Having watched every single game this year and watching the pounding that Cutler took this year in which he only missed 1 game, it such a stupid topic. He has flaws as a QB but the guy has always bounced up after getting beat up. After 2 seasons of watching him with the Bears I still don't get the amount of crap he gets. I didn't follow him in Denver so I don't know what happened there but with the Bears he's been a solid teammate and this year he had an underrated season.
Derrick Brooks, Mark Schlereth, Deion Sanders and a multitude of others that made similar comments aren't even playing anymore but they do have a common bond.....they've won a Super Bowl.
They also have a common bond of (a) not knowing anything about Cutler's injury and (b) not having to play on an injured knee.
Says the guy who was inactive with a knee injury in week 16 against the Texans with the playoffs on the line.
Let me add this bit of information to the situation. The Bears played a meaningless, for them, game vs the packer in week 17. Cutler was sacked 6 time but played through till the very end. Why would he just quit in one of the biggest games of his career but not in a meaningless game. Those players seem to want to make this into something else when, as in life, the obvious answer is the truth. He was hurt and couldn't play.
not a fan of Cutler at all, but if he was hurt, than he was hurt. The MRI will be interesting. The guy who cracks me up is Maurice Jones-Drew. If I'm not mistaken, didn't he SIT out the last two games of the season when the Jags were fighting for a playoff spot? And he spews this about Cutler? If he's going to question someone else's heart he might want to look in the mirror.
It's true that they don't/didn't know about his injury but players, both current and former do this quite often, questioning a player's heart, guts, etc. when injured. I believe some of them have actually played on an injured knee, at least I have heard Schlereth talking about it before and I believe Brooks did some with the Bucs.
Agreed. It's unbelievable the amount of meathead idiots in Chicago on the post game sports radio last night and this morning, it's got me so put off. Our O line was finally exposed. That's reason #1. Cutler had a ****ty first half, sure. But to question the guy's toughness after the crap he's been through last 2 seasons behind a piss poor O line, repeatedly taking big hit after big hit and getting up and getting right back in the game? Sorry, I don't think he's sittin on the sideline in the biggest game of his life if he can get back in. I hope MRI vilifies the poor guy and the idiot players, media types, and meathead fans get off his back and realize that Chicago wouldn't have made it this far this year without him. Not to mention he broke a bunch of single season bears QB records. Unfortunately us smart bear fans are far and few in between it feels like after this loss. It's unfortunate, after the season he gave us, we should be defending the kid, he's our QB and better than most of the crap QB's we've had and/or were trying to get (Culpepper, McNabb, etc) There's a whole lot of reasons the Bears lost: 1) The whole team came out flat in the 1st half 2) Devin Hester was shut down 3) No urgency in the Martz offense, and bad playcalling 4) Urlacher INT stopped by Rodgers 5) Todd Collins. 6) Todd Collins. 7) Seriously, Todd Collins? 8) 3rd and 3, 4th quarter, and you run a reverse pitch end around? (See 3) 9) Some missed calls by refs, Peppers held all night, and pass interference with the defender draped over Knox's back on the final Hanie int Overall, Packers deserved to win and they did. Although Rodgers had quite the ****ty game as well.
I won't kill the guy because if he says his knee was hurt and the docs told him not to go back out there then it's a fairly easy decision. I will say, however, if I would have been Jay, a little more emotion on the sidelines would have been wise. Perception is really really REALLY important and it LOOKED bad when he is just walking around on a knee that is suppose to be severely injured.
Oh I agree - I hear this stuff all the time. I think it's the effect of sitting behind the booth and being able to throw stones. Trent Dilfer is the worst at that crap, constantly talking trash about various QBs in the league. The reality is that players play injured all the time, but they also miss games with injuries all the time. If you're hurting the team by playing, then it's stupid to play. Or if you're physically incapable of doing your job, then it's stupid to play. These guys seem to be unable to distinguish between those two types of injuries from their comfy spot behind the booth.
Finally exposed? The Bears had one of the worst lines in football all season. Was it 10 or 12 sacks vs the Giants? Or, did you mean "finally" as in the final game of the season because of the crappy line? Couldn't agree more. No one knows what happened. Yes, it looked bad that he was standing on the sideline. Doesn't mean that he didn't want to be back in there helping his team. That single play just blew my mind. I saw the receiver coming around and figured it was just a fake. No way they call that play in that situation with that much on the line. Oh wait. Mike Martz is the OC. What an idiotic play call.
Which goes back to the other major criticism Cutler gets, his body language is just so bad yada yada..... It's so stupid, I could give a rats ass about his body language. I mean if he were to stay over there and jump around like a manic, would it really have made much of a difference? If he goes back to the locker room, there'd be poeple b****ing that he didn't support his teammates by staying on the sidelines and on and on..... After listening to 2 years of potshots from the collected media, it's like they've picked him to be their whipping boy since the McDaniel's deal and are chomping at the bit to do so.
It sucks but it's reality, if Jay throws a fit out there then everyone is praising him for being a tough SOB and refusing to come out. Thing is, if this happens in week 10 then NO one really cares but NFC champ game on National TV where EVERYONE saw it...this is an expected reaction from lots of the talking heads EVERYWHERE. From an outsiders point of view, Cutler seemed to be brought in to be their savior and not just a good QB...the missing piece. In a football crazy city like Chicago, I'd imagine anything short of a championship, or being taken out on a stretcher from trying, won't get it done.
I meant as in the fact that the last few weeks they've slid by criticism playing crappy d lines, and therefore have been gifted the "oh they've gotten better and come together!" label, when the fact was they were playing bend don't break, and that doesn't work in playoff football against real playoff teams (*excluding seattle). The sad part about the end around 3rd and 3 is that sideline chicago reporters said that Hanie couldn't initially hear the call in his headset, therefore audibled and Forte ran up the middle (which would've been a first down) but due to the fact that Hanie didn't hear the call, Lovie called a timeout, and then ran the exact same play again except this time with the correct play call (the end around) and thus the FAIL.
Cutler is what we Bears fans have expected, or at least me. Jerry Angelo hasn't done a good enough job of putting enough talent around him. The O-line and WR corp is a good example of that. I think the coaching staff did an excellent job of using what they had, when Cutler has had time in the pocket he's been very impressive. I think the lets pile on attitude can be expected from the city, it happens everywhere, but the national media jumping on it and him in particular is just befuddling.
And in addition to general ill sentiment toward the team for the loss, Chicago has the blessing and curse of being a big sports city, that travels well and thus has fans across the nation that don't live here, don't hear day to day, watch game to game, yet will align themselves with the Bears when they feel like. Along with the ex 85 bears and their fans who still won't understand that this is not the 80s football, rules are different, and you can't do the same things they used to do back then and so obviously your not gonna get the same hard hitting brand of football full of "FIRE" and what not, these fans are the reason Cutler gets such little defense. This leads to the criticism turning into idiocy really really quick. I almost feel I have to setup a defense fund for the guy. And Grendal im right there with you in terms of expectations. Cutler is who I thought he was, and I think he'll only get better but I'm afraid of the guys mental health after the shallackin he'll take this off season. And if this knee injury is as serious or more serious then I expect, it could mean bigger problems in the future for the guy who already suffers with Type I diabetes on a daily basis.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/24/report-cutler-has-mcl-tear/ Maurice Jones Drew and the rest of the sheep can now play amatuer doctor with more information. You can't plant and throw well enough to win with a torn MCL. Before anyone says Phillip Rivers, know that Rivers did not finish the game he was injured in either. Who knows what Cutler could have done post surgery or knee brace in 2 weeks.
