Sold on Cutler this year? Not me

By stjackso  |   Wednesday, August 12, 2009  |  Comments( 1 )

Chicago Bears
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Jay Cutler threw for more than 4,500 yards last season and added 25 touchdown passes to go along with that. Now with those kind of numbers its no wonder that Bears fans are excited about the upcoming season. However, there will be 3 factors as to why Cutler's numbers will look more like his 2007 campaign rather than last year.

The first key factor will be the Bears schedule. Last year Cutler had the luxury of playing half of his games against teams who ranked in the bottom 10 in pass defense. 3 of which were in the bottom 5. Cutler also faced 8 teams who's overall defense was in the bottom 10 of the league. Tampa Bay and Oakland were the only 2 teams in which Cutler faced top 10 pass defenses with TB being the #4 overall and Oak being #10. Coincidentally the Raiders held Cutler to his lowest completion percentage as well as QB rating of any team in the 31-10 Oak win in the 2nd meeting of the year. This year Cutler will be facing a much tougher schedule. Not only will the Bears have to play 7 games against teams who ranked in the top 13 in total defense this year. They will have to play the top 3 total defenses in Pitt, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Minnesota ranked 6th overall last year but they ranked #1 in the NFL against the run. Just the caliber of defense that will be faced this year alone will cause Cutlers numbers to take a dive. Lastly, Cutler passed for 666 yds against division rivals San Diego. That was impressive but it would have been even more impressive if he had done it with Shawne Merriman on the field.

The second factor in Cutler's offensive decline will be the talent at Wide Receiver. Last year Cutler was throwing to Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal and Brandon Stokley. A group that caught 244 balls and scored 14 TD'S. The Bears receivers which consisted of Devin Hester, Rashaid Davis and Brandon Llloyd only caught 112 balls with 7 TD's. In fact the #1 receiver on the Bears last year was RB Matt Forte who caught 63 balls.Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark provide a solid TE duo but the fact of the matter is that the talent at the receiver position that Cutler enjoyed last year will not be there this year.

The third and final factor that will play a key role in Cutler's offensive decline will be his new home. Soldier Field is famous for having some of the coldest weather in all of football in the winter months. The ice cold climate combined with the frigid winds make it almost impossible for teams to put up big numbers. Cutler will have the chance as 3 of the Bears 4 December games will be played at home. Including a Monday night showdown in week 16 against the Vikings.The other December game will not be much easier as the Bears travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens in what is sure to be a very cold and violent climate.

When you take into consideration the level of defense that he will be throwing against, the talent that he will be throwing the ball to and the element in which he will be throwing in. This spells trouble for the new golden boy of the windy city. For the sake of Bears fans I will not even talk about the possibility of an injury occurring. If all of this were not enough for Bears fans to think about could you imagine them going through it with Sexy Rexy? Can someone say nightmare.
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