Bobby Massie - can he get better?

+1
That's definitely how I see it too.  And maybe he isn't as bad as I first reacted to, after the game last Sunday.  I may have been over the top critical.

Check the game clock on each sack or do it yourself with a stop watch, but the only sack Cutler held the ball for more than 3 seconds was the one where he rolled out of bounds. On every other sack he was scrambling or on the ground within 3 seconds. (Check times here for you yourself)
On the first sack he hits the back on his drop and Messie man hits him.  3 seconds
On the second sack he rolls out of bounds. So thats a '7 second' sack.
On the third sack you could argue he 'held' the ball too long. But he still was down within 3 seconds
On the fourth sack Watt beats Massie around the edge right when Cutler hits the back of his drop and he steps up, right into the un=picked up stunter. Again, on the ground in 3 seconds.
On the fifth sack Leno lets his man through, Cutler hits the back of his drop and has to take off running. He can't step up due to pressure and when Langford can't finish his blitz pickup, Cutler is down. Its longer than 3 seconds only because at 2 seconds Cutler is already fleeing for his life. 


I don't know where the narrative comes from of Cutler hanging onto the ball for too long. Its not true, yet posters keep posting that in trying to defend an OL that got overwhelmed by a talented front 7. There are going to be teams that give up more than 5 sacks to the Texans, disappointing yes but not unexpected. They are that good. 

That's a great article you posted brasilbear. I thought about making some gifs of the sacks but decided against it. I'm happy someone else did. I was making this point in a different thread - I think the deflated football thread - and ric kept talking about how Cutler needs to get the ball out quicker. I'm a Cutler fan but not an apologist and I didn't see it like that at all. I thought Cutler had a good game considering he was pressure 54% of his snaps. 

Back on topic: Bobbie Massie. I was reading Biggs' Mailbox this afternoon and he addressed the Massie situation:


When you go back and look at the tape, I think ONE THAT ONE PLAY, Biggs is onto something, but what about the other pressures Massie's allowing? Dude is known as a stone footed tackle so when his stone footed play appears on gameday people are going to react in kind.