On Wednesday, Jay Cutler was feeling himself. Fresh off of a 333 yard, three-touchdown performance against the Under-Construction Indianapolis Colts. In response to a question about the Packers secondary getting physical against his receivers, Cutler, who was 1-7 before Thursday night against the Packers, looked in the camera and ssmugly replied, ‘Good luck’.
Good luck? Naw. Bad habits and stubbornness will keep Jay Cutler from ever leading a franchise to the Super Bowl. After a second quarter series which included Cutler getting sacked, the Bears quarterback stomped over to the sideline, gave 6-foot-8, 335 pound left tackle J’Marcus Webb an earful before storming to the bench.
Wideout Brandon Marshall has addressed his personality flaws but Cutler remains a caustic, smug and subpar team leader who lets his emotions get the best of him. Cutler threw four picks of his own but was hardly self-critical after the game.
Webb’s pass blocking will be an issue throughout the season unless the Bears decide to shift guard Chris Williams over to protect the blindside, but Cutler isn’t the only signal caller playing with a handicap on the offensive line.
Thursday night’s display was part of a pattern and not a blip on the radar for Cutler. When the stakes get higher, he gets more erratic.
By contract Michael Vick attempts to exude optimism when he gets grated like cheese behind the Eagles porous offensive line and against the Baltimore Ravens, Vick led the Eagles on their second consecutive last-minute game-winning drive.
At least half of Cutler picks weren’t even the result of poor pass protection. His third interception to Charles Woodson was the result of him staring down a blanketed receiver. The final pick was the result of an underthrown downfield lob that seemingly fell from the heavens and was fielded like a downfield punt by Tramon Williams.
On Sunday, Webb was fortunate that an ankle injury only allowed Dwight Freeney to play eight snaps. Webb may have been given Green Bay outside linebacker Clay Matthews a 2-for-1 sale on every sack Julius Peppers registered but Cutler can’t hold the ball like a kid camping out overnight for a fresh pair of Jordans.
Webb is a red herring. Cutler is a 2010 seventh round pick making approximately half a million dollars per season and his base salary of $7.7 million dollars is more than Webb will likely earn in his career, which makes his tendency to giving the elite offenses a short field more maddening than Webb’s pedestrian blocking.
Subtract the touchdown Green Bay scored on a fake field gal in the redzone and the Bears defense only surrendered 16 points to the Packers explosive offensive unit. Cutler is the classic villain who takes his frustrations on the henchman because he can’t defeat the hero (Rodgers).
However, Cutler’s turnovers are anything but surprising. Of the NFL’s active quarterbacks, Cutler has the second-highest career interception percentage behind Mark Sanchez with 3.5 percent of his career passes being intercepted while Aaron Rodgers has the lowest in league history with just 1.8 percent.
If Cutler should have been upset at anyone besides himself, it was receiver Brandon Marshall, who looked like he was all alone like Macaulay Culkin in the back of the end zone before letting a pass slip between his outstretched fingertips. The pass could have been better but still should have been caught.
Cutler is playing for a contract extension this season but based on his moodiness and the 66 touchdowns to 54 interceptions he has thrown in his Bears career, the Bears should hold off negotiations until the offseason.
Hiring Mike Tice and cutting down on the seven step drops was supposed to make Cutler look better. There hasn’t been much luck so far.
Unless Cutler can exhibit better control over his emotions, he’ll never be considered a top-ten quarterback or the quarterback to lead the Bears to a Super Bowl. 49ers quarterback Alex Smith has become a superior fourth quarter quarterback than Cutler because of his ability to battle through adversity instead of pouting.
Cutler was smart enough to avoid getting in Marshall’s grill after his end zone drop but it’s too bad he doesn’t yet understand, he can’t throw caution into wind and trust his howitzer of an arm to sling spirals into coverage,
If Bears fans keep waiting for Jay Cutler to channel his inner Churchill and rally the troops when things don’t go his way instead of tearing down his teammates and sulking they’ll be waiting until the Cubs win the Series. Good luck with the same the old Jay.
