The Jay Cutler Experiment

It has been 11 games into the Bears 2009 debacle and I for one have had about enough of the Jay Cutler experiment. I stated as soon as the Bears traded away their future for him that I didn't think that he had the stones to stand up to playing in Chicago. I think it is safe to say that Cutler has failed so far, and does anyone have any faith that he will be able to bounce back next season? As much as I hate to join a mob mentality, especially when that mentality is a person's belief that it is their god given right to blame a QB for every loss, I have to jump on this bandwagon like a virgin jumping on a drunk college chick. Let me list the reasons that I hate Jay Culter.

1) He is not a team player.

The only emotion that Cutler shows is when he is pissed off at a receiver for not reading his mind and changing his route while his back is to the quarterback. The Bears spent 6 seasons rallying behind Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton, especially the defense. When Orton and Grossman were throwing picks, fumbling, or going 3 and out consistently, you never heard the defense bitch that they had to go back out there without any rest. This season you had Brian Urlacher blasting Culter before they played a regular season game, and now he has decided to take it up a notch. When you have players asking to go to the way things were with Kyle Orton, you know you have a problem.

2) He has never won anywhere.

Vanderbilt is obviously not going to challenge for an SEC title probably ever, but you might be surprised to know that our current and future Golden Boy was pretty average as a 4 year starter at a shitty program. You want to know what his record was at Vanderbilt? 11-35. In 4 years he had 8,700 yards, 59 touchdowns and 36 interceptions. Not terrible stats, but is that really what you want out of a First Round draft pick? Fast forward to Denver:

In Denver for some reason, Mike Shanahan decided to bench Jake Plummer when the Broncos were 7-4 and still in the hunt for a wild card spot. Enter Jay Cutler. The Broncos proceed to go 2-3, with Jay throwing for 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions and they miss the playoffs.

In his first season starting the Broncos went 7-9 and Cutler threw for 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Its not like the Broncos were one dimensional. Like always, Shanahan had a great running game. The Broncos were ranked 9th in the NFL with almost 2000 yards on the ground.

In 2008, the Broncos went 8-8 with Cutler at the helm, and he was selected to go to the Pro-Bowl because Tom Brady and Carson Palmer only played 3 seconds of the season. He threw for 25 touchdowns and 18 picks while throwing for 4500 yards. Again the rushing game was there as they racked up 1800 yards and ranked 12th in the league. The defense was decimated by injuries and they were one of the worst in the league, which helped inflate Cutler's stats because they were playing from behind a ton.

Now having a bad defense obviously led to the Broncos not making the playoffs, but I think that playing against Kansas City and Oakland twice a year makes up for that. If you can't steal 5 wins out of 13 somewhere, especially when you have a balanced offense, then there is a problem.

3) He wants to run his offense.

Yerk told me a funny story about how Cutler told that Mayor that he is tired of running this high school offense under Ron Turner. I tend to agree with him that Turner's play calling is atrocious, but if he can't run a "High School" offense without turning the ball over every other throw, how the shit is he going to run a complex offense. Because of Jay Cutler, the Bears have basically forgot how to run the ball. You can blame the offensive line all you want, but last year as a ROOKIE, Matt Forte ran for over 12oo yards. He accomplished that feat with defenses knowing that the Bears were going to run the ball and never throw past 20 yards. Was the offense exciting? Hell no, but playing a ball control offense the last 3 years had led the Bears to a 29-19 record with a Super Bowl appearance. If it weren't for 3 horrific loses last season to Carolina, Tampa Bay and Atlanta early on, the Bears very easily could have been 12-4.

Now this Douchebag wants the Bears to completely change the offense and get him big play receivers. I have a better idea, why doesn't he stop throwing interceptions in the Red Zone. How many times have you seen Cutler over throw Devin Hester this season? How many times have you seen these so called "Second Tier" receivers adjust their bodies to make amazing catches for this asshole?

There are 13 teams who have more receiving yards than the Bears. Of those teams, I will agree that at least 9 have better receivers, but if you think the Ravens, Chargers, Cowboys and Giants have better receivers you are crazy!! Name one big play receiver on those teams that isn't directly related to the QB play? You can probably throw the Saints in there also because the leading receiver for them last season isn't even playing this season. Sidney Rice was garbage before Brett Farve came to Minnesota, Houston and the Colts have only one receiver you can name of the top of your head. Only the Patriots, Green Bay, Philadelphia and Arizona have more than one great receiver. Make no mistake, those teams have better passing numbers because of the Quarterbacks, not the Receivers. Here is a little history lesson for those of you who only have a short term memory: The Bears made the Superbowl with Muhsin Mohammad, Bernard Berrien, Rashied Davis at receiver and Rex Grossman at quarterback.

4) All he needs to do is manage the game, but he can't.

Does Cutler have a better arm than Grossman or Orton? Absolutely, but that doesn't translate to wins. You can bash the defense all you want, and I agree that they have looked bad at times, but how about the games that they played great only to have Cutler blow the game for them?

-In the loss to Green Bay, the Bears only gave up 21 points, Cutler threw 4 interceptions and the Bears lost by 6.

-In the loss to Atlanta, the Bears gave up 21 points, Cutler threw 2 interceptions and the Bears lost by 7.

-In the loss to San Francisco, the Bears gave up 10 GOD DAMN points, Cutler threw 5 INTERCEPTIONS, and the Bears lost by 4.

-And finally against the Eagles, the Bears gave up 24 points, Cutler threw 1 interception and the Bears lost by 4. Add it up and that is 12 interceptions, 75 points, and a total loss of 21 points.

5 of those passes were intercepted while the Bears were in Field Goal range. The Bears had the ball on the 31, and 8 yard line against Green Bay. The Bears had the ball on the 12 against Atlanta, and the Bears had the ball on the 1 and 12 yard line against San Francisco. If I could tell Culter one thing, it would be this: Throw the God Damn ball away!!!

Feel free to blame the Bears defense for the losses against Minnesota, Cincinnati and Arizona, but you can't blame them for the other 4 losses.

5) Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton

This is my final nail for the Jay Cutler Coffin. In Rex Grossman's 4th season, he took Chicago to a Superbowl. In the Bears 3 losses, he was bad, throwing 3 interceptions in each game. In the other 14 games, he only threw 11. He did exactly what was asked of him and pretty much any other quarterback in the NFL not named Manning or Brady, and that is don't lose the game for us. With the same "High School" offense, Pro-Bowler Jay Cutler has thrown 20 interceptions in just 11 games. If that number doesn't jump to 30 by the end of the year, I'll be shocked. The Bears were only 15th in rushing that year, but they knew they had a great defense, so as long as Grossman managed the game on offense they were fine.

Lets' compare last season to this season because that is a much better comparison.

2008 Offense

14th in points: 375

26th in yards: 4700

27th in First Downs: 264

21st in Passing Yards

16th in Passing Touchdowns

15th in Interceptions

24th in Rushing Yards

14th in Rushing Touchdowns

15th in Rushing Attempts

2009 Offense

21st in Points: 216

23rd in Yards: 3450

26th in First Downs: 180

14th in Passing Yards

14th in Passing Touchdowns

31st in Interceptions

32nd in Rushing Yards

24th in Touchdowns

32nd in Rushing Attempts

2008 Defense

16th in Points: 350

21st in Yards: 5300

23rd in First Downs: 314

2nd in Turnovers: 36

2009 Defense

24th in Points: 261

18th in Yards: 3700

26th in First Downs: 220

12th in Turnovers: 19

Starting with the offense, obviously the first thing that jumps out at you is the turnovers. The Bears are 3 turnovers away from having as many as they did last season. Also even though they have more passing yards, they are on pace for about the same touchdowns. Hopefully playing Detroit and St. Louis will rectify this. Also this season, the Bears are 7th in the league in pass attempts. In 2008 they were 14th. It is pretty safe to say that the Bears have completely abandoned the running game that has been successful for them for their entire history in order to appease the Douche Bag.

On Defense the Bears are giving up less yards, and about the same in First Downs, but they are giving up more points. Again the points should even out when they play Detroit, St. Louis and Baltimore. They are behind in turnovers, but 12th is pretty good for a team that has major injuries everywhere. It is insane to ask the defense to constantly man up after all of these turnovers.

For those of you who are also on the bandwagon that the Bears offensive line is allowing Cutler to get sacked too often, in 2008 they gave up 29 sacks. This season they have given up 24 sacks. It seems like they are giving up a ton more this season, but in 2008 the Bears attempted 528 passes, this season in only 11 games, they have already thrown the ball 406 times.

So in 2008 the Bears gave up a sack 5.2% of the time they dropped back to pass. This season they are giving up a sack 5.6% of the time. Not to drastic of a change.

All of this information should lead you to this conclusion: Jay Cutler is an average QB at best. In his own words, it is a simple offense to run, yet he can't do it. Its not like he is a rookie trying to learn the ropes of playing in the NFL, he has basically played for 4 full years. Right now I can name at least 15 quarterbacks that I would rather have than him. Asking for a great offensive line and phenomenal receivers is the same argument that people in Michigan use to justify why Dick Rod is killing that program. Green Bay has one of the worst offensive lines I have seen and they have a better record than the Bears, and are passing better. I can't name a receiver for the Ravens or Chargers, yet they have much better passing stats.

Now we are stuck with Cutler for the next 4 seasons, and it is only gonna get worse. The only quarterback I can name who bounced back when a team and fanbase turned on him without switching teams is Vince Young. Eli Manning and Tony Romo were first time starters when New York and Dallas bashed them, and Jay Cutler does not have near the talent that either of them do.