Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler was just answering the
questions he was asked in his usual candid way. Cutler has always been upfront
and sincere in his approach to answering questions but that’s not what the
public sees.
Instead it seems like he is making excuses for his failings.
He comes across to the public as a whiner and a complainer which is unfair but
hard to argue against given the facts.
Like Cutler’s criticisms of former offensive coordinator
Mike Martz’s offense. Cutler recently stated that Martz’s system was “behind
the times” and that the system lacked the flexibility to adjust to modern day
defenses.
Cutler also thought that the offense was a little too
pass-heavy. This argument is probably the most intriguing statement Cutler made
considering the league has become even more pass-happy than it was when Martz’s
scheme was responsible for helping the St. Louis Rams win a championship back
in 1999.
The fact that Martz was able to win a championship with his
system and guided the Rams to another Super Bowl appearance two seasons later
puts public opinion squarely on his side. He has won with the system and has
the results to show for it.
And if that was too far back to give credit to his
play-calling abilities then how about the fact that the Bears went 11-5
utilizing Martz’s system in 2010 and were 7-3 last season before injuries
crippled the offense and took the Bears out of playoff contention.
The Bears were one game away from representing the NFC in
the Super Bowl in 2010. The only thing that hindered them was an “eerie” injury
to Cutler that put him on the bench for the final three quarters of the NFC Championship game versus their division rivals the Green Bay Packers.
I say eerie because Cutler’s injury didn’t seem to require
crutches and in no way inhibited him from standing and watching the rest of the
game from the sidelines.
I’m not saying he should have risked further injury if he
was indeed injured but his team was still in contention during the fourth
quarter after a furious comeback led by backup quarterback Caleb Hanie. A
couple plays from Cutler or at least a little moral support to Hanie and the
Bears might have been raising the Lombardi trophy that season.
Now there is some truth to Cutler’s remarks concerning the
rigidness of Martz’s system. Martz’s system could have been tweeked to account
for the Bears’ weak offensive line and poor receiving corps.
And while those things may have contributed to Cutler and
running back Matt Forte’s injuries, it still doesn’t obscure the fact that
Cutler was able to go 17-8 in two seasons as a starter under Martz. It’s not
Martz’s job to bring in talent so it is unfair to criticize him for the poor
play of the line or receivers.
This is especially true considering that the Bears were
actually able to bring in some receiving talent this year. Too bad Martz isn’t
around to benefit from it.
But Cutler has spent the offseason touting offensive
coordinator Mike Tice’s offense which has a lot of similarities to the one
Cutler ran in Denver. Unlike Martz’s system, Tice’s offense has shorter drops
and allows Cutler to audible at the line.
Let’s hope for Cutler’s sake that the Bears find success
with the new offense because if they don’t then his criticisms of Martz’s
system will come back to haunt him. Cutler’s critics have been very
boisterous concerning his failings but for Bears’ fans the jury is still out on
Cutler.
A big season will go a long way towards swinging public
opinion in his favor.
Do you have a favorite team or player you want to know more about?
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at sportmentalist@yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
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