Has Jay Cutler’s Sulky Attitude Finally Become Too Much?
Published by John Rozum on September 17, 2012
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Jay Cutler isn’t afraid to express his frustration.
And we saw that last Thursday as he chewed out left tackle J’Marcus Webb.
Note: All videos are courtesy of NFL.com and screen caps are courtesy of NFL Game Rewind.
That frustration, however, is courtesy of the Green Bay Packers who pressured Cutler all night long. Together, the cheese recorded seven sacks and totaled 12 quarterback hits of the Chicago Bears‘ gunslinger.
Unsurprisingly, this led to four Cutler interceptions, a 40.7 completion percentage and him voicing a few choice words and a shoulder shove of Webb. Now, though, one of Cutler’s teammates believes he went too far.
Per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune:
#Bears CB DJ Moore says Jay Cutler was wrong to shove JMarcus Webb on sideline. Teammates now adding to criticism.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) September 17, 2012
One thing to keep in mind is Webb’s experience. He’s not a rookie who got dominated by an improved Packers front seven. Webb started all 16 games in 2011 and 12 of 14 games played in 2010.
So, entering the game Cutler had every reason to feel his blindside would be protected fairly well. But since that was clearly not the case, he let the obvious emotions out.
Then again, we’ve seen this before from Cutler as he directed some words to offensive coordinator Mike Martz last season in a game versus the Minnesota Vikings. In being sacked 23 times through just 10 games during 2011, Cutler’s year ended in late-November.
The Chicago Bears then missed the postseason and 2012 has its concerns after Week 2 at Lambeau Field. With regards to Cutler already having been sacked nine times in just two games, has his attitude gone a bit overboard?
Well, let’s do a breakdown of the first sack Webb allowed (third of seven sacks for Green Bay) and you be the judge.
Here, Webb’s already at a disadvantage against Clay Matthews because his stance is bent over at the waist.
If you look at right tackle Gabe Carimi, his stance is better prepared to withstand a pass rush. And because of this somewhat hunched-over stance, as Matthews rushes, Webb gets caught standing tall.
You can see each player having roughly the same body lean.
This, however, is a major advantage to the defensive player because it means the blocker must remain balanced to move laterally. If Webb were to use proper technique, the pocket is perfectly set up for Cutler to have time and survey the field.
Instead, Matthews gets control with his hands on the inside and Webb lunges to no avail. A quick swim move over the top and Cutler goes down fast.
As always the case in football: the low man wins.
For the game, Matthews closed out with seven tackles and three of his 3.5 sacks came against Webb. Granted some of the sacks were because the Packers blanketed well in coverage, but it’s obvious that Cutler hardly had time to read through progressions.
The offensive line is the most important unit of an offense and no quarterback, running back or receiver can move the chains or score without reliable and consistent blocking. That was not the case against Green Bay and Cutler’s frustration is only an expression of that inconsistency.
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