McCaffrey: Time For Cutler To Deliver
By Brendan McCaffrey-
Too much credit, too much blame. The saga of the quarterback, the position ultimately judged by wins, losses and Super Bowl rings. Jay Cutler may have a Pro Bowl appearance under his belt, a multi-million dollar contract and a cute, blonde girlfriend, but none of that matters. Fair or unfair in a sport with nearly two dozen other starters on a football team, the quarterback is the only player who compiles a "record as a starter" statistic.
Jay Cutler's record as a starting NFL quarterback is 31-32, though with the Bears he has a winning record with 14 wins against 12 losses. His lack of success has been well-documented, with critics pointing to the fact that Cutler-quarterbacked teams haven't enjoyed a winning record since he played in high school. Yet he stands today leading the 1st place Bears after an impressive win Sunday and a masterful performance, throwing four touchdown passes and beating a legitimate Super Bowl contender in the Philadelphia Eagles.
It was right around two years ago at this time that Cutler found himself in a similar situation, leading a first-place team into December. The 8-5 Denver Broncos controlled the AFC West over the 5-8 San Diego Chargers and needed just one win in their final three games to secure a winning season and a playoff berth with a division title.
Then, all hell broke loose.
Consecutive losses at Carolina and at home against Buffalo set up a pressure-packed and nationally watched season finale in San Diego, a chance for Cutler to deliver on his promise to take the Broncos back to the playoffs and outduel another young quarterback in Philip Rivers.
Instead, the Chargers embarrassed the Broncos 52-21, Cutler threw two interceptions, and the Broncos completed a historic collapse that sent the Chargers to the playoffs and coach Mike Shanahan to unemployment. Jay Cutler would never take another snap for the Denver Broncos.
The numbers in his final three games were "choke-worthy:" two touchdown passes, four interceptions and quarterback ratings of 74.3, 72.4 and 74.9 respectively. Not exactly Joe Montana in the Super Bowl.
Whatever excuses used to defend Cutler and the Broncos collapse in 2008 – injured running backs, a poor defense – are not applicable with these Chicago Bears. Cutler now plays with a defense that dominates opponents and gets him the ball back, tying for the league-lead with 26 takeaways.
They spent this past Sunday turning Michael Vick and the high-flying Eagles offense into masters of the check down, holding receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin to 73 combined receiving yards. The linebackers and secondary tackled well, the defensive line harassed and contained Vick, and Julius Peppers continued his fine play, stripping Vick of the football on one occasion and tripping him well short of a first down on another. I'm still waiting to find the plays he takes off during the course of a game.
Special teams have continued to assist Cutler and the Bears offense too, with dynamic return men Devin Hester and Danieal Manning providing the Bears with excellent field position. According to footballoutsiders.com, coming into this past Sunday the Bears had the second-best average starting field position in the NFL, at nearly the 33 yard line.
Two years after the collapse in Denver, Jay Cutler's chance at redemption and the elusive winning season is here. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz has helped tailor his recent game plans to play to Cutler's strengths by moving him around and outside of the pocket, and has ran the football more to keep defenses honest. It showed in the win against the Eagles, as Cutler had one of his finest showings of his career. While the offensive line and running game remain a major work in progress, they have been good enough to help get this team to an 8-3 record and 1st place in the NFC North. To me, if they are good enough to get you this far, they are probably good enough to get you in the playoffs.
Everything seems to be coming together for Cutler to have his first winning season and playoff appearance in his professional career. This final quarter of the Bears 2010 campaign will rest on the ability of Jay Cutler to scramble, make sound decisions and big throws against the season's toughest opponents, something he failed to do in 2008. A healthy Bears team with an elite defense, great special teams and an adaptable play-caller leaves Jay Cutler no excuses for getting the Bears into the 2010 playoffs.
