What will breakdown first? Bears Defense or Cutler?

[jkil22 1]

Will we see the Bears defense breakdown due to them being older and more apt to injury, or will Cutler pull a Cutler and sink this team first? In my humble opinion, it's not if Cutler breaks down, but when, making the the real question will the Defense collapse before he does?

[420allstars 13]

Will we see the Bears defense breakdown due to them being older and more apt to injury, or will Cutler pull a Cutler and sink this team first? In my humble opinion, it's not if Cutler breaks down, but when, making the the real question will the Defense collapse before he does?

 

I predict Cutler implodes round one of the playoffs..

[Arsenal 3]

I predict a Cutler implosion on 12/16

[shorepatrol 1,740]

Cutler Wii sadly pass away on 11/19.

[Frozenbeernuts 1,652]

That is if Cutler even makes it to the state of implosion. He may have to be carted off because that o line is horrendous in pass blocking. I wonder if anyone is still hoping Cutler can be a reliable option on their team.

 

Being a Bears fan I get to see a lot of him. If he had a stellar offensive line I think he could take the Bears to a Super Bowl with a lot of help from the defense. Unfortunately, that is not the case with the offensive line, and I don't see the Bears making it to the Bowl because of this liability. Cutler is not the best decision maker and gets flustered quite easily as we all have seen. A smart defense, like the Packers, isn't going to have much trouble taking advantage of Cutler's temperament.

 

As far as the defense I think they can be this good all year, minus a few of the TD. No way they keep up their torrid fantasy pace all year.

 

Actually I was listening to the local station this morning, 670 The Score, when one of the many brilliant fans who call in at 4:30 A.M. called in to talk about how Cutler was receiving unfair criticism. His logic was that the Bears have been winning, therefore there is no need to criticize Cutler for mistakes he has made. What a load of retarded BS. I am sure all of the intelligent football fans will agree that just because a team is winning it isn't unfair to criticize the QB. How many times do we hear the less intelligent fans say this? It drives me nuts. He is obviously struggling while the Bears have been extremely fortunate his mistakes and lack of success hasn't cost them more this season. The same thing happened when the chubby koala was in town, but this time I think that type of mentality is tempered more as you don't hear as many fans defending Cutler based on the team's overall record. It is hard after all since he does have "punch me face."

[Arsenal 3]

Being a Bears fan I get to see a lot of him. If he had a stellar offensive line I think he could take the Bears to a Super Bowl with a lot of help from the defense. Unfortunately, that is not the case with the offensive line, and I don't see the Bears making it to the Bowl because of this liability.

 

The Bears approach to their OLine is truly baffling to me. It was one of the worse last year, and they made no effort to improve it this year. Its like every week they are playing Russian Roulette with the QB.

[Frozenbeernuts 1,652]

The Bears approach to their OLine is truly baffling to me. It was one of the worse last year, and they made no effort to improve it this year. Its like every week they are playing Russian Roulette with the QB.

Yeah tell me about it. The same can be said for the Cardinals. I would have rather seen them let Forte sit out and go after some help on the O line. They have had problems for a while now and they don't do much to address it. Their best lineman, Garcia, is entering the twilight of his career so they are going to need a new center before long.

[smashmouths@blf 33]

This is easy...Cutler.

[lesjroza 70]

I am a Bear's fan and you have hit on the top 2 deepest, innermost, secret fears I have about this team, this year. I'm talking like those questions you have in the back of your mind and soul about whether you have what it takes to keep your wife satisfied, be a good father, ...... but I digress.

 

Rather than cave to these fears I am going to put on a brave face and throw out some reasons they may not come to pass. After all, I did say I'm a Bear fan.

 

While the Bear's D is old (compared to the average) there appears to be more depth in some areas than therehas in the past. In fact,this team already is operating on a true DLine rotation of snaps. Not only is it clear that there is starting quality depth beyond the "starters in name", they are fresher and will remain fresher throughout the season because of the rotation.

While I am almost certain there is not great depth at the safety position they appear to be significantly better off than in the past because the guys back there now are starter quality! If they were to go down I don't think the D is any worse off than it was in the past with the starter in place. Linebacker appears to be a concern and we must hope for good health there but really what team can't say that about at least 1 position.

 

When it comes to Cutler I would just remind guys the same type of talk was rampant about many QBs in the past before the perception changed. Eli for a recent one comes to mind. Guy is a strange dude and doesn't have the right demeanor, always screws up when it counts, doesn't have what it takes to make it through the season with that Oline. If I remember correctly those were all the same complaints. Did Eli really change that much or was it the addition of a couple of high caliber WRs which changed the look of his throws from risky and stupid to threading the needle and trusting his WR to make the play? The jury may still be out on the Bears additions here but there is reason for optimism! I wish the Bears had a better OLine but there are alot of other things I am wishing for too! It is what it is and it does not neccesarily doom this team to failure. If I could change one small thing right now I would give the Bear's a bye in week 10 instead of the early one so they would be fresher later but again it is what it is.

[Joey Gladstone 33]

Slutler. He's lucky he has his boy Marshall or his numbers would be abysmal.

[jgcrawfish 232]

I hate to say this, but Cutler is underrated if he's anything. That line of his is abysmal and he's somehow still being relatively successful. But here's the reality, a cupcake schedule is very responsible for both Cutler and the Defense success thus far:

 

WK 	DATE 	OPPONENT 	RESULT 	PASSING LEADER 	RUSHING LEADER 	RECEIVING LEADER
1 	Sun, Sep 9 	Colts 	W 41-21 	Cutler (333) 	Forte (80) 	Marshall (119)
2 	Thu, Sep 13 	@ Packers 	L 10-23 	Cutler (126) 	Bush (54) 	Forte (49)
3 	Sun, Sep 23 	Rams 	W 23-6 	Cutler (183) 	Bush (55) 	Marshall (71)
4 	Mon, Oct 1 	@ Cowboys 	W 34-18 	Cutler (275) 	Forte (52) 	Marshall (138)
5 	Sun, Oct 7 	@ Jaguars 	W 41-3 	Cutler (292) 	Forte (107) 	Marshall (144)
6 		BYE
7 	Mon, Oct 22 	Lions 	W 13-7 	Cutler (150) 	Forte (96) 	Young (81)
8 	Sun, Oct 28 	Panthers 	W 23-22 	Cutler (186) 	Forte (70) 	Marshall (98)
9 	Sun, Nov 4 	@ Titans 	1:00 PM 	LP Field 	Tickets
10 	Sun, Nov 11 	Texans 	8:20 PM 	Soldier Field 	Tickets
11 	Mon, Nov 19 	@ 49ers 	8:30 PM 	Candlestick Park 	Tickets
12 	Sun, Nov 25 	Vikings 	1:00 PM 	Soldier Field 	Tickets
13 	Sun, Dec 2 	Seahawks 	1:00 PM 	Soldier Field 	Tickets
14 	Sun, Dec 9 	@ Vikings 	1:00 PM 	Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 	Tickets
15 	Sun, Dec 16 	Packers 	1:00 PM 	Soldier Field 	Tickets
16 	Sun, Dec 23 	@ Cardinals 	4:25 PM 	University of Phoenix Stadium 	Tickets
17 	Sun, Dec 30 	@ Lions 	1:00 PM 	Ford Field 	Tickets

 

There's one team with a winning record on there in the first 7 games, one. There are NO team on there with what are even considered top-flight defenses. In the coming weeks, after this weekend, that changes drastically. I'll go on record right now in saying the Bears will be fortunate to finish 10-6, even after they win this week to go to 7-1. I'm giving them wins against the Titans, Vikings (twice), and Cards. That gets them to 11 wins, but could easily slip up @ AZ or @ MIN. They should still be a playoff team, but that offensive line is going to cost both Cutler and the Defense in the long run.

[Walter34 3]

Defence - I was originally concerned about the defence and the age of the core going into the season. Urlacher, Briggs, Peppers and Tillman are all well into their 30s and the window for the defence was quickly closing while the offence was still pulling together. However, I am much less concerned now regarding the D. Urlacher has declined somewhat but still offers smarts and leadership along with above average skill. His decline is part injury recovery and part age. He remains a key part of the D but hasnt played pro bowl level to date. Peppers is aging but is still a strong presence that has commanded double teams all year. He will end up with double digit sacks again and has been good, not great this year. He seems to have lost a step but is still borderline pro bowl quality.

 

Briggs and Tillman are both having the best season of their careers and have been the main reasons the Bears D has been dominant.

 

Looking at just the above, there would be concern but several others have stepped up to make the overall D work. Tim Jennings has played at a pro bowl level all year and with Tillman give the Bears perhaps the best CB tandem in the league right now. Stephen Peea and Henry Melton have stepped up quite a bit to add the Dline quality. This has allowed decent to good pressure from the front 4 which obviously has a positive trickle down effect on the back 7. Major Wright and Shea McClellin have also been solid, so overall the D prospects look bright when you look beyond the age of the big name players.

 

Cutler - His success, or lack of to date this year has been partly on him and mostly on the oline as others have mentioned. That oline will be thier achilles heal this year and we havent seen Cutler, Tice and others account or adjust to it in any great way. The O has several peices in place - Forte, Bush, Marshall, Bennett, but as a group, they havent proven to be capable of going toe to toe in a shoot out with the big teams. Halfway into the season and they havent hit their stride yet. Imagine if marshall wasnt there! Allowing the carolina DLine to abuse Cutler for 3 quarters was very startling. Cutler's "attitude" is an overhyped and mostly ficticious issue that has been exaggerated by the media. You would be pissed off as well if your team allowed you to get hit \ sacked 60+ times a year. The main concern I have with Cutler is that he seems to go into deer in headlights mode when he plays GB. His worst games are against the most important rival. The way Matthews is playing this year makes that even more scary. Jay is a good and solid qb but has not stepped up to the elite level. Someone mentioned Eli above - jay is where Eli was 5 years ago. Eli did step up and while he may not be top 3 elite, he can and has gone toe to toe with the best and beaten them. Eli steps up when it counts time and again. jay needs to prove he can do that. The upcoming SF and Houston games will be very telling as well as at GB. The Bears may lose, but Jay himself needs to NOT be the reason.

 

The schedule to date has also been quite weak so the record is inflated higher than the team quality is right now. How will this team perform over the next 8 weeks against much more qualified opponents with much better Ds and pass rushes? Right now I see the Bears as a 10 win quality team - they need to get better to be a real SB contender. This year however, all teams have flaws - there are no super teams. Giants, Atl, GB, SF look to be the main ones that will be there. Will Chi step up and go toe to toe with them? Time will tell.

[donhaas 18]

Will Chi step up and go toe to toe with them?

 

No.

[jkil22 1]

For those playing at home the correct answer was, The Same Time. Yes, both Cutler and the Bears Defense would break down at the same time. Thanks for playing.

[jkil22 1]

What a mess.