No matter how Jay Cutler finishes season, he's no answer for
Nov 12, 2016 15:44:03 GMT -6
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Post by motm on Nov 12, 2016 15:44:03 GMT -6
"No matter how Jay Cutler finishes season, he's no answer for 2017 Bears"
With ample time to process a victory over the first-place Vikings that the Bears hope sparks a turnaround for a season heading the wrong direction, offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said the key was the return of Jay Cutler, who inspired his teammates.
It leads you to wonder what will happen if, with a slew of bad defenses on the schedule in the second half of the season starting with the 28th-ranked Buccaneers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium, what will happen if the Bears finally get on a roll?
The offensive line is healthy once again and left guard Josh Sitton and rookie center Cody Whitehair have experience in the system now that they lacked when the season began with Cutler as his inconsistent and turnover-prone self. The Bears are as healthy as they have been since training camp and they should be in position to roll off some victories.
After the Bucs, they face five defenses that are no better than middle of the pack — Giants (23rd), Titans (16th), 49ers (32nd), Lions (20th) and Redskins (22nd) in the final seven games. The Packers (seventh) haven't been formidable in recent weeks and the Bears already have proven they can beat the Vikings (third). As coach John Fox says, it's often when you play who you play and right now the schedule sets up nicely.
"If you go win-loss throughout the whole year, you're not going to be where you want to be, so being able to stack two, three, four, five wins, not have back-to-back losses, that's how you make the playoffs and that's how you're successful in this league," Cutler said.
Cutler has not won three consecutive starts since the start of the 2013 season, the beginning of the Marc Trestman era, so the Bears are accustomed to the up and (mostly) down that leaves a team far from the postseason.
General manager Ryan Pace can't make the decision to go back to Cutler for a ninth season in 2017 even though his contract is relatively friendly for the position at a cost of $15 million. The salary cap penalty is only $2 million if they release him. They can't go down this road again and expect to arrive somewhere else no matter how well Cutler plays. A strong half-season in Year 8 isn't going to change what the 33-year-old Cutler is. Teammates talked about the speech Cutler delivered the night before the victory over the Vikings. Former teammates were surprised to hear it happened because they know him to be an ineffectual leader, a player who hasn't had that in him.
The Bears have seen this movie before. Multiple times. It doesn't end well. Two seasons with Cutler has to be enough for Pace to realize the franchise is in need of a reboot at the position, something the club considered in 2015 when the new staff was hired.
No, the Bears don't have a solution on the roster with journeyman Matt Barkley a marginal backup at best. It's not a great draft for quarterbacks even if the underclassmen all come out. But the Bears have proven time and time again they are not going to rise to the level needed to compete on a regular basis with Cutler.
The only way the Bears can justify keeping Cutler is if they use a high draft pick on a quarterback and need a bridge until that newcomer is ready. But then you have to ask yourself if Cutler is the guy you want in that position as a place-holder until the future is ready?
While toughness is not a question when it comes to Cutler, durability now is. He has played only 16 games once since arriving in 2009. Reality is he's playing for his career in the final two months of the season, not for a future with the Bears. If he plays very well, perhaps the organization will have some leverage possibly to trade him but the perception of Cutler across the league isn't going to shift dramatically if he goes on a hot streak slinging the ball to Alshon Jeffery and others in the stretch run.
Fans shouldn't celebrate Cutler's fine play at quarterback against the talented Vikings defense but that's what happens when play that is expected comes so infrequently. A high-level quarterback can make up for roster deficiencies on both sides of the ball and Cutler seems to play well only when everything is right around him.
The Bucs are a mess on defense and Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks came out this week and made the deepest cutting criticism possible when he said effort was an issue. The Bucs didn't force a single punt in their most recent loss to the Falcons.
The Bears should roll Sunday and there should be other good games ahead. Meanwhile, they need to plot a new future at quarterback.
What might have been:
The Bears were interested in hiring Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter as quarterbacks coach in 2012 after Mike Tice was promoted to offensive coordinator after Mike Martz departed. Tice had worked with Koetter previously in Jacksonville but those hopes were dashed quickly when Koetter became offensive coordinator of the Falcons.
The Bears also requested permission to interview Dowell Loggains for the job. He was the quarterbacks coach of the Titans at the time and they blocked that from happening. The Bears eventually hired Jeremy Bates for the role. That was the last season Bates worked in the NFL.
Link: www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-biggs-jay-cutler-bears-essentials-spt-1113-20161112-column.html
We need to start looking for our future QB. Cutler isn't the answer. As they said Cutler only does good when the pieces around him play well...
With ample time to process a victory over the first-place Vikings that the Bears hope sparks a turnaround for a season heading the wrong direction, offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said the key was the return of Jay Cutler, who inspired his teammates.
It leads you to wonder what will happen if, with a slew of bad defenses on the schedule in the second half of the season starting with the 28th-ranked Buccaneers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium, what will happen if the Bears finally get on a roll?
The offensive line is healthy once again and left guard Josh Sitton and rookie center Cody Whitehair have experience in the system now that they lacked when the season began with Cutler as his inconsistent and turnover-prone self. The Bears are as healthy as they have been since training camp and they should be in position to roll off some victories.
After the Bucs, they face five defenses that are no better than middle of the pack — Giants (23rd), Titans (16th), 49ers (32nd), Lions (20th) and Redskins (22nd) in the final seven games. The Packers (seventh) haven't been formidable in recent weeks and the Bears already have proven they can beat the Vikings (third). As coach John Fox says, it's often when you play who you play and right now the schedule sets up nicely.
"If you go win-loss throughout the whole year, you're not going to be where you want to be, so being able to stack two, three, four, five wins, not have back-to-back losses, that's how you make the playoffs and that's how you're successful in this league," Cutler said.
Cutler has not won three consecutive starts since the start of the 2013 season, the beginning of the Marc Trestman era, so the Bears are accustomed to the up and (mostly) down that leaves a team far from the postseason.
General manager Ryan Pace can't make the decision to go back to Cutler for a ninth season in 2017 even though his contract is relatively friendly for the position at a cost of $15 million. The salary cap penalty is only $2 million if they release him. They can't go down this road again and expect to arrive somewhere else no matter how well Cutler plays. A strong half-season in Year 8 isn't going to change what the 33-year-old Cutler is. Teammates talked about the speech Cutler delivered the night before the victory over the Vikings. Former teammates were surprised to hear it happened because they know him to be an ineffectual leader, a player who hasn't had that in him.
The Bears have seen this movie before. Multiple times. It doesn't end well. Two seasons with Cutler has to be enough for Pace to realize the franchise is in need of a reboot at the position, something the club considered in 2015 when the new staff was hired.
No, the Bears don't have a solution on the roster with journeyman Matt Barkley a marginal backup at best. It's not a great draft for quarterbacks even if the underclassmen all come out. But the Bears have proven time and time again they are not going to rise to the level needed to compete on a regular basis with Cutler.
The only way the Bears can justify keeping Cutler is if they use a high draft pick on a quarterback and need a bridge until that newcomer is ready. But then you have to ask yourself if Cutler is the guy you want in that position as a place-holder until the future is ready?
While toughness is not a question when it comes to Cutler, durability now is. He has played only 16 games once since arriving in 2009. Reality is he's playing for his career in the final two months of the season, not for a future with the Bears. If he plays very well, perhaps the organization will have some leverage possibly to trade him but the perception of Cutler across the league isn't going to shift dramatically if he goes on a hot streak slinging the ball to Alshon Jeffery and others in the stretch run.
Fans shouldn't celebrate Cutler's fine play at quarterback against the talented Vikings defense but that's what happens when play that is expected comes so infrequently. A high-level quarterback can make up for roster deficiencies on both sides of the ball and Cutler seems to play well only when everything is right around him.
The Bucs are a mess on defense and Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks came out this week and made the deepest cutting criticism possible when he said effort was an issue. The Bucs didn't force a single punt in their most recent loss to the Falcons.
The Bears should roll Sunday and there should be other good games ahead. Meanwhile, they need to plot a new future at quarterback.
What might have been:
The Bears were interested in hiring Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter as quarterbacks coach in 2012 after Mike Tice was promoted to offensive coordinator after Mike Martz departed. Tice had worked with Koetter previously in Jacksonville but those hopes were dashed quickly when Koetter became offensive coordinator of the Falcons.
The Bears also requested permission to interview Dowell Loggains for the job. He was the quarterbacks coach of the Titans at the time and they blocked that from happening. The Bears eventually hired Jeremy Bates for the role. That was the last season Bates worked in the NFL.
Link: www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-biggs-jay-cutler-bears-essentials-spt-1113-20161112-column.html
We need to start looking for our future QB. Cutler isn't the answer. As they said Cutler only does good when the pieces around him play well...
