Maybe the most impressive aspect of the wideout crew is its youthfulness. Devin Hester is the old man at 26, and he's only in his third year of playing wide receiver in the NFL. Earl Bennett and Johnny Knox are both 22, and Bennett didn't catch a pass last season as a rookie.

But the coaching staff didn't lose faith in Bennett, especially considering his progress in the offseason learning the playbook and getting comfortable in the scheme.

"Earl had a history," coach Lovie Smith said. "We had watched him quite a bit at Vanderbilt. We knew he had good hands. We knew he would work as hard as anyone to become the best possible player he could be, and that's what he's done."

Bennett has been pigeonholed by some as a possession receiver, unable to stretch the field, but he's already caught three passes of more than 20 yards.

"That's what he did in college," wide receivers coach Darryl Drake said. "You don't become the all-time leading receiver in SEC history in three years if you don't have the ability to do that. And that's what he's got. Sometimes you can't force-feed a baby. You have to let it grow, and Earl has grown."

Bennett was asked to learn all three of the wide receiver positions in the Bears' offense last season, which slowed his development.

Knox has been asked to focus on just one.

"We're not moving Johnny around," Drake said. "He's locked in at one spot. He doesn't have to do a whole lot, but at the same time he does have exceptional quickness and a great deal of ability. We're just trying to take advantage of the things that he can do, not asking him to do too much, where he can go out and perform and play free. He doesn't have to think. [He can just] react, and he's been able to do that so far."

Those three have averaged a combined 14.5 yards per catch, even though opposing defenses have focused on taking the long ball out of Cutler's repertoire. But the Bears Big 3 have made up for it by tacking on yards after the catch.

"They've done a great job of that," Cutler said. "I try to get the ball in their hands as quickly as possible and let them do their thing. They've done a great job of breaking tackles and making people miss. But they know when to get down, so they're not out there sacrificing their bodies. They're doing a good job for us."

Better than almost anybody expected.