Hasselbeck-Cutler Duel Won't Come Down To Experience
The Bears-Seahawks game on Sunday will matchup up two very different quarterbacks. Matt Hasselbeck, has played in a Super Bowl, Jay Cutler, on the other hand, will make his first postseason start.
"Well I think experience helps any quarterback going into a playoff situation," NFL Hall of Famer, Warren Moon said on the Danny Mac Show. "I think that you're not awed by it at all, you've been there before, you know what to expect, you know the intensity is going to be a little bit higher, all those different things that go into a playoff game."
LISTEN: Warren Moon On The Danny Mac Show
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While the playoff experience helps Hasselbeck, it isn't the only factor at play for the quarterbacks in Sunday's game. Cutler has a much better defense and the Bears, at 11-5, are the better team on paper.
"But, you know, Jay is going to be playing at home. He's had a week off," Moon said. "I think the key is going to be how he starts the football game off. You'll be able to see if he's nervous or not, in his first time out there, and not just by the first couple of throws."
While Cutler will be making his first career playoff start, the lack of experience won't doom him and the Bears.
"I think you can help him out, as far as play calling, on what they call early in the ball game to get him into a flow," Moon said. "As opposed to maybe throwing something a little more difficult early in the ball game where he can't get a completion. So I think all those things play into it. And the weather, I'm sure, is going to be a decisive factor as well."