By George Ofman
The Argument by the water cooler, watering hole or Lake Michigan could sound like this: Jay Cutler is the Bears most valuable player. No, Devin Hester is.
They both could be.
Hester’s case is clear as punt return for a touchdown. He came very close to one in last night’s pre-season tilt in Denver. Aptly using blocks as he darted past would-be tacklers, Hester flew 54 yards to the 4-yard line to set up the Bears’ first touchdown. It was shades of his first two years when he electrified the city and the entire NFL with 11 kickoff and punt returns for touchdowns. The decision to move Hester to wide receiver last year produced a profound effect: no returns for touchdowns.
The argument for Cutler, whose credentials when he arrived here was no argument to any Bears fan, included an impressive performance in the second pre-season game against the Giants and yesterday’s test of poise. It was just a pre-season game, but not an ordinary one. The folks in Denver had been waiting for this since the day Cutler was sent packing. The boos from the boisterous Broncos fans cascaded from every crevice of Invesco Field. You could probably hear them from as far as Boulder. Denver fans had to vent after Cutler demanded a trade last March.
“The Denver crowd sounds like one spurned lover,” exclaimed play-by-play egomaniac Al Michaels.
The fans wanted alimony after Cutler fled; instead, they got Kyle Orton.
Cutler calmly managed to silence the angry assembly during a 98-yard drive with a little over five minutes remaining in the half. Saddled with poor field position for most of the Bears possessions, he was forced to start from the two-yard line. Twelve passes and a few Denver penalties later, Cutler sliced the defense with a pass to Matt Forte, who wound up in the end zone for a six-yard touchdown.
Should we add Forte to this argument?
Forte scored the first touchdown following Hester’s punt return. The second-year running back made his presence known during his rookie season when he rushed for over 1,200 yards on over 300 carries. He wound up with a dozen touchdowns, eight on the ground and four by pass. It’s safe to say the Bears might have been worthless without him.
After a lull in producing outstanding running backs, the bears have one in Forte, who rambles from the line of scrimmage. And catches plenty of passes. He snared 63 in his overworked first season.
So Forte gives the Bears a dangerous dimension in in the backfield. Cutler is a prolific passer with panache who can throw unlike any Bears quarterback in memory. But Hester is a game changer.
He is ridiculous!
And doesn’t it seem ridiculous the Bears overwhelmed him with a dual role of wide receiver along with return man extraordinaire? Remember, 11 touchdowns on returns his first two seasons, none the third. The numbers were historic; the runs dazzling and dizzying. He was the reason the Bears made it to the Super Bowl, not Rex Grossman.
But the dye was cast as Hester’s production on punts and kickoffs was dying. It was on the job training. He caught 51 passes in 2008 but only three of them in the end zone. This is not the stuff of number one wideouts.
This season, kickoffs are out, just punts. Perhaps this will allow Hester to concentrate more on running routes for a QB with far more talent than Kyle Orton. While Hester still isn’t a number one wide receiver, he remains a threat to bolt past the secondary. And he remains a threat to field a punt and bolt past everyone.
Case closed. He’s still ridiculous and still the Bears’ most valuable player.
–
George Ofman, an original member of The Score and a veteran of NPR, has covered more than 3,500 sporting events over the course of his career. Comments welcome.
Posted on August 31, 2009