Bears Blitz

Published by Ian Sheppard on November 13, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Back in April, I remember getting a text message from a friend of mine telling me that the Bears had traded for Jay Cutler; I then realized it was an April Fools joke.

Kyle Orton and three draft picks later, the deal was done and Chicago rejoiced;I know I did.

The trade looked really good on paper. You have a premier QB coming to a team that had been quarterback hungry since the departure of Jim McMahon in the mid-1980s. He is young (25) and a Pro Bowl talent with just about all the physical attributes one would want out of their quarterback.

This is what Chicago had been waiting for, right?

Seven months later, we are staring at a Bears team that is 4-5 after an abysmal 10-6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The whole team is struggling this season, but Jay Cutler seems to be a perplexing issue.

For one, Cutler commands a Bear offense that is struggling to run the football (ranking 29th in the NFL in rushing offense). 

Many are calling out the offensive line and amidst are some struggles, Cutler’s protection is also perplexing.

The offensive line is tied for seventh in the NFL for QB hits allowed while tied for 19th with sacks allowed.

This means that while the offensive line has been struggling protecting Cutler, he hasn’t taken that many sacks, though the hits are probably starting to take their toll a bit.

So, it’s clear that the Bears have some issues with running the football to set up the pass. More issues arise, however, in the passing game.

The turnovers have been given away and often in bunches.

The multiple interceptions (five) against the Niners is a continuing trend, as Cutler also threw multiple interceptions in week one vs. Green Bay (four), week six against Atlanta (two) and week seven against the Bengals (three).

What’s interesting about this is, all of these games (including the past game at San Fran) were significant losses on the road. Another point of interest is that 14 of Cutlers 19 total interceptions of the year came out of these four losses and Cutler has only been sacked five times within those four games.

And if that’s not enough, a great stat brought up during the national telecast got larger in week 10;Cutler leads the league in interceptions thrown in the redzone.

Evaluation time

Are the Bears struggling? Absolutely. Is the offensive line struggling to open holes for the running game and protect Jay Cutler? You bet.

Is the defense struggling? Not that much last night, but overall this season, they have been.

Who is to blame, then?

While many would like to point fingers at the defense, or the offensive line–and both, there are integral places to focus on. I’m choosing to go in two directions that I feel are connected (and could possibly get me run out of Chicago).

1. Cutler

I know Cutler has young receivers, a struggling offensive line, and no running game to speak of, but it still does not excuse the fact that Cutler is making poor decisions with the football.

Remember, Cutler is considered to be one of the premier QB talents in the NFL.

Do you think the Bears traded two first round draft picks, another draft pick, and Kyle Orton to get a turnover machine?

I sure hope not.

What’s more is that we had turnover issues like this in the past with a guy having similar problems.

While Rex Grossman had his own problems and issues, Cutler has his own too. The main issue is that while I enjoy his short memory of past mistakes, I do not enjoy his recklessness with the football.

Cutler is a team captain and therefore, a team leader.

He needs to take better care of the football than what he’s been doing, especially since he turns it over so often to put the defense in a bad spots to. Which potentially, leads up to a big play–which leads to falling behind early and often.

2. Fans and Chicago Media

I really disliked how fans and the Chicago Sports media (as well as the national sports media) treated Rex Grossman.

I bring this up only because (and this has been highly debated) Grossman–while he also had issues turning over the football–also played with a struggling offensive line, receivers who struggled with catching the football, and making plays, and not so great running backs in pockets of his career in Chicago (2003-2008).

Furthermore, Kyle Orton, Brian Griese, and Grossman all struggled under the offensive line–particularly in 2007 when all took a collective 42 sacks (Orton, two; Griese, 15; Grossman, 25).

The point is this: the Bears offensive line issues–in terms of pass protection–is nothing new.

In fact, it’s been around for quite some time, but a lot fans and media decided to blame it on Rex and cry for a “good” quarterback instead of focusing on the lack of an offensive line, good running backs, and receivers. 

Well, now we have the “good” quarterback in Jay Cutler, but the problem is there are additional issues among Cutler’s turnovers.

Final thought

Like I mentioned earlier, I was excited about the Jay Cutler deal. However, I also came to a conclusion at the end of last season:

If the Bears do not produce an offensive line that can protect a quarterback for longer than three seconds, it won’t matter who’s under center calling plays.

Now, given the Jay Cutler’s current progress, I have made this conclusion:

While a good offensive line is necessary, turnovers are the quickest mistakes to losing football games.

Cutler needs to take ownership for his mistakes and learn to make better decisions regardless of who his supporting cast is.

If he does that, he could be considered something greater than a premier quarterback and actually be seen as a true leader.

I agree with the guys at NFL Total Access in what the Chicago Bears need: good leadership.

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