Cutler's mistakes cost Bears win

Cutler's mistakes cost Bears win

Quarterback leading team toward mediocrity

David Haugh

Of all the poor judgment Jay Cutler showed Sunday during the Bears' 17-14 loss to the Redskins, he saved the worst for the podium.

Asked if he ever considered throwing away from Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall before Hall tied an NFL record with four interceptions, Cutler displayed the blend of arrogance and stubbornness that helped get the Bears beat.
At least Cutler's smirk is in midseason form.

"I've played against (Hall) before,'' Cutler said. "There's no reason to shy away from him. That's hard for me to say throwing four picks to the guy but I still think if we had to play him tomorrow I'd go after him every time.''
Every time? Of all the Sundays to wonder whether Cutler had full control of his mental faculties after the game, maybe it was this one.

Until Cutler shows a capacity to learn from his mistakes, he will keep making them.

Last week it was a headstrong offensive coordinator who contributed most to a Bears loss. This week it was their headstrong quarterback. A player who commits five turnovers — four picks and a fumble on a quarterback sneak at the goal line — yet insists he would attack the defense similarly doesn't know what he doesn't know.

This much everybody who passed Football 101 knows: The Bears would be 5-2 heading into a bye week if not for Cutler's mistakes. He committed five of the Bears' six second-half turnovers and blew at least four scoring opportunities. Do the math. Cutler was worse than his offensive line.

We can calculate Mike Martz's run-pass imbalance down to the decimal, curse the flawed instincts of Lovie Smith on replay challenges and bemoan the Bears' bad luck on a day of bizarre bounces. But it all comes back to Cutler, paid handsomely to avoid this type of clunker.

On a day Rex Grossman held a clipboard for the Redskins, this was the ultimate homage to the error-prone ex-Bears quarterback. Bad Jay, if you will. There was a quarterback at Soldier Field who deserved to be booed but it was the one leading the Bears toward mediocrity, not the one who led them to a Super Bowl.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame might consider joining the Bears media corps. After the Giants set an NFL record with nine sacks in a half and Hall tied a league mark with four interceptions, the Bears offense is making more history than headway.

Usually when folks from Washington get handouts this generous, it involves a tax write-off.

"We knew watching Jay Cutler all week we'd get opportunities,'' Hall said. "It really was nothing he did with his eyes just the plays we called and reading him.''

As easily as Hall read the quarterback it was as if Cutler were holding up a sign saying, "I AM THROWING HERE!"

"Hall's first interception killed a drive that started in Redskins territory. On the third pick, he took advantage of a miscommunication between Cutler and Johnny Knox — the only interception not mostly Cutler's fault.

In-between, Hall's interception at the Redskins' 8 not only prevented the Bears from scoring but he returned it 92 yards for a touchdown after Cutler recklessly lobbed a jump ball of his back foot.

That would have marked Cutler's low point if not for his final throw. Taking over at the Bears' 19 with 3 minutes, 31 seconds left and down three, Cutler faced a chance at redemption. It was a type of situation in which true franchise quarterbacks thrive, an opportunity with mentor Mike Shanahan on the Redskins sideline for Cutler to show he had grown into a player worthy of comparisons to John Elway more than Jeff George.

It was all squandered when Cutler threw deep to Knox, who was amply covered by Hall, because avoiding the guy who had a career day apparently was a dumb idea. The ball came down in Hall's hands a fourth time — one more than Greg Olsen.

"I'll take them all,'' Cutler said of responsibility for the interceptions. "The defense has every right to be mad at us. We blew that game offensively and most of that falls on my shoulder.''

Dare I say the city of broad shoulders is losing patience with the pouty QB? Outside the Bears locker room after the loss, one screaming fan expressed a sentiment that already has begun to fill my e-mail box: "Jay Cutler is the worst investment the Bears have ever made.''

Not that Cutler cares, but those boos were real and the disgust is growing.
If Cutler's teammates ever start to get as fed up with his act as some of the public is — not exactly a reach if you watch the exchanges on the Bears sideline during games — I wonder if one day Cutler will shrug his way out of town. Lovie and Jerry and Ted might not be here forever. Then what?
Such questions outnumbered answers after a game the Bears had to win to be taken seriously as playoff contenders. Momentum, mojo, opportunity, whatever you call it, the Bears threw it all away in a second straight home loss — all because their quarterback foolishly dared to throw the football wherever he wanted.

Knox targeted for part of blame on Cutler's interceptions

None of his Bears teammates point finger at WR, but TV analyst Aikman does

Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz made it a point to get tight end Greg Olsen and receiver Johnny Knox more involved in the offense Sunday. Maybe the emphasis on the latter worked against the Bears.

Quarterback Jay Cutler targeted Knox a team-high 12 times even with DeAngelo Hall blanketing the speedy receiver on occasion. Three of Hall's record-tying four interceptions were passes intended for Knox, including the one Hall returned for the game-deciding, 92-yard touchdown.

Whether Knox cut off his routes or could have made a better effort on the passes remains unclear. Knox left the locker room before reporters entered, and no one pointed fingers at him except television analyst Troy Aikman.

Devin Hester, who was the target on Hall's other pick, said he and Knox huddled after each interception.

Johnny wasn't down," Hester said. "He's not frustrated or anything. Heck, he was going out there making plays.

"What we talked about was, whenever the ball comes our way, we have to make sure that we make a play on it."

Knox scored the team's only offensive touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Cutler before halftime. Knox caught a team-high six passes for 86 yards.

"Johnny made a lot of plays for us," Olsen said in defense of his teammate. "Things happen. You miss balls. I mean, that's the way the game goes.

"No one's worried about Johnny. He's made a lot of plays for us this year, and he's going to continue to make plays."

Olsen caught three passes for 43 yards after going without a catch in the last two games. He was targeted six times. But even getting Olsen more involved couldn't help the Bears solve their third-down woes as they converted just 2 of 10 third-down opportunities.

It didn't help that two of Cutler's turnovers occurred in the red zone.

"As we got past the first couple of series, moving the ball was no problem," Olsen said. "In the second half, every drive we had, we just kept turning the ball over. … On offense, we need to do a better job of holding on to the ball."

vxmcclure@tribune.com

Heedless Cutler plays catch with Redskins' Hall

There are few things more American than one guy tossing a football to another guy on an autumn afternoon.
Jay Cutler's lovely spirals cut through the air Sunday and into the hands of DeAngelo Hall, who didn't want to let down his new best-friend-forever by dropping the ball. They made quite the pair.

The only way it could've been better is if they were teammates instead of opponents.

You might have thought reason would've kicked in for Cutler at some point during the Bears' 17-14 loss to the Washington Redskins. Reason should've told the quarterback to avoid throwing in Hall's general direction after the cornerback's second interception, the one he returned 92 yards for a touchdown. And if not that one, then certainly after his third interception.
But Cutler's common sense couldn't seem to get past his idea that Hall would have trouble covering a Steinway. Factor in Cutler's extremely healthy self-esteem, and you get what occurred when the Bears had the ball near midfield with two minutes, 24 seconds left.

With his team trailing by three points, Cutler went for it all, throwing a deep pass to Johnny Knox, who was streaking down the right sideline. Hall snatched it for his fourth interception of the second half, matching his total for 2009.
Cutler clearly has a hard time distinguishing between daring and tree-stump stupid.

''I've played against [Hall] before,'' Cutler said. ''There's no reason to shy away from him. That's hard for me to say after throwing four picks to a guy. Still, if we had to play them tomorrow, I'd still go after him every time if we could.''
The Bears insisted Cutler's intentions were good Sunday even if his results weren't. Although that argument might work for the first two interceptions, it loses steam after that. He hadn't been sharp most of the game. What gave the Bears the notion he suddenly was going to solve Hall?

Anything would've been smarter than a long pass to Knox. He could've thrown a shorter pass to another receiver. He could've thrown the ball in the grass. He could've taken a sack. He could've tested anyone but Hall.

But no.

Risky business

Remember the good old days when people were sure the Cutler-Mike Martz relationship would end up in flames? It's clear now that the bigger danger is that the quarterback and the offensive coordinator think too much alike. For them, there's no such thing as a bad pass. There's no such thing as risk.

There is only a genius and his willing accomplice.

It's why, against all reason, you throw a deep pass with lots of time on the clock and at least a tie within reach.
Whatever checks and balances are in place inside Halas Hall have skipped Cutler and Martz. If coach Lovie Smith didn't step in when Martz ignored the run in the loss to Seattle, it was clear he wasn't going to tell his coordinator to go Tea Party conservative down the stretch against the Redskins.

And nobody in the organization seems to have the nerve to tell the quarterback what to do.
Give Cutler this: His swagger is resilient. The Redskins sacked him three times in the first half, making the gunslinger positively gun-shy in the pocket. When the offensive line got its act together in the second half, he was back to his old self, throwing balls all over field.

All the great ones have that kind of cockiness. Problem is, we haven't been treated to the corresponding greatness.
Ridiculous stuff

Redskins coach Mike Shanahan preached patience with Cutler, his onetime quarterback in Denver, saying the Martz-Cutler union just needs time. Some of Shanahan's graciousness might have come from the fact his team had just won a bizarre battle of turnovers.

But unless Shanahan has some information indicating the 4-3 Bears are going to acquire an offensive line via trade, it's hard to share his optimism. Martz continues his insistence on operating a full-throttle passing game without the line to make it work.
Besides the four interceptions, Cutler fumbled on the Washington 1-yard line early in the third quarter. He didn't get much help from his head coach, who decided against challenging the ruling that the ball hadn't crossed the goal line before the fumble.
Maybe Smith sensed another interception coming on anyway.

Redskins receiver Santana Moss came closest to capturing the ridiculousness of one player picking off four passes in a game.

''I haven't seen that since high school,'' he said.

15 on 6: Cutler has basic fundamental breakdown

By Jim Miller
CSNChicago.com

The Bears have dropped two games at Soldier field which could have had them sitting pretty in the NFC. Their shaky offense has played better on the road than in the confines of their own home. Sunday was no exception with six turnovers, two inside the red zone that could have put the Redskins away.

Indefensible

It is hard to defend the indefensible. You give Jay credit for getting the ball over the goal line on the QB sneak in the third quarter. I thought it was too far out to attempt, but they may have come right back with another QB sneak, but never got that opportunity due to the fumble.

Fault the coaches for not challenging the play because that might of put the Redskins in a bind as they were already on life support. It also could have given the Bears offense the confidence it needed to get back on track for just this game.

Things are not going to change offensively until players start doing the little things. Jay's four interceptions and fumble are a good place to start. Two interceptions can be attributed to Jay's inaccuracy and two others should be placed on the receivers shoulders.

Little things matter in the NFL. You attempt to have a perfect practice during the week, working on everything from your footwork to mesh points with backs on handoffs, and the timing of the passing game.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask all Bears fans if Jay's 92-yard pick-6 in the red zone looked like the proper technique to deliver the football? Feel free to reply below.
If that is how he practiced it, then that is the result you're going to get in the game. He was fading away and did not have his feet set properly when delivering the football. Mike Martz should hammer on him so those fundamental breakdowns do not happen again. It should not be too much to ask of your $30 million starting QB to deliver the football correctly.

Update

I do a show for Sirius NFL Rewind with Jack Arute on Sunday nights. We go over all the games in the NFL and were joined this week by Mike Pereira, who was the former head of officiating and now works for FOX.

I asked him specifically about the Jay Cutler fumble at the one-yard line. He said "the Bears coaching staff blew it."

He further added that the Bears should have never challenged the Bennett play to the one-yard line. If the Bears challenged the Cutler play, Mike said, "it was clearly a touchdown and an easy review for the officials."

All aspects of the Bears need to be reviewed, specifically, who is giving Lovie Smith faulty information when it comes to challanging plays. His record on challenges is not steller, but he is relying on others to give him the information needed to make sound decisions.

The decision to keep the red flag in his pocket cost the Bears seven points, and ultimately, the win.

I do understand why Lovie didn't challenge the phantom Cutler fumble.
1) He just challenged the play before
2) Before Wash. was lined up and ready to snap the ball, there was only 1 replay shown of that play.

I'm not going to try to excuse Jay for his poor decisions down the stretch, because you can't. But he's not the only reason for this loss. QB's get too much credit for wins and losses.

Back to the "phantom fumble":
1) amazing to me how some teams in the NFL get the benefit of the doubt and some don't. It's not as bas as the NBA, but there is a bias. The good teams get the "questionable" calls. Don't believe me?
2) On Bennett's catch ruled down at the one, in live action, it sure looked like he got in the end zone, but the side judges were johnny on the spot when it came to ruling he was down. 48 yards down field and they were both right there to say Bennett didn't cross the goal line, yet it took slow motion instant replay to actually see his knee touched. Had that been Ochocinco, Miles Austin or Brandon Marshall, would it have been ruled a TD first?
3) On the very next play, the line judges bot fail to see Cutler hold the ball over the end line for the TD. When they showed the replay from the goal line view on BOTH views it was clear the ball crossed the plane, yet both side judges just sat there with their thumbs up their ass.
4) Then to add insult to injury, they ruled that Cutler's forward progress had not been stopped before he fumbled. How could they tell? And if that were true, and the line of scrimmage was the 1/2 yard line, then by logic, wouldn't he have had to been in the end zone because of his forward momentum? I mean are they really that good of judges? They can't see the ball cross the plane of the end zone, but they can judge forward momentum of 6 -10 inches? Terrible officiating during this sequence.
5) Now, go see how quickly the officials call Big Ben in the end zone at the end of the Pitt/Miami game. The official immediately came in view with his arms raised, signaling touchdown and Ben's back was to him during the play. If you haven't seen the play, go try to find it on Youtube. Miami was robbed 2x on that play. But my point is that, IMO, that line judge was not objective and was giving Ben the benefit of the doubt from the outset. Same with the Harvin TD last night. What was that official watching. Harvin's 2nd foot was so far out of bounds a HS official would have caught it. Then you have the play in the Buff/Balt game in OT where the Buff receiver is held up in the air while Ray Lewis and company rip the ball from his hands. Under most circumstances, that receivers forward momentum had stopped and the officials would have blown the whistle.

Okay, done ranting about that BS call. Bears still had chances to win this game, yet didn't make the plays when they had to.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chisportsfan

I do understand why Lovie didn't challenge the phantom Cutler fumble.
1) He just challenged the play before
2) Before Wash. was lined up and ready to snap the ball, there was only 1 replay shown of that play.

I'm not going to try to excuse Jay for his poor decisions down the stretch, because you can't. But he's not the only reason for this loss. QB's get too much credit for wins and losses.

Back to the "phantom fumble":
1) amazing to me how some teams in the NFL get the benefit of the doubt and some don't. It's not as bas as the NBA, but there is a bias. The good teams get the "questionable" calls. Don't believe me?
2) On Bennett's catch ruled down at the one, in live action, it sure looked like he got in the end zone, but the side judges were johnny on the spot when it came to ruling he was down. 48 yards down field and they were both right there to say Bennett didn't cross the goal line, yet it took slow motion instant replay to actually see his knee touched. Had that been Ochocinco, Miles Austin or Brandon Marshall, would it have been ruled a TD first?
3) On the very next play, the line judges bot fail to see Cutler hold the ball over the end line for the TD. When they showed the replay from the goal line view on BOTH views it was clear the ball crossed the plane, yet both side judges just sat there with their thumbs up their ass.
4) Then to add insult to injury, they ruled that Cutler's forward progress had not been stopped before he fumbled. How could they tell? And if that were true, and the line of scrimmage was the 1/2 yard line, then by logic, wouldn't he have had to been in the end zone because of his forward momentum? I mean are they really that good of judges? They can't see the ball cross the plane of the end zone, but they can judge forward momentum of 6 -10 inches? Terrible officiating during this sequence.
5) Now, go see how quickly the officials call Big Ben in the end zone at the end of the Pitt/Miami game. The official immediately came in view with his arms raised, signaling touchdown and Ben's back was to him during the play. If you haven't seen the play, go try to find it on Youtube. Miami was robbed 2x on that play. But my point is that, IMO, that line judge was not objective and was giving Ben the benefit of the doubt from the outset. Same with the Harvin TD last night. What was that official watching. Harvin's 2nd foot was so far out of bounds a HS official would have caught it. Then you have the play in the Buff/Balt game in OT where the Buff receiver is held up in the air while Ray Lewis and company rip the ball from his hands. Under most circumstances, that receivers forward momentum had stopped and the officials would have blown the whistle.

Okay, done ranting about that BS call. Bears still had chances to win this game, yet didn't make the plays when they had to.

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Agreed about the forward progress thing, we were shaking our heads about that, either its a TD becuase he went forward and the ball IN FRONT OF HIM.. but lovie still should have challenged.

One of the Most fustrating games of the last few years- and also HATE the 'clock ran out call"- either the ref's need to stop the play BEFORE it begins and whistle it dead, or if allow the play to go on, the "D' should be able to decline the penalty- hated that after moore scores the TD its called back, know its the rule, but hate it..

2nd straight week a penalty called back a winning TD for the bears( last week manning's td on the kick return)-The Calls and fumbles just not bouncing our way- couldn't beleive we stripped the redskisn 4 tims and only recovered 1..

Going to be a long 2 weeks until the next game.

Giant egos blocking Bears' progress

Jay Cutler and Mike Martz both too stubborn to switch paths when plan isn't working


CHICAGO -- Well, at least we know now why Jay Cutler and Mike Martz get along so well.

Call it stubbornness, call it ego, the Bears quarterback and his offensive coordinator have raised both to an art form, only there was nothing the least bit picturesque about Sunday's 17-14 loss to the Washington Redskins.

While you could not fault the two for every ill that occurred in a display by both teams that went beyond sloppiness and approached Pop Warner, they were ultimately responsible for a loss that, ugly as it was, could have been a win.
Down three points with 3:31 remaining in regulation and having already thrown three interceptions in the second half to DeAngelo Hall, Cutler continued to go in Hall's direction. His deep pass intended for Johnny Knox on first-and-10 from midfield was easily picked off again by Hall at the Redskins' 13.

Given the choice to do what was best for the team or take care of his own agenda, Cutler showed us, and later told us, in no uncertain terms who is the most important.

Did he ever consider throwing away from Hall, he was asked afterward?

"No, not at all," Cutler said. "I've played against him before. There's no reason to shy away from him. That's hard for me to say after throwing four picks to a guy. Still, if we had to play them tomorrow, I'd still go after him every time if we could."

You almost have to marvel at how far one guy could go to prove a point. Except that there are two guys who do it, and Martz is just as obstinate.

The Bears finished with a 40-16 pass-to-run ratio against a team that came into the game ranked 24th in the NFL in run defense. Sure, the Redskins came in 31st against the pass, but with the Bears' woeful pass protection, that's almost a moot point. After running only 14 times in their loss to Seattle last week, with the forecast calling for rain and both his running backs rested and raring to go, Martz still refused to bend even when the Redskins' defense did.

After a first quarter in which the Bears ran seven plays and came out with minus-5 yards compared to 144 for the Redskins, they gave up three sacks of Cutler by the midway point of the second before actually putting together a seven-play scoring drive to close the half and take a 14-10 lead into halftime.

It was, of course, pass-happy, Cutler going 7-of-7 for 70 yards. But they were short passes achieved with three- and five-step drops and quick releases by the quarterback, who was sacked four times in the game.
The third Bears possession of the third quarter was actually the best-looking drive of the day, even though -- like all but one of the Bears' seven offensive series in the second half -- it ended with a turnover.

On that drive, there were two 12-yard runs by Chester Taylor and three short passes for 25 yards, including a 13-yard screen pass to Matt Forte, who also had three runs for 16 yards. Then Cutler threw off his back foot to Knox and was picked off at the Redskins' 8-yard line by Hall, who returned it 92 yards for the eventual game-winning touchdown.

The Bears committed six turnovers in the second half, negating some more good work by their defense, which forced three turnovers, including an interception and 54-yard return for a touchdown by D.J. Moore.
Moore would have had another touchdown off a fumble recovery if not for a delay-of-game penalty on Washington. In all, the Bears forced six Redskins fumbles but recovered just one.

"That's just how it goes sometimes," said Cutler of all the turnovers, among them his fumble on a quarterback sneak from the goal line on the first drive of the second half. "It's a funny game. It's waves. It's up and down, back and forth. It's never decided until those last couple minutes of the fourth quarter."

The Bears were fortunate to still be in the game at that point, though Hall's fourth interception -- tying an NFL record -- seemed a foregone conclusion.

"I haven't seen that since high school," Redskins wide receiver Santana Moss said of Hall's heroics.
"Man," said Moore, taking it one step further, "I ain't seen picks like that since 'Madden' and you're playing your little brother or something."

That sentiment, though Moore didn't intend it that way, summed up Cutler perfectly on this day, a cocky kid trying to win a video game.

It was hard to wrap your head around all the bad, the crowd forced to sarcastically cheer third-down conversions after the Bears extended their streak to 0-for-28 on third-down conversions under Cutler in the previous 10 quarters.

"This is one of the sloppiest games I've ever seen," said Redskins linebacker London Fletcher.

The 4-3 Bears can no longer rest on their four victories, hanging as they were on the Packers-Vikes result Sunday night, a bye week forcing them to contemplate their sins and worse, listen to others contemplate them.

"We're not where we want to be, I can tell you that," said Brian Urlacher. "We want to improve as the season goes on and I don't know if we're doing that right now. We're making too many mistakes on both sides of the ball and we're not progressing like we should."

No, they're not. They're not on the proverbial same page, either, seemingly not even reading the same book.

"If I knew [what our next step should be], we would have done it two weeks ago," said defensive end Julius Peppers. "It's the same story every week, playing good in spots, playing good in a particular phase, it's just not all coming together at once. When that happens, if it happens, who knows when it will, then we can feel really good about the direction the team is going in."

Until then, they may as well be playing PlayStation.
Melissa Isaacson is a columnist for ESPNChicago.com.

Quote:

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was, of course, pass-happy, Cutler going 7-of-7 for 70 yards. But they were short passes achieved with three- and five-step drops and quick releases by the quarterback, who was sacked four times in the game.
The third Bears possession of the third quarter was actually the best-looking drive of the day, even though -- like all but one of the Bears' seven offensive series in the second half -- it ended with a turnover.

On that drive, there were two 12-yard runs by Chester Taylor and three short passes for 25 yards, including a 13-yard screen pass to Matt Forte, who also had three runs for 16 yards. Then Cutler threw off his back foot to Knox and was picked off at the Redskins' 8-yard line by Hall, who returned it 92 yards for the eventual game-winning touchdown.

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and that was the shame the 3-5 step drops working, the run game was starting to get traction, and BOOM the dumb INT turns the game around when evena FG problem enough to Deflate them

And it's an amazing contrast to see big Ben fumble at the goaline and get the Td, but Cutler not get the TD, despite breakign the plane, the NFL officiating this yera jsut seems horrid and inconsistant on their ruling each week