Telander: Small wonders make big impressions

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BY RICK TELANDER rtelander@suntimes.com
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Bears are undefeated, so does everybody still want Lovie Smith fired?

Still hate the O-line?

Still dubious about the wide receivers, tight ends?

Never heard of D.J. Moore?

What are we supposed to think here?

America's Team (that would be the Cowboys, all you young'ns who believe Emmitt Smith was created on ''Dancing With the Stars'') is winless this season.

And the Bears, after this unexpected 27-20 win, have the best record in the NFL. OK, six other teams also are 2-0.

But the hell with them, and what about this?

The Bears played a smart and unflappable game, with quarterback Jay Cutler leading the way as arguably the best quarterback in the NFL right now. Crazy to say that, I know. But, grab the extinguisher and gloves because the man is aflame.

Consider his stats: 21 pass completions in 29 attempts, 277 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

He was nearly killed in the first 10 minutes of the game from the defensive line rush and all-out Cowboy blitzes, but his accuracy and composure were remarkable from start to end.

Everybody knows Cutler never loses as a pro when his passer rating is over 100.0 (now 17-0).

But a rating of 136.7? That's ridiculous.

''They don't know where we are going or what we are doing,'' Cutler said of the Bears' rabbit-from-the-hat, multiformation, Mike Martz-created offense.

He said that because the Cowboys nearly demolished him with their early pressure, and then he -- and offensive coordinator Martz and tight end Greg Olsen and wide receivers Devin Hester and Johnny Knox -- made Dallas pay.

The scoring passes -- to Olsen on a slant wherein Olsen dropped in behind the blitzing middle linebackers and in front of the double safeties, and the nine-yard corner-of-the-end-zone beauty that Hester pulled in with one hand -- were great calls and great executions.

But the non-scoring bomb down the middle to Knox in the second quarter, when the Bears were behind 14-10 -- that blew my mind. And if you'd been here in Jerry Jones' ''House of the Horrifyingly-Huge Hi-Def,'' it would've blown yours, too. To see it live, just the little ants underneath the giant flashing voodoo box suspended from the ceiling, was something special. As for the 11,393 square-foot screen itself, let me say that if primitive people had stumbled upon it in the middle of the plains many years ago, they would have immediately dropped to their knees and begun feeding it calves and virgins.

Anyway, Knox streaked off, and Cutler, recognizing the single coverage and the wideout's speed, launched the ball way before Knox looked back, a sizzling parabola that covered a spectacular 174 feet, caught up with Knox and dropped into his outstretched arms. To see the play come together was like seeing a missile catch up with an asteroid.

That the man who threw the most interceptions in the league in 2009 had none on this day, and has just one this year, is amazing.

We could go on.

But what about this anonymous guy Moore coming down with two interceptions for the Bears? You probably didn't know he was once the high school high jump champion of South Carolina. But then you probably didn't know him from Joshua Moore, another third-string Bears defensive back.

And up popped wide receiver Earl Bennett from obscurity to catch five passes and get the critical possession of the Cowboys' last-ditch onside kick.

It was those small things, the small players, if you will, that helped the superstars like Cutler and linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs make it all work.

How can you count on cornerback Peanut Tillman to jab the ball loose from a receiver late in the fourth quarter and have maniac Urlacher jump on it? Frankly, because those guys are pretty good at doing those types of things.

Urlacher and Briggs are now, without question, the best pair of linebackers in the league. They intimidate runners and receivers the way dogs intimidate squirrels. And to think we didn't even know if bullet-headed No. 54 would play again after he injured his wrist in the first game of last season.

Did Lovie think the two frothing pit bulls forced Dallas receivers to drop passes across the middle?

''Yes, I do,'' said the coach, who added that he would sure be afraid if he knew that duo was waiting for him.

Now that the music and flames and sparklers and pole dancers have quieted here in this stadium-cum-nightclub -- God bless you Jerry Jones, for having not one, but two, beers on tap in the press box! -- it's fair to offer a toast to the seemingly-unwanted Smith.

I asked the coach if it was a big deal picking up a fourth-and-one on a sneak by Cutler, after getting stonewalled on short stuff four times last week against the Lions.

''What fourth-and-one?'' the coach asked.

Now there's Lovie's funny bone. Right there.

Want to laugh with him for once?
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