Article: Whatever happens, the Bears must keep Cutler

[Willis1524]

I could also point you to Aaron Rodgers stellar 4 Qtr passer rating/stat line yet he's seen as a guy that can't close games around here.

Well thats just crazy. That might stem from this being a Bears board, and people not being able to look at a Packer player objectively.

 

[Willis1524]

Sanchez- no.
Freeman- quite possibly yes.
His 2010 and 2012 are very promising. 52 tds and 23 ints in the 2 years combined, with a 25-6 td-int season in 2010. That is what I want with a passer- low turnovers.
His "down year" in 2012 with 27 tds and 17 ints is better than Cutlers best season of 25 and 18. Cutler has never even gotten close to the 25-6 season Freeman had in 2010.
Keep an eye on Freeman this year... He targeted Jackson too often in 2012 and his completion percentage suffered as a result. With a year of work with Jackson under his belt he will get back to his 2010 form.

Didn't Freeman also struggle at the beginning of 2012 and then come on hot about the middle of the season? That could be what the high INT number could be from. I thought he was a "boom or bust" QB last year at the beginning. I would assume that if Freeman is available next year, then he struggled and in which case I would look at him for an option, then draft a QB and let them compete. Assuming Cutler stunk the joint up and was replaced, which I personally don't think is what is gonna happen. Sanchez is a hell no at this point. I'd rather trot out McCown than Sanchez.

 

[FirstTimer]

Didn't Freeman also struggle at the beginning of 2012 and then come on hot about the middle of the season? That could be what the high INT number could be from. I thought he was a "boom or bust" QB last year at the beginning. I would assume that if Freeman is available next year, then he struggled and in which case I would look at him for an option, then draft a QB and let them compete. Assuming Cutler stunk the joint up and was replaced, which I personally don't think is what is gonna happen. Sanchez is a hell no at this point. I'd rather trot out McCown than Sanchez.

Freeman also struggled late in the year. I think he had something like 10INT's over his last 3 games. Freeman's biggest issue is that he runs hot and cold a bit and his accuracy isn't great

EDIT, looked it up. it was 9 INT's over 3 games but he was also throwing the ball all over the yard in those games down big. I'd have to go back and watch the games but IMO Freeman would thrive with a good running game and defense and would be a decent fit for the Bears depending on what you see from him vs Cutler in 2013

 

[Willis1524]

Freeman also struggled late in the year. I think he had something like 10INT's over his last 3 games. Freeman's biggest issue is that he runs hot and cold a bit and his accuracy isn't great

EDIT, looked it up. it was 9 INT's over 3 games but he was also throwing the ball all over the yard in those games down big. I'd have to go back and watch the games but IMO Freeman would thrive with a good running game and defense and would be a decent fit for the Bears depending on what you see from him vs Cutler in 2013

Ya I was just guessing based on what I remembered reading during fantasy football. The thing that scares me about Freeman is why would Tampa let him go? The only thing I could think is that he is not performing up to par. But if Cutler bombs this season, the upside with Freeman is if he is available, he is still young. Bringing him in to compete would not be bad. I would still prefer the Bears to draft a QB.

 

[FirstTimer]

Ya I was just guessing based on what I remembered reading during fantasy football. The thing that scares me about Freeman is why would Tampa let him go? The only thing I could think is that he is not performing up to par. But if Cutler bombs this season, the upside with Freeman is if he is available, he is still young. Bringing him in to compete would not be bad. I would still prefer the Bears to draft a QB.

Freeman wasn't drafted by Schiano. Maybe they want to go a different direction? Who knows. The NFL is funky.

 

[Teddy KGB]

Bottom of the top 3rd at worst? that is fairly delusional if you really look at it. I would say bottom of the top 3rd at best.

Keep in mind, your qualifier is "at worst"..... even if you consider the past 4 years worst case, you can put him solidly behind Brady, Manning, Brees, Rodgers, Ryan, Manning2, Schaub, Romo, Rivers, Roethlisberger.... Those are all guys who have outperformed Cutler every year for the most part. There is really no arguing that point.
A heavy case can be made for Flacco being better, and he will seperate himself from the middle of the pack this year.
Then you have Luck, Wilson, RG3, and Kaepernick that may very well continue to be just as good as they were last year.
Stafford with a year closer to 2011 than 2012 would be a shoe in as the better player as well... apples to apples I currently give stafford the edge for 2 reasons- stafford with 4 years in the league had a season far and away better than Cutlers best and he followed it up with a lesser season that was on par with Cutlers best.

That is a list of 16 guys that have been undoubtedly better than Cutler the last few years, so i believe that Cutler as it stands is treading water in the newton, fitzpatrick, Bradford, Freeman, Smith, Ponder group. At worst he falls behind those guys.
It is hard to hear that as a bears fan but all excuses aside and just looking at a production standpiont, that is where he is. at the end of the day, we are talking about a 7 year vet that has never hit the 2-1 int to td ratio, has never had a 30 plus td season (nor has he ever been on pace to) and additionally, he has not shown that he can go in to game manager mode to minimize the turnovers and keep a lead safe.



As for franchising him, based on the situation of this team, I go the exact opposite way. Had lovie and Co. been extended (tice doesn't factor in- take or leave him given the bears OC hiring history) i could see an argument for keeping Cutler around a year when drafting a rookie. Lovie does tend to be able to get the most out of the D, so there was always hope for a defensive season like last year or 2010.

The Reality of the Bears situation is this- The Packers have a stranglehold on the division, the best passer in the league, and a penchant for being able to fill the voids of FA losses. There is the very real nightmare scenario that they actually find a running back that is functional.... and if the find one that is actually decent the Packers are going to be unstoppable.
The Vikings are up and comers, if ponder improves (which I actually believe he will this year) they become a scary team. If ponder hits mediocre, the Vikings will be very hard to beat.

The lions are..... the lions. as always, awesome on paper but I have no faith in them.

So in my opinion, I would rather see the this entire new FO take 2013 to evaluate the team and be decisive. If Cutler stinks up the field or continues to produce at the level he has been producing at, fuck the franchise tag- launch him and show the team and the city that you are commited to building a team that will take control of the division. Commit to a new vision and build it.
If he has a good year and you think he can keep it up and finally capitalize on his potential, lock his ass up for 5 years and build around him.

I don't buy the wishy washy "lets keep him here as a safety blanket so we can maybe possibly sneak in to the playoffs" bullshit.
Lovie and Angelo were fired for a reason- their vision did not work and it was time to move the fuck on. since 2006, the Bears have conservatively tweaked the same vision hoping to catch another lucky year but never really making bold moves (sorry- trading for Cutler was not a bold move when it was orton and grossman you were replacing. they could have traded them for a new gatorade bucket and it would have been an improvement).
The LAST thing i want to see is an entire new front office with fresh ideas piss away the opportunity to build a modern NFL team and continue to tweak the lovie-angelo vision in hopes of a wildcard berth.

In 2014, Trestman will have a year of evaluation for what he has got to work with under his belt- at that point I want to see him commit to building his vision for better or worse. Sign Cutler long term or ship him off. period. Anything else is spineless and shows a severe lack of belief in your abilities to assess talent and build a team.

So, to sum up, seems like you want a decision made based on macho bravado: the whole "Just do it or don't do it!" sounds nice, but the SMART move is to provide yourself cover just in case.

That isn't spineless. That's being smart and having a back up plan. Doesn't mean you want the backup plan to happen - just that your team has some cover in case it comes to pass.

Nothing spineless about being smart about your decisions.

 

[FirstTimer]

So, to sum up, seems like you want a decision made based on macho bravado: the whole "Just do it or don't do it!" sounds nice, but the SMART move is to provide yourself cover just in case.

That isn't spineless. That's being smart and having a back up plan. Doesn't mean you want the backup plan to happen - just that your team has some cover in case it comes to pass.

Nothing spineless about being smart about your decisions.

Giving Cutler $20 million to keep a rookie QB's seat warm isn't smart.

 

[onebud34]

Giving Cutler $20 million to keep a rookie QB's seat warm isn't smart.

This...

Teams don't normally franchise QB's that are rentals

 

[Monk]

I wouldn't mind Freeman getting a chance under Trestman if Cutler doesn't show something this year. I would not like to count on a rookie out of the box though. I think if Cutler has an average to slightly above average season and you can sign him to a 3 year deal for like $12 million average it would be good to develop a rookie for a few years.

 

[Monk]

Change the number 56 to 93, and you basically have the Cutler scouting report.

Actually, you have to change the number to 96 and at the very least say, "only Josh Freeman and Mark Sanchez had worse passer ratings when facing pressure."

 

[L GUAPO]

Thats where a person would point to his 4th quarter QBR, which would say there is a chance he could have won the game. I'm not saying that he would have, but during that game I felt that if he was still in we could have won it.

Don't post those 4th quarter facts about Cutler and his very good 4th quarter record, u will confuse the kids.

 

[KittiesKorner]

he does still lead the nfl in it

 

[gpphat]

Thats where a person would point to his 4th quarter QBR, which would say there is a chance he could have won the game. I'm not saying that he would have, but during that game I felt that if he was still in we could have won it.

See that at least gives you a leg to stand on, and gives merit to saying if he were in you feel we could have won. My point was Cutler wasn't having a good game, the weather was a near monsoon so that wasn't helping, and Tice wasn't calling a very good game. As for your 4th quarter QBR, is there anyone who knows or could find out what his 4th quarter QBR is vs teams with a record above .500...or even what his 4th quarter QBr is against defenses ranked in the top 3rd of the league?

Don't post those 4th quarter facts about Cutler and his very good 4th quarter record, u will confuse the kids.

Because I can't find any stats on my two questions I took the liberty to do a quick analysis. My parameters were when the Bears were trailing in the 4th quarter what was Cutlers rating and record...I have only done this for 2012 because I have to go through the play by play for these games and enter them in my spreadsheet and I am also at work so don't want to spend too much time on this. I will try and get the rest of the data over the weekend.

There were only 4 games when the Bears trailed in the 4th quarter this past year where Cutler was playing...I left the Houston game off because obviously Cutler wasn't playing and I left out the Seattle game also because we were winning in the 4th and Cutler only attempted 2 passes in the 4th, I think there should be a little more of a sample size than 2.

GB - 4/12 56 yards 1 TD 1 Int 62.50 rating Lost the game
Car - 12/14 72 yards 1 TD 0 Int 128.87 rating Won the game
Min - 6/13 72 yards 0 TD 0 Int 63.62 rating Lost the game
GB - 5/10 61 yards 0 TD 0 Int 69.17 rating Lost the game

Total for those 4 games 27/45 295 yards 2 TD 1 Int 84.95 rating 1-3 record

Those are facts, in only 1 game where the Bears were trailing in the 4th quarter did Cutler lead us to victory and played well. That was against the Panthers who had a losing record and their defense ranked 10th in yards and 18th in points...So not a bad defense but also no the greatest. GB ranked 11th in yards and 11th in points. Min ranked 16th in yards and 14th in points. In 3 of the 4 games he didn't get above 70 in rating.

So I ask, given those facts for the 2012 season....how can anyone be so sure that Cutler would have been able to score a TD against a defense that ranked 7th in yards and 9th in points?

 

[FirstTimer]

Awesome effort..but you went through all that to respond to El Floppo?

:smh:

 

[Willis1524]

Because I can't find any stats on my two questions I took the liberty to do a quick analysis. My parameters were when the Bears were trailing in the 4th quarter what was Cutlers rating and record...I have only done this for 2012 because I have to go through the play by play for these games and enter them in my spreadsheet and I am also at work so don't want to spend too much time on this. I will try and get the rest of the data over the weekend.

There were only 4 games when the Bears trailed in the 4th quarter this past year where Cutler was playing...I left the Houston game off because obviously Cutler wasn't playing and I left out the Seattle game also because we were winning in the 4th and Cutler only attempted 2 passes in the 4th, I think there should be a little more of a sample size than 2.

GB - 4/12 56 yards 1 TD 1 Int 62.50 rating Lost the game
Car - 12/14 72 yards 1 TD 0 Int 128.87 rating Won the game
Min - 6/13 72 yards 0 TD 0 Int 63.62 rating Lost the game
GB - 5/10 61 yards 0 TD 0 Int 69.17 rating Lost the game

Total for those 4 games 27/45 295 yards 2 TD 1 Int 84.95 rating 1-3 record

Those are facts, in only 1 game where the Bears were trailing in the 4th quarter did Cutler lead us to victory and played well. That was against the Panthers who had a losing record and their defense ranked 10th in yards and 18th in points...So not a bad defense but also no the greatest. GB ranked 11th in yards and 11th in points. Min ranked 16th in yards and 14th in points. In 3 of the 4 games he didn't get above 70 in rating.

So I ask, given those facts for the 2012 season....how can anyone be so sure that Cutler would have been able to score a TD against a defense that ranked 7th in yards and 9th in points?

Good job man. That Seahawks game should have been a win damnit!

 

[gpphat]

Awesome effort..but you went through all that to respond to El Floppo?

:smh:

hahaha...I did my research before I saw his post...when I came back on here to post my results I saw his reply and included his post to show how dumb he is.

 

[gpphat]

Good job man. That Seahawks game should have been a win damnit!

Totally agree, our defense hurt us in the 4th quarter. Wilson picked them apart and made sure our offense didn't see much of the field.

 

[Willis1524]

Totally agree, our defense hurt us in the 4th quarter. Wilson picked them apart and made sure our offense didn't see much of the field.

That play to Marshall is what made me think Cutler could have won the Houston game. No facts or anything to back me up, just a feeling. I am a Bears homer though.

 

[onebud34]

That play to Marshall is what made me think Cutler could have won the Houston game. No facts or anything to back me up, just a feeling. I am a Bears homer though.

That game was a sobering reminder that our D is getting old

 

[Willis1524]

Ya I was somehow hoping that the hit Wright put on Rice was actually a fumble, even though I watched it and said game over. NFL.com showed FUMBLE recovred by Bears for a touchback and I almost shit my pants.