The Bears could not have put Cutler in a worse offensive system, given the players they had on the roster. When a quarterback is asked to take five and seven foot drops, which are the majority of the plays in Martz’s system, he needs a lot of time in the pocket in order for the play to develop and for his receivers to get open downfield. The Bears biggest weakness by far coming into the 2010 season was their porous offensive line, which lead to Cutler taking a league worst 52 sacks. While some of those sacks had to do with Cutler staying in the pocket too long, most of the blame falls on the offensive line and the scheme that Cutler was thrown into. By the time Culter was able to set his feet after his long drops, he usually had defenders right in his face, causing him to have to scramble around for his life.
Not only was this system a poor choice because of the Bears’ offensive line, it also failed to utilize some of its best weapons. Arguably the Bears’ top offensive weapon is Matt Forte. While Forte did improve on his numbers from a very disappointing 2009 season, Forte still had the fewest carries and receptions of his career. Martz’s system does not allow Forte to be the focal point of the offense. His system almost always uses three and four wide receiver sets, meaning less big bodied players (tight ends and fullbacks) to help the run game. On top of these sets being detrimental to the run game, they do not maximize the potential of the Bears’ offense since some of the Bears’ top receiving threats are their tight ends. Greg Olsen, Desmond Clarke, Kellen Davis, and Brandon Manumaleuna might make up the most talented and deep group of tight ends in the NFL. While Martz did a good job adjusting to the players he had this season, especially after the bye week, I still think there is a lot of potential that is being left on the bench.
Despite all of this and missing a game and a half due to a concussion, Cutler still cut his interceptions down to 16 from 26, increased his passer rating by almost 10 points (76.8 to 86.3), attained a career best 7.6 yards per pass attempt, and in a few games even managed to lead the Bears in rushing. The most important stat of all is he helped the Bears win 11 games (from 7 wins in 2009) and win the very competitive NFC North. Everyone thought it would be Green Bay or Minnesota that would take the division.
Cutler displayed fine form in the first playoff game of his career, even though it was against the lowly Seahawks. He scored 4 touchdowns with no turnovers and took the Bears to only their fifth NFC Championship game in their long history. It is too bad that Cutler looked terrible in the first half of the championship game against Green Bay, before he left with a knee injury. Sadly, that is the last image the fans and commentators have of him. However, that should not taint all of his impressive accomplishments throughout the season.
Cutler displayed fine form in the first playoff game of his career, even though it was against the lowly Seahawks. He scored 4 touchdowns with no turnovers and took the Bears to only their fifth NFC Championship game in their long history. It is too bad that Cutler looked terrible in the first half of the championship game against Green Bay, before he left with a knee injury. Sadly, that is the last image the fans and commentators have of him. However, that should not taint all of his impressive accomplishments throughout the season.
In an off season in which there are not many stories, Cutler’s toughness being called into question is one of the bigger headlines. This is a ridiculous discussion and there is no reason that Cutler and his fellow teammates should have to deal with constant questioning on this subject. Cutler took a league high 52 sacks, which does not even include all the times that he was hit in the pocket or all the times that he ran the ball. Cutler was viciously sacked 9 times in one half against the Giants before he had to leave with a concussion. It was one of the worst beatings I have ever seen a quarterback take in a game, let alone in one half. Despite this, he still only missed one game and bounced back to go 7-4 for the rest of the season.
On the subject of the NFC Championship game, Cutler was diagnosed with a sprained MCL. He decided it would be best for the offense to have someone else start, which I truly believe was the right choice for him and for the team. In the first half, Cutler was running for his life and would have never been able to escape the Packers’ pressure with that knee injury. Had he gone back in that game, he most likely would have done further damage to his knee and only created numerous negative plays for the offense. There is no doubt in my mind that Cutler would have loved to go back into that game, but he did not want to be a detriment to his offense. How many times has Brett Favre attempted to struggle through injuries and thrown interception after interception (look at the Jets going 1-4 at the end of the 2008 season and all of the Vikings 2010 season)? These questions should have stopped immediately after all of Cutler’s teammates stood up for him and said that they have no concerns over his toughness. If Brian Urlacher calls someone tough, I tend to believe him.
For a franchise that has been looking for a quarterback for decades, the Bears fans should appreciate Jay Cutler because there are at least 20 teams that wish they had a player of his caliber, including the team that inexplicably traded him away.
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