On the one hand, I'm surprised the new Bears regime has named Cutler their starting quarterback. On the other hand, what choice did they have? They certainly didn't hitch their wagons to him, but rather made it sound just a tad better than being saddled with him.
The idea that Cutler hasn't won anything while he's been here is correct, but unfair. I'm not saying that he's the second coming we expected when he pouted his way out of Denver, but he's also not the pariah everyone makes him out to be. It is fair to focus on his turnovers, especially on bad decisions, but consider what he's been up against since he's been a Bear.
1st year - new team, terrible line, terrible receiving corps. Defense was solid.
2nd year - still no real support beyond Matt Forte, and the offensive coordinator was Mike Martz - a guy who had been critical of Cutler in the media previously and had left the league after having become a non-factor. He is out of football completely as far as I can tell. Defense was solid.
3rd year - more Martz, same line (or much worse), lots of yards but not enough wins. Defense was solid.
4th year - Mike Tice becomes OC. WTF. J'Marcus Webb. WTF. Marshall joins the team and Cutler can call his own plays, but that's only because the OC can't. Defense is okay.
5th year - new head coach, new OC, new offensive line that shows promise. Rookie WR that makes Marshall that much better, new TE from outer space. Stars align for offense, Cutler gets hurt. Defense sucks. Lovie guys must have been sabotaging Emery.
6th year - new HC is figured out, OC talks shit to press about Cutler, defense is made up of players who wouldn't make practice squad on most other teams. Hell, special teams sucked.
7th year - this year - yet another new HC/OC. Marshall traded away. Bennett might be butthurt that his pal/mentor was let go (he wasn't super cooperative last year in camp). The Bears needs are mostly at defense, which is no guarantee of improvement, but it also means that the offense might not improve significantly, either.
Each of these failed OCs has tried to put their mark on the offense (except Tice - not sure what he actually did), and the entire offense was upgraded around Cutler under Emery and Trestman. But the rest of the team fell apart. The offense didn't perform as anyone would have expected, but the defense was historically bad, and the special teams was laughable.
Balance is key in football. All three phases need to be average to good to stand a chance in any game. You can start getting into playoff talks by moving one of your phases from good to great, and sometimes having a great group lifts the rest of the team. Conversely, when two of three phases are floundering - and just two years previous were great - it's an anchor for the whole team.
I feel like nobody mentions the number of times Bennett dropped easy passes early in games, where it would have been nice to start with a long drive and a score, but they ended up kicking the ball away instead. For every interception Jay threw, I'd be curious to learn how many drops occurred on catchable balls.
I'm not hitching my wagon to Cutler, either, but I really don't think he's the liability he's been made out to be in Chicago media. I have thought and agreed that he could jog out to the receiver who just scored and pat him on the helmet, but I'm not basing his value as a QB on his celebrations. If John Fox and Adam Gase are the seasoned veteran coaching pair that I think they are, they might use Cutler like Denver did back in Jay's halcyon years. He can run and he's sometimes more accurate outside of the pocket. That's hard to defend.
More importantly, my hope is that the new regime brings balance back so that the losses are not so embarrassing, and the wins don't feel like losses. If Jay's part of it, I hope the haters can find a way to lose the Jay-face.
March 11, 2015
January 26, 2015
Cheaters Sometimes Prosper
I have a hard time with cheating in professional sports. I'm conflicted with the morality at play. "Deflate-gate" is just the latest in a long series of issues (not the first for the Patriots, either) that sully the most basic concepts of sportsmanship. Or do they?
As far as deflating a football goes, I am aghast that both teams don't use the same ball in a game. This seems less like cheating and more like the league missing an opportunity to add more parity. The NFL should provide any and all balls, and they should never be in the hands of equipment personnel from either team. Simple enough. I believe that the only way the playing field is actually level is if everyone has the same access to performance enhancement.
Performance-enhancing drugs? If I understand them correctly, many of them are meant to assist in recovery after exertion. I would allow those immediately. Yes, there's the concern of health issues down the road, but any professional athlete is risking life-altering injury every time they compete. Hell, a 25-year-old cricket player just died after being hit by a ball. Doesn't matter if he was on the juice or not. Besides, who can say that steroids are worse than Splenda in the grand scheme of things?
I want to see my favorite basketball/baseball/football/hockey/soccer/tennis/etc. player do what they do best. If that means Adderall to focus or HGH to recover and hit the field faster, how is that more dangerous than telling football players they can only tackle knees? Concussions are a bigger concern, in my opinion.
The bigger travesty than Lance Armstrong getting caught for using PEDs is that he essentially buried the guy who originally outed him. It's pretty well known that everyone in cycling does some kind of performance enhancement; the crime here was slander, and Armstrong was the villain. I could have forgiven him for getting caught doping, but ruining another person's life to maintain his ridiculous lie is unfathomable.
It's worthwhile to consider the concept of cheating within the realm of professional sports. The ultimate draw of sports is competition, but professional sports is also entertainment. The key word is "professional". At the point when sports becomes a career, I believe any advantage an athlete can gain to win or be the best in their position should be available to them, with the exception of substances that are illegal in general.
As far as deflating a football goes, I am aghast that both teams don't use the same ball in a game. This seems less like cheating and more like the league missing an opportunity to add more parity. The NFL should provide any and all balls, and they should never be in the hands of equipment personnel from either team. Simple enough. I believe that the only way the playing field is actually level is if everyone has the same access to performance enhancement.
Performance-enhancing drugs? If I understand them correctly, many of them are meant to assist in recovery after exertion. I would allow those immediately. Yes, there's the concern of health issues down the road, but any professional athlete is risking life-altering injury every time they compete. Hell, a 25-year-old cricket player just died after being hit by a ball. Doesn't matter if he was on the juice or not. Besides, who can say that steroids are worse than Splenda in the grand scheme of things?
I want to see my favorite basketball/baseball/football/hockey/soccer/tennis/etc. player do what they do best. If that means Adderall to focus or HGH to recover and hit the field faster, how is that more dangerous than telling football players they can only tackle knees? Concussions are a bigger concern, in my opinion.
The bigger travesty than Lance Armstrong getting caught for using PEDs is that he essentially buried the guy who originally outed him. It's pretty well known that everyone in cycling does some kind of performance enhancement; the crime here was slander, and Armstrong was the villain. I could have forgiven him for getting caught doping, but ruining another person's life to maintain his ridiculous lie is unfathomable.
It's worthwhile to consider the concept of cheating within the realm of professional sports. The ultimate draw of sports is competition, but professional sports is also entertainment. The key word is "professional". At the point when sports becomes a career, I believe any advantage an athlete can gain to win or be the best in their position should be available to them, with the exception of substances that are illegal in general.
January 6, 2015
This is Rich
I know I've discussed the alternate universe scenario where instead of firing Lovie Smith, the Bears actually hired a competent offensive coordinator* instead. The result would have been at least one more year of Lovie ball, but that would have meant that Rod Marinelli would have stayed, and likely Brian Urlacher as well. Cutler would have gotten his wish, Emery would have fixed the offensive line, and who knows where the limit would have been.
Well, we're in this dimension and it's much messier than that. Our cast-off head coach and backup quarterback are floundering in Tampa Bay, and our freshly dismissed head coach is palling around with the two of them on the beach. The conjecture in this primary universe is that McCown and Trestman will rekindle their relationship and prop up the miserable Buccaneers offense.
Keep in mind that this dream team racked up a mediocre 3-2 record in Chicago. Despite his high passer rating and record-breaking performances, it's situational plays that have always eluded Chicago. My guess is that less-than-killer instinct will find its way to Tampa, too. (See what I did there?)
I wish McCown the best. Seemed like a good guy with medium skill and extraordinary personality - the kind of guy radio audiences would like to see at the helm. Until he loses, of course - then you need a gunslinger. Where would we find one of those?
Finally, word on the street (network?) is that Rex Ryan is all but hired for the Atlanta head coaching position. I'm not sure he's the answer here, but he's universally seen as the best candidate currently available. They haven't even talked to him yet.
My level of hope is significantly lower than it was this time last year. Maybe I'll check back in for the 2016 season. I think the slogan has to change from #beardown to #bearit.
Well, we're in this dimension and it's much messier than that. Our cast-off head coach and backup quarterback are floundering in Tampa Bay, and our freshly dismissed head coach is palling around with the two of them on the beach. The conjecture in this primary universe is that McCown and Trestman will rekindle their relationship and prop up the miserable Buccaneers offense.
Keep in mind that this dream team racked up a mediocre 3-2 record in Chicago. Despite his high passer rating and record-breaking performances, it's situational plays that have always eluded Chicago. My guess is that less-than-killer instinct will find its way to Tampa, too. (See what I did there?)
I wish McCown the best. Seemed like a good guy with medium skill and extraordinary personality - the kind of guy radio audiences would like to see at the helm. Until he loses, of course - then you need a gunslinger. Where would we find one of those?
Finally, word on the street (network?) is that Rex Ryan is all but hired for the Atlanta head coaching position. I'm not sure he's the answer here, but he's universally seen as the best candidate currently available. They haven't even talked to him yet.
My level of hope is significantly lower than it was this time last year. Maybe I'll check back in for the 2016 season. I think the slogan has to change from #beardown to #bearit.
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