A cocky and socially oblivious Quarterback with a monster arm who sometimes dominates and other times craps the bed. A technically unsound gunslinger who makes throws that only two other men in the NFL could pull off, but who's also apparently color-blind when it deciding which team to throw to. A team leader with leadership issues who continues to helm the team to victory after victory.
Jay.
Rex.
Jay.
Rex.
Jay.
Obviously, any true discussion about the Bears success has to start with the amazing defense. A defense that is on pace to lead the league in points allowed for the third time in the UE (Urlacher Era) is also top four in interceptions, turnovers, sacks, rushing defense, and defensive touchdowns - despite playing one less game than 26 other teams.
Consider this: the Bears have given up 71 points in five games. One was a pick-six. One was a fake field goal. One was a Kyle F*$#ing Orton garbage time touchdown with the 4th string half-assedly standing on the field. The Bears starting defense has given up 50 points and scored 35. If Chicago trotted out a squad of middle schoolers who kneeled three times and punted, Chicago would still be 3-2.
If the Bears are going to make it to the promised land, it's going to be on the back of its D. But it's nice to know that the offense can be a legitimate force on their own. Through six weeks, the Bears are actually second in the NFL with 29.8 points/game. Even with a nice chunk of that coming from Briggs and Tillman, that's still impressive.
People outside of Chicago have a hard time understanding how we could have ever embraced a ticking timebomb like Rex Grossman. That's only because they don't remember Craig Krenzel, Rick Mirer, Cade McNown, and Kyle MotherF*$#ing Orton. Rex had an ability that we aren't used to seeing in Chi-Town. He had the ability to actually win games for us. Even if it seemed like he had a burning desire to throw at least two hideous interceptions a game, he also had a skill-set that could actually win games. When the defense hit a rough patch down the stretch of the 2006 season, Grossman strung together a three-game run of 736 yards, 5 touchdowns, zero interceptions to secure the #1 seed. In the first playoff game (a 3-point overtime win against a tough Seahawk team), Grossman launched a strike to Bernard Berrian that traveled over 50 yards on a freaking rope.
Griese, Mirer, Erik Kramer, and UncleF*$#ing Orton cannot make that throw.
That's why Jay is so enthralling. He's an upgrad from Rex, for sure, even if he does have plenty of Bad Rex decisions in him. Even if he is prone to throw the hideous pick six or have a nine-sack game, it seems like Jay is figuring it out. Maybe he's finally got the right mix of receives. It just seems like Cutler is starting to understand how to use his weapons. Proof? Look at where he ranks among starting Quarterbacks since the beginning of the 2010 season.
W
|
L
|
%
| |
Tom Brady
|
30
|
8
|
78.9
|
Matt Ryan
|
29
|
9
|
76.3
|
Joe Flacco
|
29
|
9
|
76.3
|
Aaron Rodgers
|
27
|
9
|
75.0
|
Jay Cutler
|
21
|
9
|
70.0
|
Ben
Roethlisberger
|
22
|
10
|
68.8
|
Drew Brees
|
25
|
12
|
67.6
|
Alex Smith
|
20
|
12
|
62.5
|
Eli Manning
|
23
|
15
|
60.5
|
Michael Vick
|
18
|
12
|
60.0
|
Mark Sanchez
|
22
|
16
|
57.9
|
Peyton Manning
|
12
|
9
|
57.1
|
Matt Schaub
|
18
|
14
|
56.3
|
Matt Stafford
|
13
|
11
|
54.2
|
Phillip
Rivers
|
20
|
17
|
54.1
|
Pretty good company. And you can't attribute it completely to the defense. Grossman won 61% of his games, Orton 63% (that actually is a percentage symbol, not a substitute for an F-bomb). More importantly, over this same time period, the Bears went 2-5 without him.
You have to take the good with the bad. With Jay we know what the good and the bad are. It's frustrating that he can't figure out how to be a little bit less of an a-hole off the field. It's frustrating that you can pencil him in for at least one horrendous pick per game. But it's that same gunslinging, risk-taking style that gives you some tremendous passes and wins in 70% of games. At the end of the day - and hopefully the end of the season - he's our best chance to win. Let's just hope he can keep Bad Rex - I mean - Bad Jay in the regular season.
