2. It's bad news when the quarterback opens his post-game remarks by apologizing to the defense. But that's what Cutler did. Cutler became the league leader in interceptions on Thursday night -- and that was just in the first half. His five interceptions give him 17 for the season, putting him well ahead of Jake Delhomme, who has 13.
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You weren't quite as wrong as the Bears were!
I'm afraid so. So was I. And both my fantasy teams are paying for it. He can still sling the rock, but damn. He threw for over 300 yards last night.
Give the 9ers D some credit! As I said last night, a team that can make 5 picks, two at the goal line, one in the last seconds of the game, and win by 4 points (beating the spread I might add)--now, that's impressive.
Jay Cutler is like the proverbial rich man trying to enter the Kingdom of Heaven: it would be easier for a camel to thread the eye of a needle than for that poor sucker to throw to a receiver in the end zone. I think the guy just needs to have his eyes examined--color blindness? Can't tell the difference between a red jersey and a white one? This goes beyond poor decision making; it must be something organic.
Thank goodness for the "beating the spread" part.
It's a shame -- Cutler has the arm to be great, he just doesn't have the head to play at a high level.
Don't worry Jay. Jake will catch up on Sunday. Because everybody knows how unstoppable my Falcon secondary is.
Unlikely. Jake won't throw 4+ interceptions on Sunday. They way my Panthers have been calling plays I doubt he'll throw the ball more than 10 times on Sunday. Jake is crap this year, but you're not going to get a 50% interception rate.
Really, I meant it as a dig on the Falcon secondary. But now it's on. I guarantee at least four interceptions in Charlotte on Sunday. And only one will be thrown by Matt Ryan.
It's the same problem he had in Denver. Great ability, poor decision-making.
True, but he was better than this. He had a pro-bowl season last year, and the offense was one of the better ones in the league. He clearly doesn't have the same caliber receivers in Chicago, but there's a reason that Denver fans flipped out when we ended up with Orton instead of Cutler (though now we're all hailing McDaniels as a genius).
He does look awful, but he really doesn't have a lot of help. Can someone tell me the last time a bears running back has been good for even a 2 year stretch?
Oh, and que Fran Tarkenton: http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/news/story?id=4652043
The end of the game toss was understandable; time was running out and nothing less than a td would do, though I am sure some would have said he should have taken one look and thrown it away to get another shot. The 9ers played an interesting strategy against him, and the final int was the result of a disguised coverage. But the other goal line pass was unnecessary. He had some bad luck on a couple of plays, Hester slipped on one and the ref got in the way on another, but that other mid field pick was just good defense--the Bears' wide receiver ran into Roman (not vice versa) who had read Cutler perfectly.
Cutler is an immature qb, who thinks his position is the only one on the field. Great qbs are not about themselves but getting the ball in their receiver's hands.
In fairness to Jay Cutler, the Niners kept Peyton Manning out of the end zone as well. All of it would have been moot, except that the 9ers do not have a qb who can be relied upon to finish drives and that they got called for a ticky tack penalty when the Bears should have turned the ball over on downs at their own 20 or so.
Lovie Smith does not appear to be an offensive minded head coach; Cutler's former head coach was one of the best offensive minded head coaches in the past 30 years. Would I rather have Cutler than Alex Smith on my team? Let's just say Kyle Orton (a kind of Shaun Hill upgrade) looks decent from here.
The problem with the Bears is entirely in management and their decisions. Personel, coaching staff, game strategy, contracts, you name it, they have done it badly. Last multi year 1000 yd back? Thomas Jones, who they insulted by bringing in Cedric Benson, and then sent him to the Jets, where he continued to be who we thought he was (uhhh Pro Bowl running back?). Cedric Benson was not able to continue HIS performance behind their woefully inadequate offensive line and was sent packing TOO. Short version: BOTH Jones and Benson are now in the top 10 at their position.
Went to the Super Bowl largely based on a overpowering defense did we? I know, let's get rid of popular and former Bear player Ron Rivera so we can bring in another guy whose schemes and game prep have been less than effective for TWO YEARS.
Their ability to evaluate talent and then be unable to craft a strategy that makes use of the talents of the players they sign is nothing short of legendary. Having had more quarterbacks start games for them than ANY other team in the league says it all. Cutler simply needs a decent offensive line. One that will give him time, and create a running game that other defenses have to respect. Without that his gunslinger attitude will have him in the record book for single season: highest yardage - most interceptions.
Great post Ulysses! I don't know what people expected the Bears to do, because passing on Cutler and keeping what they had wasn't much better than where they are now. If you're a Bears fan, you do have to seriously worry if their management can ever dig themselves out of the hole they've dug from the Cutler trade to surround him with talent. Especially on the OL. They are horrid on the OL.
The Bears and Broncos rushing attacks had similar success last year, the difference was the Bears was largely due to Matt Forte, while the Broncos had a string of RB injuries, and anyone they handed off to had success: Peyton Hillis was their leading rusher with 300+ yards!
I totally agree on Jones, but Cedric Benson looks like he has been able to deal with his problems and contribute successfully in the NFL.
Three of those ints last night were not his fault and the Bears' running game right now is atrocious. He'll get all the blame because of the stats, but the stats in this case don't explain the whole story right now. I've watched a bit of the coverage this morning and I'm amazed how everyone ignores that Hester fell down on one route and stopped running on another. Can you really blame the QB for that? And can you blame the QB for a non-call of a blatantly obvious pass interference?
So, yes, Cutler will take the heat; but if you watch the plays rather than just reading the stat lines you'll see this falls on a lot more shoulders than just his.
Ok, I admit I'm from Chicago so I'm biased, but honestly, Tom Brady couldn't do any better behind that O line. It's God-awful. Troy Aikman hit the nail on the head: it's high-school level. Add inexperienced receivers to the mix and it's a recipe for disaster. Anyone would fail (see Kyle Orton). Not to mention that the Bears will never get anywhere with Ron Turner calling their offense. He's not as bad as the O line, but he's still pretty bad.
And, what isn't fair is that when Jay Cutler makes a bad decision or tries to force a play, he's labeled an immature punk. When Farve does it it's "just that ol' gunslinger trying to make a miracle." The media will forever hate Cutler for the whole Denver debacle. In Chicago the general sentiment is that he's about the only good thing left on the Bears.
co signing every word of this...
I agree the media isn't fair to him. I tend to give guys with "bad attitudes" a break because a lot of the time i think theres an agenda
Haters: Brett Favre is one of the greatest qbs of all time, period, end of story; he'd be in anyone's serious top 10. His peers Young and Aikman have been in the broadcast booth for longer than I can remember. And the day Cutler can throw a pass on a line into the end zone at the end of game at over 40 yards, when right now he can not simply muster a ten yarder, will be the day you can start to make such a silly comparison. Jay Cutler is barely out of diapers still soiling himself half the time. At forty, Favre still can out throw the guy.
The apter comparison might be Elway, though Elway was also athletic, who in his early years tried to do too much. Time will tell whether the game will come to him or not.
Believe me the o line on Chicago is better than that that of the 49ers, and no one would even think of comparing Alex Smith to Brett Favre, but even he would not throw so many ints in the red zone, especially in such a short period of time. Forget the other three, though one was obvious offensive pass interference if you really looked at it, how many red zone mistakes does it take to convince you? Cutler left Denver of his own volition (because he could not stand the idea of competition) really and embraced Chicago. All that's on him. and if Bears fans only have Cutler going for them, I wonder how they won any games at all this year. Finally, does Cutler really look to you like he's having fun?
Usually I'm on the other side of CitizenE's Favre praise, but I'm with him here. Cutler doesn't belong in the same conversation as Favre. Once he's managed to lead a team to the playoffs, then we'll talk. But so far in Denver, and now in Chicago, there have only been excuses.
I don't think anyone was comparing Favre and Cutler as QB's. Certainly not their ability. He was comparing people's reactions to their stupid decisions. But it's irrelevant, because of course people are going to react differently to them. Cutler hasn't done shit.
You're absolutely correct. There's no comparison between Favre and Cutler other than their style of play. Of course it's debatable whether Favre is one of the best QB's ever or just the most QB ever. He leads in TD's and INT's, but that's a totally different topic.
Cutler won't get the Bears to the playoffs this season because of the O line and awful play calling. Period. 10 INTs or 100. It doesn't matter. He has to try and force plays every down because he has no run game to support him. There's no hole in the line for Forte to fit through. We have two of the fastest WRs on Earth and Ron Turner calls 3 second slants and 5 YD out routes. The O line is un-athletic and slow; to a disgusting degree. My friends and I were talking about it tonight and we decided that the Bears should just hold open O line tryouts. If you can get around Chris Williams or Josh Beekman, you can have their jobs.
Exactly! Aaron Rodgers is in the exact same predicament down in Green Bay. I don't care who the QB is. If the O-Line is so horrible that you're constantly running for your life, you're in trouble. And the claim that Manning or Brady, two of the most immobile QB's in the league, would have more success, is laughable. Just look at how the Giant's pass rush totally shut Brady down in the SuperBowl. He didn't have the time he was used to and was no where near as effective as when he can stand in the pocket all day. Now, imagine this same Brady behind the Bears O-Line! Neither of those guys would make it to the end of the season they'd be sacked so much!
Cutler's a good QB but lacks the tools on offense and is forcing plays. It's simply waaay to premature to begin calling this a bad deal. Give it a year or so and we'll see that the Bears got a steal with Cutler.
Favre is great, but he isn't one of the top ten quarterbacks of all time.
He's like a kid out there. Just having fun. A real gunslinger.
As a Denver fan, I recall this happening towards the end of last season--it was a big part of our epic collapse. I sort of figured he was just a kid, that he'd shake it off and get better next season. So, like most Denver fans, I was pissed that he effectively got the boot in favor of Orton, and thus was wrong, too, about this guy. Orton's no great shakes, but he CAN follow the direction of McDaniels. Orton's the sort of QB who works within these massive offensive systems because he's an automaton. I suppose that's one reason to be glad Cutler's gone--he seems like the kind of guy who's too headstrong to take such complete direction and not good enough on his own with the decision-making.
Pretty wrong but you had lots of company.
Me, I picked the Packers to win the division.
How wrong was that?
Hey, they are 4-4, it's not completely out of the question yet (though just about completely unlikely given the way they have been playing).
I am having quite an "I-told-you-so" moment with Cutler's performance with CHI and my football buddies. Never thought too much of him in Denver, thought his praise as the Bears savior was way overblown by the media, and his hissy fit at Denver for having the gall to just consider trading him gave me all the information I needed to project his ability to succeed. He has a cannon arm but can't play at a high enough level to make much of it.
HA! There are a ton of people down here in Nashville eating from the same plate of crow, now that VY is back in the starting line-up, winning and not throwing INTs. Oh give me a dime for all the people screaming that the Titans should have picked Cutler . . .
It's great to see Vince playing again, and doing well. He's obviously got some issues, but his peformance in the Rose Bowl that year against USC is still the single greatest performance I've ever seen.
Check out his box score for that game: http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=260040030
30/40 passing, no interceptions. Ran for 200 yards(entire USC team had 209 yards rushing), and ran for 3 TD(including a 4th and 5 on the 8 yard line with 19 seconds left in the game with the national championship on the line). I read somewhere that he was so nervous on that play, that he was shaking beforehand, but you'd never guess it to watch him.
I got to think a guy with his talent can be successful in the NFL.
Young vs USC was the greatest individual performance I ever saw as well. Just unbelievable. I was absolutely convinced the guy would kill it in the NFL. Too much talent, too much guts. Then he won so much as a rookie. I really feel bad for Vince, since it's got to be very, very difficult to deal with depression while trying to be a QB in the NFL. Love to see him overcome it and get back on top.
I have no use for Jay Cutler. Great arm, but no guts. After the way he left Denver, I love every interception. That one in the endzone the other day was like the one that finally convinced Bill Parcells that Drew Bledosoe was done for good. Just ugly, pathetic stuff.
Cutler is starting to remind me of Jeff George. Big arm, big yardage, can hit any opposing safety and CB with startling precision, and nothing going on behind the eyes.
In fairness, two of the picks were directly attributable to Hester. I see some people are pointing out he slipped on one play - yep. He planted the wrong foot when he went to make his cut on the curl. The ref one is completely Hester's fault as well though: if the ref gets in your way you don't break off your route; you plow him. Cutler put the ball where Hester was supposed to be and his receiver let him down. The other three are fully Cutler however. Yeah he ran outt've time at the end, but the only reason he that happened was because he refused to throw the ball away. If he would've accepted that his reads weren't there he would've had time for one or even two more plays (can't remember what down it was off the top of my head.)
Not to knock our esteemed host but a lot of this was predicted by the more-observant analysts. The guy had to throw the ball 616 times to get his (admittedly-gigantic) yardage total last year, which works out to a just-above-average 7.3 yards/attempt. The problems with his decisionmaking were evident back then as well, as a 25:18 TD:INT ratio isn't very impressive when you have Marshall, Royal, that O-line and an entire offensive system setup to mask your weaknesses (Shanahan only had him reading half the field and often used bootlegs, rollouts etc. to help simplify his reads. Not sure how much of the field the Bears have him using but the lack of rolls and boots is obvious.)
I'd be shocked if he ends the year with less than 25 picks. He is truly Brett Favre Jr.
Oh, it also bears pointing out that about half of his yardage from yesterday came on screens and checkdowns. 300 yards / 5 picks looks even less impressive when you look at it in that context.
I promise I'll stop commenting after this, but let's not forget that the early parts of Favre's career were as famous for terrible decisionmaking and forced INTs as they were for last-second comeback heroics. Favre threw more touchdowns but overall Cutler is a very apt comparison. Yeah, Favre won his first playoff game sooner but he had the benefit of playing the Lions in the 1993 and 94 wildcards. Obviously they weren't the same Lions teams that we're used to from recent years since they were actually winning the NFC Norris back then, but they were notorious for early playoff exists nonetheless. Not so different from Cutler's Broncos actually
http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Articles/11_2773_A_northern_saga.html
Let's not lose track of Favre's history of fading in big games either. It's gotten particularly bad in the second half of his career.
I feel like i have to come clean...i was one of those who saw the cutler move to chi-town as a dooms-day for denver. It has turned out to be exactly the opposite. Denver is still in the mix for a playoff spot, and the bears are looking worse each week that passes by...
Hester sabotaged one offensive series the best he could, drawing two penalties, and then falling down on the INT.
The Bears offensive line is horrible, one of the worst in the NFL.
The Bears need to admit to themselves that the play-offs are off the table and go into re-building mode.
Cutler is an over-all asset to this team, but anyone who thought he was the final piece of the puzzle for this offense was fooling themselves. It's more like he's the first piece of a whole new puzzle.
Maybe the trouble is with the coaching staff. Just who is Cutler supposed to throw to? Hester? Knox wasn't in the plans when Cutler was traded to Chicago. To portray the QB as The Savior of Bears isn't fair, there is no way he can do his job if he doesn't have a capable o-line and receivers. (BTW Rodgers seemed fine against Dallas despite the pounding he is getting week after week thanks to his porous o-line.)
Maybe it is time to ponder what Lovie Smith & Coaching Co do to the Bears Offense!! 1) Standard statement: Bears are a running offense - exactly who is supposed to run? The RBs Benson and Jones ran away from Chicago, maybe thats what Lovie meant. 2) The best of QBs turn into lemons after a few weeks at Chicago. Orton just didn't have the arm strength but Cutler was ok in Denver, he became Super Bad after he got here! Oh lord, it is disappointing to see this team. Overrrated defense and listless offense.