Chicago's best bet for a backup QB?

As if this came to a shock to any Bears fans, Jay Cutler was sacked FIVE TIMES in one half of a preseason game.  Against the RAIDERS!!  For the millionth time, it’s not a knock on the QB, but rather the complete lack of depth and talent around the QB… which came about because they traded for this specific QB!!  It was an exercise in failed circular logic that was doomed from the start, and now we get to watch the results mercifully play out in front of our eyes this season.

Rather that sign veteran Todd Collins as a backup for Cutler, the Bears should have looked for a better option, like Usain Bolt, because it’s going to take world class speed behind center to avoid a weekly punishing this season.  Prepare yourselves, Bears fans, the odds of the chosen one staying healthy for double digit games this year is looking bleak!

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Neil Hayes from the Chicago Sun-Times provided the ultimate in overanalysis by responding to readers on the accuracy of Jay Cutler’s throws in OTAs. You can read it here. You can find more questions from the Sun-Times story here.

Martz

Well, at least Jay Cutler can’t blame his next offensive coordinator for his failings.  The Bears appeared to bend over backwards for Cutler, attempting to get an interview with his former QB coach Jeremy Bates, even though he had no experience as an NFL coordinator.  Then, they tried everyone else and failed to receive any interest until Mike Martz finally fell into Chicago’s lap.

Marinelli

I hate using phrases like “genius” or “mastermind” to describe professional coaches, because one is limited by the rules of the game and the talent on the field, but fans and talk shows hosts love to toss those words around when describing coaches like Martz.  The reality is that when his teams were talented (Rams), his record was good, and when his teams were not (Lions), his record was bad.  Thanks to a rumored dinner together, Jay Cutler and Mike Martz should be on the same page heading into the season.  From then on, it’s a crapshoot.  

As for the coaching behind Lovie, here’s a few of what the Bears are trotting out there:

• Rod Marinelli, after having led the Detroit Lions to a record setting 0-16 record two seasons ago, just before joining Chicago’s staff.
•  Mike Tice, former Vikings head coach who failed to maintain an air of discipline around a team best known for a boat party scandal.
• Mike Martz, successful head coach of the Rams and more recently the offensive coordinator for two miserable seasons with Marinelli’s Lions (including a 3-13 year in ’06) followed by a year in San Fran.

Tice

Guess who fired Martz from Detroit?  That’s right – Marinelli.  Then Rod followed it up with that 0-16 campaign, and now they all get to live happily ever after on Chicago’s staff.

Sigh.

Wow!  Not sure where that effort came from, but Jay Cutler and the rest of the Bears made the city proud last night by performing up to the task on a prime time game for once.  Cutler upped his trade value (hey, this is TradeJayCutler.com after all) with an impressive performance against a top tier team. 

I didn’t even find his lone interception to be nearly as detrimental as Jon Gruden did.  Gruden is big on hyperbole, and he was all over Cutler for throwing that interception, but the truth is it was 3^rd and a ton, and Cutler let it fly about 30 yards.  You never want to get picked off, but if you’re going to give up an interception, that’s the time to do it.  If it’s simply incomplete, you’re punting anyway, and with a decent return the Vikings have the ball in the same place anyway.  Calm down, Chucky.

Not to be overlooked are the 4 touchdown passes.  Fans don’t expect 4 TDs every time out, but what was nice to see was the lack of mistakes in crunch time – no overthrowing, no underthrowing, etc.  The defense didn’t help the cause by utterly collapsing and giving up 30 second half points, and even the reliable Robbie Gould couldn’t help in OT, but the Bears did just enough to beat the Vikings and prevent Favre from winning his first game ever after falling behind by 17 points or more.

I give the Bears a heap more credit than the Colts this week.  In games that “don’t matter,” one team still tried to win while the other was content in basically suspending the competitive spirit of the game until the games “matter” again.  Using Indy’s logic, shouldn’t they just sit Manning in Week 1?  Sure a first week game won’t have a great effect on a team likely to make the playoffs, so why risk injury?

Maybe the Bears should have sat Cutler the past couple weeks once the chance at a playoff berth disappeared.  Why risk injury on a player considered to be the franchise in a season of lost hope?  Save him for next year when the records are wiped clean again.  Can you imagine an NFL where every coach only put out his best team when he felt a victory was relevant to the playoff picture?  The Lions’ starters wouldn’t have played a down for 2 years! 

What Indy coach Jim Caldwell did was embarrassing to the sport.  Never underestimate the need for consistency and timing when it comes to playing winning football.  The best way for healthy players to get better heading into the playoffs is to play, not sit on the bench.  Hopefully Caldwell’s mistake won’t cost them a Super Bowl.

I can hear Hank Williams Jr. screaming at me now. Or Pink. Or whomever is singing the title sequence nowadays. With a 5-9 record for the Bears, though, I’ve also got my eye on a rerun of House and a mini-marathon of Community episodes.

Another ugly loss, another ugly outing by Cutler. Regardless of who or what you want to blame Chicago’s woes on, the fact is it ain’t working with Cutler behind center. It’s true that the receivers stink. It’s true that the offensive line is below par. It’s true that the coaching seems to be worse than ever (what was with the first half challenge of Knox’s obvious fumble?!?!). It’s also true that none of the above will be getting better now that the Bears are stuck with Cutler for 5 years and don’t even have a 1st round pick for a couple years.

No early picks means no rebuilding of the o-line through the draft, and good luck trying to acquire a good o-lineman in his prime through the free agent market. Basically, it’s going to be Jay Cutler and his “unlimited potential” throwing to guys wishing they were average. In case you haven’t noticed, Cutler historically hasn’t been able to get his teams to overachieve, so don’t look for that to happen anytime soon.

It’s time to reverse the screws on this deal. Hope that Cutler finishes the season strong and trade him away for some talent and/or picks. At this point, the Bears needs are many, and volume of solid players is a bigger need than one great player, particularly when that player isn’t actually great.

Trade Jay Cutler.

Bears fans are tired of the losing, tired of the interceptions, and tired of the “who cares” attitude.  It’s time for a change!  Sound off here if you want a Chicago Bears future that doesn’t involve Jay Cutler.

Are you tired of hearing these cliches?

• “canon for an arm”
• “gunslinger mentality”
• “unlimited potential”
• “huge upside”

Blech.  TradeJayCutler.com is looking for football players who win games.  Not players with potential, but players who know how to do the right things to win.  There IS a difference.

TradeJayCutler.com is well aware of the contract extension the Bears gave Cutler in October, securing him until 2013 (gulp!) for about $50 million over 5 years.