Bears shutting Browns out, but is anybody impressed?

By David Haugh

Nobody should feel good about the Bears shutting out the Browns at halftime.

Except maybe the Browns.

It says the Bears lead 16-0 but it sounds like the Bears are losing. Too often, it has looked that way as well.

You might say ugly isn't restricted to the orange jerseys.

Boos have ushered the Bears offense to the sideline almost after every drive stalled. And they have been appropriate.

The Bears have forced an interception by Danieal Manning and a fumble recovery by Adewale Ogunleye - turnovers that started drives in Cleveland territory - but come away with field goals, not touchdowns. For anybody to see progress in this Bears team, they needed touchdowns.

The one that came from Matt Forte at the end of a second-quarter drive helped but hardly supplied the Soldier Field crowd the confidence they hoped to regain against the NFL's worst defense.

What was Garrett Wolfe doing in the game instead of Forte on the series after Manning's interception gave the Bears the ball at the 13? Why does the offense consistently look so sluggish coming out of the huddle to the line of scrimmage? Can anybody on the Bears offensive line block a soul?

Imagination has been lacking. So has execution. Jay Cutler must wonder what it feels like to have time in the pocket to throw, because the last time he has consistently was in Denver.

The biggest gain of the first half came courtesy of a coach's challenge. Lovie Smith threw the red flag after Cutler was sacked and the ball squirted out in an apparent fumble. Replays showed that Cutler was throwing the ball and, in fact, it was an incompletion as Smith suspected.

Instead of second-and-35, it was second-and-10 - a 25-yard pickup that no offensive player was going to make.

Too many questions remain after two quarters of play for a team that needed to come out with a bigger sense of purpose after a 35-point loss. Give the defense credit for playing inspired football and responding to the pre-game video of Walter Payton that Smith showed the team. The defense has flown around and created turnovers the way Smith and his staff urged players to do all week.

But remember, this is the Browns. How bad must Brady Quinn have regressed for Derek Anderson to win the job and look this bad?

That's Cleveland's problem. The Bears offense clearly has enough of their own.

Unless that unit solves them in the second half, this victory will be hard to savor no matter what the scoreboard says.

Check out the Walter Payton halftime tribute video at ChicagoBears.com