Ex-NFL stars: Cutler struggling with Martz system
By Brad Biggs
A pair of Super Bowl champion quarterbacks have weighed in on the Bears' quarterback and believe that Jay Cutler is struggling in Mike Martz's system.
Kurt Warner and Joe Theismann, who will be part of the NFL Network's Thursday night coverage this season, shared their opinions on the Bears and the quarterback directing their struggling offense. The Bears appear on the NFL Network on Nov. 18 at Miami, a game that also will be carried by WGN in Chicago.
"The one thing you understand about this offense more than any other offense I've been in is that it's all based on timing," Warner said on a conference call. "The timing comes with the understanding of what's going on around you.
"Where I see Jay struggling right now is in the confidence and understanding, whether it be his part of the system and understanding the whole realm of that, or whether it's the guys around him not necessarily being there on time.
"I see hesitation in Jay at the back end of his drop and in the pocket, where he wants to get back there, hitch a couple times, see something come open and then make the throw. And in this offense it's not built that way. That's the biggest struggle that they're having is that the timing orientation of it is off right now."
The Bears hope to have that timing ironed out when they play Sunday against Buffalo in Toronto. They've had an off week to tighten things up, as coach Lovie Smith has said, and it's imperative they start playing more efficiently.
Of course, Cutler is coming off a four-interception performance Oct. 24 in a loss to the Washington Redskins.
"There are times when he holds it too long," Theismann said. "There are times when he just should throw it away. But he's so set in trying to make a play that it just gets him in trouble."
