Bears Blitz

Same-Old Jay Cutler Won’t Cut It for the 2014 Chicago Bears

Published by Zach Kruse on September 8, 2014
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Rewind to the night of Sept. 14, 2012.

Moments after helping the Green Bay Packers trounce the Chicago Bears during a prime-time contest at Lambeau Field, veteran cornerback Charles Woodson delivered an honest commentary of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler that rings as true today as it did two long years ago.

“It’s the same-old Jay,” Woodson told ESPN, in his typically stoic and sagacious style. “We don’t need luck; Jay will throw us the ball.”

Cutler tossed four interceptions in the loss, including one to Woodson.

Fast forward back to today, and the feeling around another loss in which Cutler carelessly threw the football to the other-colored jersey isn’t much different.

The Bears were upset at home by the Buffalo Bills in Week 1. Dan Carpenter’s chip-shot field goal in overtime sealed the unexpected result. A number of mitigating factors went into the loss: Sure-handed Brandon Marshall lost a first-half fumble, and the Bears’ much-maligned run defense was gashed for almost 200 yards.

But Cutler also threw two killer interceptions, one for each half and good for 10 eventual points for the Bills.

Same-old Jay.

Cutler was undeniably brilliant for long stretches. On Chicago’s first drive, he lofted a perfectly weighted throw to Alshon Jeffery for 44 yards. It was one of the prettier throws of the NFL‘s opening Sunday. One play later, the Bears were in the end zone via Cutler’s strike to a wide-open Martellus Bennett.

He started his 2014 season a perfect 3-of-3 for 60 yards and a touchdown.

This was the Cutler everyone expected. In Year 2 with head coach Marc Trestman, the “quarterback whisperer,” and with another opportunity to throw to all of Chicago’s super-sized targets, the 31-year-old Cutler was supposed to take that long-anticipated leap forward, leaving behind all the bone-headed mistakes to become a legitimate MVP candidate in a loaded offense.

The Bears certainly entrusted Cutler monetarily. This past January, general manager Phil Emery gave him a new, $126.7 million deal, with $54 million guaranteed. Only three quarterbacks have ever received more in guaranteed cash.

But all of Cutler’s early dominance Sunday was once again undone with one bad mistake.

Down three points in the second quarter, the Bears were approaching midfield and looking at a first-down play. Cutler had just hit tight end Martellus Bennett for 17 yards, pushing his first-half numbers to 11-of-13 for 147 yards, one touchdown and a passer rating of 139.4. He tried to go back to Bennett on the next play, but he woefully underthrew the attempt—Bennett hardly anticipated the ball coming his way—and former Bears cornerback Corey Graham made the easy interception after undercutting the route.

Same-old Jay.

The route combination was actually perfectly set up for the Bears.

A fake bubble screen to Jeffery eliminated the underneath zone coverage, leaving Bennett and Brandon Marshall free to attack the deep right portion of Buffalo’s remaining Cover-3 look. Had Cutler waited another second, he would have forced Graham to make a hard decision on which vertical receiver to cover in his zone.

Instead, he made a hurried and inaccurate throw to Bennett, the inside receiver with safety help coming. Graham had his eyes in the backfield the whole way, allowing him to leave Marshall on the perimeter and make an easy play. It was likely the worst decision Cutler could have made given what Buffalo presented him defensively.

Graham’s ensuing return and a penalty on Jeffery set up the Bills with 1st-and-goal at the Chicago 7-yard line, and C.J. Spiller gave Buffalo a 17-7 lead one play later.

To Cutler’s credit, he settled down to start the second half and brought the Bears back from 10 down. On consecutive scoring drives, he completed nine of 12 passes for 88 yards and the game-tying touchdown. On the score, Cutler made easy work of a one-on-one situation with Marshall in the red zone, throwing a fade that his 6’4″ receiver easily came down with in bounds for six points.

The Bears later had a chance in the fourth quarter to finish the comeback and stave off Buffalo’s upset bid.

A defensive pass interference penalty for 28 yards and three Cutler completions for another 29 yards set up Chicago on the Buffalo 34-yard-line with roughly eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Bears were certainly within the range of kicker Robbie Gould, who was 3-of-4 from 50 yards or longer last season.

Third-and-1. Queue the circus music.

The Bears faked a pitch to Matt Forte and rolled Cutler out to his right. The play appeared to have two options for the quarterback: connect with Marshall, who was running a drag route across the formation, or take off and run for the first down. Both Bennett and Santonio Holmes, the two eligible receivers to the play’s side, started blocking immediately after the snap.

With no room to run and the rush closing in, Cutler threw back across his body—one of the major sins of quarterbacking—and into the gut of defensive tackle Kyle Williams, who made the easy interception. Cutler hit Williams right between the 9-and-5.

“Probably should just throw it away,” Cutler told reporters afterward.

Same-old Jay.

Eight plays after Cutler’s interception, the Bills kicked a field goal to go up 20-17. The Bears would tie the game on the next series—largely thanks to Cutler and his 54 passing yards on the drive—but a quick punt in overtime (Cutler was 1-of-3 for three yards in the extra frame) allowed Buffalo to kick a field goal and win on its first series.

On the surface, the final numbers for Cutler looked very good. He completed almost 70 percent of his 49 attempts, averaged 7.1 yards per attempt, totaled 19 passing first downs and threw both of Chicago’s two scores. His 349 yards gave him 10 300-yard passing games with the Bears, which set the new franchise record.

In terms of bulk numbers, Cutler is the most dominant passer in Chicago football history.

But, as Woodson said, “the proof is in the pudding.”

The Bears are now 3-7 when Cutler goes over the 300-yard mark. Not surprisingly, five of his 10 300-yard games in Chicago also feature two or more interceptions.

Since 2009, only three quarterbacks have thrown more interceptions than Cutler’s 77 (Eli Manning 97, Carson Palmer 85, Drew Brees 79).

Back in 2012, when the Packers picked off Cutler four times, the Bears were installing a new offense with new faces, mostly notably Marshall and Jeffery. Maybe that was a legitimate excuse then.

Now? There are none.

Games like Sunday were supposed to be a thing of the past, not a recurring horror of the present.

“When you turn the ball over three times…you get all the answers that you need,” Trestman said afterward.