After reading my previous post, you’d be forgiven for thinking I’m a bit of a know-it-all. In that post, I rambled on about how Aaron Rodgers’ injury expectations were insane. The trouble is, anyone can write something like that after the fact. Had Questionable To Start been up and running, I would’ve been able to throw that all out there when it was still timely. But it wasn’t, and I didn’t. Now, at least until the 2014 season kicks off, I’m left to discuss stuff that already happened. If I’m going to do that, then I might as well stick to my guns on my promise and highlight a time that I failed.
Jay Cutler had a bit of a wild ride in 2013. First he injured his groin. Then, on his first game back from the groin injury, he injured his ankle. After that, he was forced to watch from the bench as his backup, Josh McCown, played reasonably well. Cutler ended up coming back for the last three games of the season, and made the most of it by totally shitting the bed and helping his team miss out on the playoffs.
Cutler’s injury timeline predictions were just as strange as those for Aaron Rodgers. People thought his groin injury would keep him out, “at least four weeks,” but my research pointed to an average of 1.6 weeks. Turns out he missed two weeks. Then, when Cutler injured his ankle, some people were overly optimistic, and refused to say anything beyond, “Cutler is week-to-week.” (“Day-to-day” and “week-to-week” are two of my favorite nonsense predictions that you hear in the NFL). My database told me that high ankle sprains tend to knock people out for an average of about three weeks. Cutler ended up missing four weeks.
Where I really screwed up though was in trying to look at the overall picture. In my mind, the injuries only made it easier for head coach Marc Trestman to bench Cutler and see what he had in Josh McCown. The way I looked at it, Trestman might’ve been looking to change directions at the position. Here you had a new coach who inherited a quarterback from the previous regime in Cutler. For those of you who don’t know, Jay Cutler is not the most likable guy. It takes a certain amount of sulking and apathy to inspire an internet meme as great as this. I really love those, and I will never miss an excuse to link to them. Add to that the fact that Cutler was finishing out his contract, and it seemed to me like the writing was on the wall that Cutler would be allowed to walk as soon as the season was over. I wasn’t alone in that opinion.
The media seemed pretty divided on the issue, but I just couldn’t figure how the Bears would be justified in overpaying for Cutler while allowing Josh McCown to leave. Sure, McCown didn’t always look like a starter… but neither did Cutler! My own contempt for Cutler probably clouded my opinion here. I’ve always admired Cutler’s arm and been amazed with some of the throws he can make, especially while running for his life due to Chicago’s terrible offensive line. But, at the same time, just because he can make those throws doesn’t always mean he should make those throws. I call that “Brett Favre Syndrome,” and I’m sure that’ll brew up an argument. I also don’t see Cutler as a true franchise quarterback worthy of top dollars. A lot of people think I’m either crazy or stupid because of that. Turns out the Bears disagreed with me as well, as they signed Cutler to a new seven year, $126 million contract. Meanwhile, Josh McCown is unpacking his luggage in Tampa Bay.
So, in the spirit of fairness, I must admit that, had this blog been up in December of 2013, you would’ve read a tersely worded post titled, “Jay Cutler is done in Chicago.” Between that and the Rodgers post, my season record would’ve been tied at 1-1. In my defense though, a .500 record is more than enough to get you into the playoffs these days. Yeah, I’m looking right at you, 2010 Seattle Seahawks.
