LAKE FOREST, Ill. – After a shaky performance in the preseason opener on the road, Jay Cutler rebounded with an excellent outing a week later at Soldier Field, improving his passer rating by 80 points.

As they prepare for this weekend’s home opener against the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers, the Bears would love to see their quarterback make similar strides. Cutler threw four interceptions for the first time in 38 career NFL starts in Sunday night’s 21-15 season-opening loss in Green Bay.

Jay Cutler scrambles for 10 yards in Sunday night's loss to the Packers.

“Jay has to play better and he will play better,” said coach Lovie Smith. “Some of the things he did in the game, we can’t live with. His first preseason game he didn’t play as well as he did his second preseason game. He’ll get back off [to] a good start against the Steelers this week.”

Smith is confident that the Pro Bowl quarterback will rebound.

“Experience teaches me that,” he said. “I’ve seen it before. Preseason [game] one to two he played well, and I’m hoping the same thing will happen in the regular season. He’s a good player. All quarterbacks will have games that they’re not proud of and would like to have back. But it’s about coming back. He’s a competitor. He’s in a good place right now. He’ll come back as strong as ever this week.”

Cutler completed 17 of 36 passes for 277 yards with 1 touchdown and a 43.2 passer rating against the Packers. He threw three interceptions in a half for the first time in his career and tossed a fourth on the first play after the Bears, who were trailing 21-15 at the time, had taken over at their own 38-yard line with 1:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Two of Cutler’s interceptions came after he had scrambled out of the pocket and was looking to make something out of nothing. On both occasions, tight end Desmond Clark and rookie receiver Johnny Knox weren’t in the same book much less on the same page as their quarterback.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces out there and it’s going to take some time to get everybody in sync,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. “It doesn’t just come together over night. It takes time. We’ll build on the good things that we did—and we did do some good things—and we’ll eliminate or minimize the negatives.”

Sharing the blame: Cornerback Nate Vasher wasn’t the only Bears defender responsible for yielding Greg Jennings’ game-winning 50-yard TD reception Sunday night at Lambeau Field.

“You can’t give up the deep ball late,” Smith said. “Nate wasn’t the only one that was a part of it. You can’t do that, but he did some good things in the game also.”

The Bears coach wasn’t blaming rookie strong safety Al Afalava, who rushed up to the line of scrimmage just as quarterback Aaron Rodgers faked a handoff.

“Al was coming down in [run] support, which he should have done,” Smith said. “Someone else should have been back deep in the middle of the field, not Al.”

Though Smith didn’t identify that player, it was presumably free safety Kevin Payne he was referring to.

Aches and pains: The dislocated wrist that ended Brian Urlacher’s season after one game wasn’t the only injury the Bears incurred in Green Bay. Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa and cornerback Trumaine McBride sustained sprained knees, and tight end Desmond Clark exited with a rib injury.

“I don’t know exactly how long they’ll be out,” Smith said. “We’ll just continue to evaluate them and see where it goes from there. Besides that, it was a hard-fought game, There are a couple of other bumps and bruises that we’re dealing with, but the rest of the guys should be good to go.”

Tough task: After opening the season in Green Bay, facing the Steelers in Sunday’s home opener will present another difficult challenge for the Bears.

“They’re not just a good football team,” Smith said. “We have the defending Super Bowl champions coming to our home. We’re looking forward to it. Whenever you have a bad taste in your mouth after a game like that, you’re anxious to play the next game. For us, normally we’ve seen a lot of improvement from game one to two. We’re expecting that. We’re going to show up, and it should be another great game.”

Numbers game: After Week 1, the Bears offense ranks 11th in the NFL in total yards (tied for 15th rushing, 10th passing), while the defense ranks fifth overall (11th against the run, sixth versus the pass).