Jay Cutler Melts Down as Chicago Bears Offensive Line Implodes
Published by Andrew Garda on September 14, 2012
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Jay Cutler will see Clay Matthews coming at him in his nightmares when his head hits a pillow tonight.
Matthews was just one of the many Packers who contributed to Cutler’s seven-sack (and even more QB hits) evening.
The problem is—and this has been true for a long time—the more he gets hit and pressured the worse he gets.
Cutler was battered all night, but his interceptions—all four of them—were largely on him. Cutler has an awful tendency to try and get rid of the ball by forcing it down the middle of the field.
In fact, Cutler has a nasty habit of forcing the ball when he’s under pressure. I’ll look at the ‘tape’ tomorrow but I’d hazard a guess that all four picks were mostly on Cutler—they shouldn’t have been thrown or if they could be, they had to be thrown better.
I kept expecting the Bears to try and replicate some part of the Niners’ plan which hampered the Packers so much last week, but it never happened.
It’s hard to say what kind of game plan the Bears had as Cutler was never upright enough to execute it.
The offensive line is an issue. All the short drops and simplification of the blocks don’t make up for a lack of talent. J’Marcus Webb was completely overmatched by the Packers, especially by Clay Matthews. Gabe Carimi had issues on the right side. The guards allowed pressure up the middle.
They were able to stifle the rush from the Colts but the level of talent for Green Bay is a much higher level to deal with.
People forgot that because, last week against the 49ers, the Packers defense looked bad—especially the secondary. However this is a solid group of players and they proved that tonight.
The coverage in the secondary, especially moving a safety to support the cornerbacks, was key in locking down Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, but it was a bit of a shock to see what appeared to be no real adjustment in the offensive game plan.
Losing Matt Forte to an ankle injury is rough, but still it comes back to Cutler completely falling apart as the game wore on.
Defensively, the Bears hung around for a long time until they started to look a bit gassed.
On a positive note, Shea McClellin had a great night and spent a lot of time getting to know Aaron Rodgers. Julius Peppers also played well. Tim Jennings continues to come up big for the Bears as does Lance Briggs.
The defense controlled the Packers offense most of the night. If Bears fans take nothing else away from the game, know that the defense is not in bad shape.
The offense has some serious questions, and the game against St Louis is a good time to get things right.
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