Hanie: Chicago's best shot at victory Sunday
In the end, it played out as expected: when it mattered most, one team played with poise, with purpose, and maintained control throughout the game. The other team came out embarrassingly flat, dug itself a hole, seemingly found some late inspiration in an attempt to save face, but it was too little, too late. Bears fans have seen this scenario too many times before.
Did the defense play well? Yes, but not until they failed to show up for the first two minutes of the game as Aaron Rodgers methodically picked apart Chicago on the first drive resulting in a clean, efficient, quick score which showed the home team that the Packers were well prepared. Playing from behind is never a recipe for success, so as much as the defense did to stabilize the game the rest of the way (only allowing one more TD), they put the offense in an uphill position before they held the ball.
Now for Cutler and the offense. I see no need to comment on Jay Cutler’s injured knee because, for one, it’s pure speculation at this point (although an MCL injury seems to be the latest word), and two, if there’s one thing Cutler has shown over time is the ability to stay on the field. Therefore, I can only comment on Cutler’s play in the NFC Championship Game. One word comes to mind: poop. In one half, Jay Cutler demonstrated everything that makes him frustrating, specifically incredible inconsistency when accuracy is most needed.
You don’t have to be an NFL analyst to see that Cutler was throwing off his heels, making ill advised throws (some seemed like bail out “lobs”), and showing a general disinterest. His mood and mindset is irrelevant if his play is akin to his perceived talent, but the truth is that Cutler threw several balls asking to be intercepted but was lucky his numbers weren’t even worse than the end result. Injury or not, the Bears were better off without Cutler in the second half.
Think about the last statement: the Bears were better off without Cutler in the second half. Not matter how much a Cutler fan you might be, it’s hard to argue against that statement. In the NFC Championship Game, the Chicago Bears had a better chance of coming from behind and stealing a victory with Caleb Hanie behind center than Jay Cutler, healthy or otherwise. Let that sink in for awhile, and readers will suddenly understand the point of this website. Would that ever be the case with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers? Never, but many people want to put Cutler at the same level as Rodgers and others and it’s simply not the case.
It’s not that a QB isn’t allowed to have a bad game (even the “unstoppable” Tom Brady and the Patriots failed to sniff the AFC Championship Game), but it’s Cutler’s overall decision-making and attitude in his “bad” games that make it obvious that his team is not going to win on that day.
Cutler was far from the only reason the Bears lost yesterday. The lack of any offensive playmakers outside of Matt Forte was reason enough to think back about the early round picks Chicago could have used on developing the offense and the line while letting a QB like Kyle Orton carry the current team to its potential. Fans, even Rex Grossman carried the Bears to a Super Bowl matchup, so don’t fire back that Orton couldn’t have done the same. If you have the opportunity to get an elite QB like Manning, Brady, Brees, Rodgers, etc., I am all for making the deal to get it done. Unfortunately, Jay Cutler proved that he isn’t one of those on Sunday.
Unfortunately, I have a better record than the Bears. Despite picking all of the games BEFORE the season even started without any knowledge of the injuries that would befall Chicago and other teams, I have successfully predicted the outcome in 9 of the 12 games so far. That makes me eligible for the playoffs, right?
