Scholarship table
Nothing good anywhere on the field for the Bears right now.
How about the Redskins going to Colt McCoy....3rd QB for the Redskins this year already.
Aka: "Operation Vikings."
And this:A source tells ESPN that Brandon Marshall called out Jay Cutler following Sunday's loss to the Dolphins.
Pete Carroll out-Pete Carrolled by Jeff Fisher today. Gimmick plays to win. Love seeing Carroll lose. I will never understand how a punting team can get so sold on a punt returner running to the opposite side of the field than where the punt is going. Shouldn't the punting team know where the punter will be punting the ball in a "coffin corner" situation? The Packers were dumb enough to let the Bears do it to them a few years back, only to have it called back on a penalty.I really don't know what to think about this season. This year more than any other than I can think of it seems like there are no clear cut favorites. Seattle embarrasses Green Bay to open the season and has looked average at best since then (the Harvin situation doesn't help their cause). Green Bay looks awful the first 3 weeks of the season and have looked outstanding since (Miami is tough, on the road you take a last second win there). Carolina looks outstanding one week and awful the next. Bears same story. Saints and Falcons can look great at times but overall aren't very good. Dallas seems to be good but for one reason or another they don't scare me as a Packers fan one bit (although if Murray keeps going like he has been then I should be shaking). Arizona is good, but are they really? Is Philli?Kind of the same story in the AFC. Denver is good. San Diego is playing well but I wouldn't be overly scared of them. Cinci looked incredible 3 weeks ago and now don't look very good. Baltimore is playing well now. New England is starting to find its way but they aren't that good. I'm not a believer in Indi, but they'll have a nice record courtesy of that division.If I had to make a list of the top 5 teams in each division with my green and gold glasses on it would probably go like this at this point:NFC1) Packers2) Eagles3) Lions4) 49ers5) CowboysAFC1) Broncos2) Chargers3) Patriots4) Colts5) Ravens?To me the NFC is much deeper. Broncos may be the best team in the NFL right now but I have a hard time cutting down a top 5 in the NFC, while I have a hard time finding 5 really quality teams in the AFC. And I guarantee these "rankings" would change every week. Just a weird season.
I'm not even dealing with your "better than thou" crap today. Time to watch doctor who.
But it is true. It's amazing how many head coaches, offensive coordinators, quarterback coaches and receivers Cutler has gone through.To Cutler's backers -- a dwindling group -- it's never his fault.
It all comes down to ONE issue with Jay: Ball SecurityHard to tell if he lacks the talent/brains to quit turning the ball over or whether he doesn't care.But in the long run, it really doesn't matter.
Interesting list. Mine would be a lot different in the NFC. I'm not a buyer of the Lions at all. Still think Seahawks will get it together. As much as I love the Cowboys, they would be #2 in the NFC for me and #3 or #4 overall today, with plenty of room to go either way. NFCPackersCowboys (defense still isn't good, but the running game is helping the team tremendously to keep defense off field)EaglesCardinals49ersAFCBroncosIndyBaltimoreChargersNew England
Luck and Favre helped themselves because they had decent personalities that made them likable. Jay is a prick. And that's OK. There are times he looks really good and there are times he looks awful. Does he have a good enough rapport with his receivers? Do they would out enough in the off-season? I don't know.One other thing I have to wonder about is the surface at Soldier Field. Would a better playing surface help the them click more on offense?
Problem with Dallas remains their defense. No pass rush at all....terrible pass rush.Their schedule, 27th in the league right now. They have zero wins over teams with a winning record through the 7th game of the season (yes, they have beaten teams that had a winning record at the time). The only team they played that has a winning record still, they lost to....the 49ers.Upcoming games against the Colts, Eagles twice, Arizona, will show how good the Cowboys truly are. I'd take the Packers and Broncos over them easily at this point.
Its more than just ball security. Andrew Luck has the same number of interceptions as Cutler and no one is mistaking Luck for Cutler. Favre consistently threw interceptions, but he is considered one of the all time greats. Some QB's have "it" and some do not. I heard several callers on Chicago sports radio last night complaining about Cutlers lack of fire and intensity. The host said that is not true, but maybe Jay just isn't that good. That may be true.
Serious question.. to you, or Wades or whomever.. can you find me one singular person who has ever said it's NEVER Cutler's fault?As a lifelong Bears fan, I have been a Cutler supporter. But I also recognize the guy isn't perfect, never has been and never will be. In Chicago (I can't talk at all about Denver), we have had a lot of crappy coaches/staffs in the last 25 years, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Again, that's not removing all fault from Cutler (when he's been here), but it's acknowledging the truth about the recent history of the Bears organization.
I'm a Cutler apologist, I'll admit that, but I will also fully say when he didn't play well. Yesterday, he didn't play well. However, what was also interesting about your point about him and Luck having the same number of INTs, for whatever reason, everytime the Bears turn it over, INT or fumble, the opponent is capitalizing. That's the frustrating thing about this team, they are always on the razors edge. Look at the Carolina game, Cutler was playing great, things were going well, all of a sudden the D falls apart, Cutler throws a pick and the D can't get a stop, and its an epic collapse.You look at Cutler's numbers on the year, they aren't bad, actually on pace to set career highs in TDs, completion percentage, QB rating, and maybe yards, but every mistake he's made has just been amplified. Thats the difference with alot of QBs, not everyone is a Manning or Rodgers with freakish accuracy and near perfect discipline, but it also helps to have a team that will bounce back. I don't know if its on Trestman, or Mel Tucker, or Cutler for not being a better leader, but thats what it means when people say its not all Cutler's fault. Not that he's absent from blame, cause nobody with any sense would say he is, but to say this team doesn't have severe issues beyond him is also unfair. They have all the weapons on offense, but Trestman seems to overthink himself and get too cute way too often.
A win at Seattle is a big win, as is a win against New Orleans, not so much the wins, but how they won those games. The Cowboys are for real and this from a life long Cowboy hater.
I'm saying his personality means that people crap on him, while they let other quarterbacks who toss interceptions (like Luck and Favre) off the hook. Favre won 61% of his games as a starter. Cutler has won 54%. Not significantly different. But they are treated completely different, in many ways because of Cutler's demeanor.
I brought this up a couple weeks ago, but once the wheels fell off for the Bears, it was going to be interesting to see how they reacted. There's a lot of issues internally there right now. From what I've been able to gather, a lot of people on defense don't have faith in the coaching staff. On offense, there's finger pointing going on every direction. I don't think Trestman can work through the issues that exist. I don't think he'll be fired, at least not this offseason. Say what you will about Lovie, the locker room had a lot of respect for him. That same respect doesn't exist now.The job Marinelli is doing in Dallas is remarkable. I know he can't win coach of the year, but to me, that's been probably the most impressive unit in football, considering where they came from. I don't think it's a coincidence that (probably) the 3 best teams in football have arguably the 3 best and healthiest offensive lines (Dallas, Green Bay, Denver).
Let's see how the Pokes do against Philly, Arizona and the Colts. If they can split those that will say something.