And the Supporting Cast?
- It didn't take long for Bears management to see that they wanted Jay Cutler to be their quarterback for the long term.
The team signed Cutler to a two-year contract extension late Tuesday that will give the Bears rights to Cutler for four years after this season. The rookie contract he signed with the Broncos went through 2011.
The guy can throw a ball, that's obvious. And if he had two more targets, he'd probably be a 400-yards-per-game QB. But are the Bears going to remain mired in mediocrity or are they going to pony up the $$$ for the offense needed to win at the next level? And how about a linebacking corps that can stay healthy? Lots of questions.
Labels: sports
posted by SCC at 12:03 AM
15 Comments:
Tommy Harris is the highest paid Bera @ 12mil. The McCaskeys toss around dimes like Manhole covers. Get rid of them, you could have a dynasty like Pittsburgh in the70s. Until that happens the Bears will be mired in mediocrity
I personally think Cutler's signing is great; he reminds me of a young Brett Farve ... with an edge.
They really need to address the problems on the offensive line though; like replacing Omiyale with Beekman (contracts be damned).
Despite Denver's 6-0 record under Kyle Orton vs The Bears 3-2 under Cutler, I believe we have the better QB. Which then begs for an explanation as to why the Broncos got so good, so fast.
To me, it boils down to tradition and business concept. The Bears are an old franchise (the oldest) and are owned by old, traditional, conservative people. These owners, the McCaskey family, have surrounded the team with old, traditional, conservative people to run it, in Ted Phillips, Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith.
And then it is all reflected in playing style and enthusiasm on the field. I've watched the Broncos in a couple games this year and you can just see the difference in how their players play. And, above all else, the coaching staff under young Josh McDaniel has a much different exuberance to it than the old, traditional, conservative coaches of the Bears.
While both coaching staffs may coach good, solid, fundamental football, the youthful enthusiam of the young Broncos staff seems to connect better with todays players.
Getting back to my original thought about the best QB, Orton didn't all of a sudden get better. The play calling around him did. Its not that I don't think Ron Turner can do the job... It's more that I think he needs to be ALLOWED to shun the traditional 3 yard run and a cloud of dust idea for the old, traditional, conservative Bears offense and highlight the talents of Cutlers better than average passing game.
I gotta say, though, that I'm happy for Orton, who went into Denver under a cloud of ambiguity with the Cutler trade and all, and has been able to light up that city's fan base, not by trying to make their fans forget about John Elway, but just by being Kyle Orton, a quiet, yet confident, game managing QB who has done nothing but prove to be a winner in the NFL!
The Bears need only one big-time receiver this season. I believe the current roster has plenty of talent to spread the ball around successfully, beyond that. Consider the fact that Forte and Olsen led the team in receptions last season and they aren't even in the top three this year, so far.
Marvin Harrison, former Colts receiver and future Hall of Famer might be a serviceable addition for the remainder of this season and give the Bears an opportunity to plot their strategy for next season. Terrell Owens would not be the right guy here.
Get some offensive linemen who can actually BLOCK! That might be a start.
In a fan poll on the Denver Broncos website, 85% of nearly 8000 who responded believe that the defense is responsible for their dramatic turnaround from last season, (56%+ say the pass rush, 28%+ say the the run defense). They basically didn't feel Cutler leaving has had much, if any, effect on their teams fortunes.
The Bears situation this year may be one of the rare instances where the success of a prolific passing attack may be needed to open up the running game rather than the other way around.
Kyle Orton
Thomas Jones
Cedric Benson
Someone needs to figure out how to get Cutler an extra second to get his passes off.
Pass protection has been a major issue with the Bears for a long while. Its one of the reasons they have stuck with the run so much. Now they can't even run block.
Time for some more effective coaches on the offensive side.
Defense looks confused. Lovie is calling the plays. I think thats a bad idea. Get a defensive coordinator who knows what he is doing instead and let him call the defense.
So the nobel prize committee is passing out premature football contract extensions too.
The Bears have a gun with no bullets.
i'm honestly not even worried about our receivers - cutler will get them the ball. the biggest problem is our offensive line. you can't be getting knocked down every play. if we had a better line, matt forte would be doing better, which would open up the passing game. it all comes down to our shitty line!
It isn't as easy as going out and buying linemen. They need a line, not individually good linemen. It's a unit and has to be built as a unit. It's as much a coaching and timing and chemistry issue as it is personnel.
Cutler is NOT the problem . . . and more than that, the Bears needed to make a statement as an organization that they're done with the bullshit they put their last few quarterbacks through. They switched almost randomly among at least three guys who could have been the starter--IF they hadn't been judged on whether they were the next coming of Joe Montana in their first three games. Every Bears quarterback was set up to fail and vilified when he did.
I expected them to do that to Cutler. If they don't, good on them. Maybe they're growing up. The callers on talk radio and the loudmouths on bar stools will howl, but those people don't understand the game. Their opinion doesn't count.
Or how about an offensive line that can block and also remember the snap counts!!
turner needs to let cutler air it out to his recievers. He has cutler throwing the ball 5 yards at a time when the guy can launch it 60 yards no problem. it's like they still think orton is the qb. P.S Orlando pace is a huge disappointment.
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