA VIKINGS (0-1)

Noon, Sunday at Soldier Field on FOX