| Bears TE Matt Spaeth is one reason why Jay Cutler is staying upward in the pocket. (US Presswire) |
If the Chicago Bears have done a better job protecting quarterback Jay Cutler the last two games, it may not be entirely due to a better offensive line or improvement by shaky left tackle J'Marcus Webb.
Part of the success protecting Cutler in Monday night's 34-18 win over Dallas came because they sent blocking tight end Matt Spaeth to assist Webb blocking Demarcus Ware on numerous occasions. Beyond that, they kept Cutler from becoming a sitting duck.
Spaeth is listed as a tight end but does so many things they might want to change his title to utility man.
"My thing has been, since I’ve been here, I’ll do whatever they ask me to do, and whether that’s blocking DeMarcus Ware, pass-blocking, different things, I just do what they ask me to do. And no matter what it is I just want to try to do it to my best ability."
Spaeth sometimes handled Ware, sometimes double-teamed with Webb, and other times chip-blocked before getting involved in the passing game.
"You know, Matt is a role tight end, similar to what I was when I played," offensive coordinator Mike Tice said. "He's never going to go out and catch 12 balls, but he's going to have a very important part in our run game, a very important part in our protection game.
"Every once in a while he'll catch a crumb ... that's his role. But he's very important to what we're doing."
If doubling down with blockers this Sunday to help Webb against rookie DE Andre Branch and a 4-3 Jacksonville front, the Bears can always turn to the other thing they did to help Cutler: Let him run for his life.
Cutler threw on the rollout or by moving around in the pocket.
"He can throw the ball on the run with the best of them," Tice said. "Changing that launch point for us is really good because having a guy sitting back there as a sitting target -- i.e. the Green Bay game -- is not a real good thing against good pass-rush teams. So moving him around is really good for the pocket and changing the launch point.
"But it's also good for the run game because it slows down that backside pursuit. So it’s a double-edged good for us when we move the pocket and run our keeper game."
So how did Cutler become so adept throwing on the run? It goes back to his Vanderbilt days.
“In college we really didn’t block that well, so I was always on the run," he said. "So I got a lot of practice."
The Bears are hoping he gets less practice of this sort with them in the future.
"I look forward to that day when that’s not the story; on how our offensive line is playing," coach Lovie Smith said.
Follow Bears reporter Gene Chamberlain on Twitter @CBSBears.