Athough he has not just stared down Marshall this year... he sometimes stares down Jeffrey or Bennett.... That has always been a large part of my gripe about cutler.
Bad decision making, bad vision, and desire to go for everything in one shot happens WAY too often for my taste and can kill a game via turnovers.
The lack of desire to take what the defense gives him leads to many of the hits and sacks he suffers as well.
He also has not been very successful finding the favorable matchup in a blitz.
None of this is new. None of this will likely change.
I have not seen an improvement in those tendencies this year.
His results are SLIGHTLY improved, but honestly the addition of Bennett and emergence of Jeffrey are big enough factors to account for the improvement in results.
I have been a "move on from cutler guy" for a long time, but I honestly believe that if I had been a cutler supporter or fence sitter, watching McCown thrive here would have pushed me over the edge.
McCown played the most basic game he could, played as safely as he could, and the offensive playmakers around him thrived as a result.
If McCown can come in and do what he did given his lack of overall talents, I have no doubt in my mind that a talented rookie could step in and do that same to start with a much higher ceiling.
At the end of the day, Fixing Cutler is illogical. The best case scenario is to tame Cutler down, teach him how to progress through his reads, and stop making the risky shots downfield.... the end result, if successful, would be a QB that may in fact be a lesser version of McCown.
His aggressiveness that allows the occasional big play is inextricably tied to his turnovers, take away one and you will lose the other.
His decision making is not as quick as McCown it seems, and he is missing some of the little talents McCown has such as looking off the safety, cycling through his reads, being elusive in the pocket without rolling out, and selling a pump fake..... that just isn't Cutlers style.
As you said, Jay is Jay. 8 years tells us he is not going to change the up and down play, and tearing him down, chipping away at his game and making him McCown 2.0 is senseless when we have a coach that likely could teach a talented, less injured rookie to be the same thing.
The choice is crystal clear- 1- The Bears live and die with Cutlers up and down play, hoping to get a Eli manning-like streak in the playoffs.
2- Cut the losses and let Trestman draft and create a new player.... something he is purported to be good at.
The option everyone was hoping for- Cutler maintaining his big play ability AND cutting down the turnovers- is just not realistic.
We can all agree on exactly what he is for the most part. The likelyhood of that changing is slim to none (enough of the "lets give him another year in the system and see" is false hope... McCown hit his ceiling immediately and Cutler should have as well).
So do we break the bank or commit long term to someone who will likely produce at the same level he always has with the negative of being injury prone?
I would rather go with a draft pick, believe that Trestman can make him functional at the McCown level at least, and hope that he grows from there.
I think it is clear enough that Cutlers ceiling has been reached, and it isn't high enough to tie the team to it long term, especially when you factor in the injury concern.
