http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/What-do-we-think-of-Cutler-now.html
What do we think of Cutler now?
by Matt Bowen
December 21, 02009
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Twenty-five and counting.
That is the number of interceptions attached to
Bears QB Jay Cutler’s name right now. And, I would not be surprised to see Cutler get to 30 by the end of Week 17.
Can we call Cutler a bust in Chicago? Really? Already?
APBears QB Jay Cutler sits on the bench in the waning moments of another loss littered with INTs.
Bears fans, you are stuck with Cutler for now, for the next season and the season beyond that. He isn’t going anywhere, especially after GM Jerry Angelo pulled off the biggest trade in franchise history that has left this Bears team — a team that is full of gaping holes — with an unloaded gun going into this year’s draft as a result of the picks that they had to give up to replace Kyle Orton.
But, was Orton going to win a championship as the Bears QB? Probably not, and the hope behind that trade was that this club could get a franchise QB, one that they could build around for a decade. I remember the day the deal went down. Living here in the city of Chicago, you would have thought that tickets to this year’s Super Bowl had already gone on sale.
In fact, I would say that the deal to bring Cutler to Chicago brought in so much hope, so many expectations, that you would have thought Ditka was back.
However, that was in the spring. And as we sit here today after another Bears beating and yet another awful performance by Cutler, to say that this is what we expected is so far from the truth.
We can go back to the Thursday night game against the Niners, last week’s home contest against the Packers, and again yesterday in
one of the worst performances we have seen under Lovie Smith, and argue that Cutler looks almost, well, confused. From a football standpoint, or from the view of analyzing the X’s and O’s of his season, he almost seems to be predetermined when he comes out the huddle — throwing the ball in places on the field that we usually see from a rookie — and a bad rookie at that.
His first pick yesterday, a slant route thrown against 2-Man coverage — where the corner takes away the inside — speaks volumes of where he is right now as a QB. You can’t throw that ball versus that defense. And Jay should know better. But I am wondering how I am going to still defend a QB whom I think has top-ten talent in this league.
APCutler has tossed 25 INTs through 14 games in his debut season with the Bears.
Cutler forces passes, he shows us poor technique and he puts so much faith into his right arm that his arrogance on the field is backfiring in the numbers of interceptions he has thrown. Yet, I still like him for some odd reason.
Yes, the Bears have no running game to speak of, their offensive line has major issues, the wide receivers corps looks like the second team in training camp and Lovie Smith’s defense is anything but challenging to offensive coordinators in this league. However, Cutler should still take the heat, should still find a way to produce and should still win games. Because now that he is in Chicago, he is the franchise. Part of the job, you could say.
And Bears fans will have to grow to appreciate that, because whether Ron Turner, QB coach Pep Hamilton or
even Lovie Smith ends up taking the fall for this disaster of a football season, Jay isn’t going anywhere. No, he is here to stay in Chicago — and that is the only sure thing for this franchise right now.
Actually, would I even win an argument putting Cutler in the top ten right now?
Doubt it.
