This was not what the franchise or its franchise quarterback had in mind for a third preseason game. Not by any means.
In a 14-9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Jay Cutler had the kind of game that too often defined his 2009 season and might be starting to show some signs similar to ones that surfaced as pressure on him grew through the year.
Cutler was sacked on two of the Bears’ first three possessions, three times total in the first half plus once on the opening series of the second. He threw two interceptions, both to backup cornerback Greg Toler, although one appeared to be the result of receiver Devin Aromashodu not breaking toward the inside where Cutler delivered the ball.
And Cutler, taking four sacks and six quarterback hits, may already be starting to react to pressure or the expectation of pressure. Combined with the difficulties against the Oakland Raiders, Cutler was sacked nine times in barely more than two halves.
“We had some protection issues last game,” he said. “There might have still been some little effects from that, just trusting the guys up there.” Then he added, “But they’re doing a good job for me.”
Cutler finished with 10 completions in 20 attempts for 129 yards. He was intercepted twice and sacked four times to finish with a passer rating of 31.0, his worst of the preseason.
Worse, Cutler has had progressively worse passing performances with each preseason game. His rating of 118.8 against the San Diego Chargers was down to 90.7 against the Oakland Raiders, and then there was Saturday.
He also appeared to be out of sync with his offense at times.
“Obviously we had some problems early on,” he said in televised comments at halftime. “Sometimes missed reads, sometimes we broke the huddle and we spoke to the line wrong.”
Curiously perhaps, Cutler said he didn’t remember making the comments or that there were any wrong
