Peter King: Bears NFL's 4th best team

[Steve9347]

My what a difference a Cutler makes!

 

King article

 

4. Chicago

I may not like how Jay Cutler babied his way out of Denver, but by Labor Day, the football world will have forgotten, and by Thanksgiving, the most popular baby name in Chicagoland will be Jay. (Unless it's Jerry, as in Angelo, the man who stuck his neck out and made this deal.) Cutler's a big-time player, and I suspect we'll find out over the next few years if he has nerves of steel and can win the big game.

 

Now, there's two things we don't know about Cutler and this offense. There's not a great receiver in the house and no promise of one on the way (Angelo should have guaranteed Torry Holt more money to get him to come to the Windy City). So Cutler's going to have to make do with the Devin Hesters and Rashied Davises, apparently. (Not that there's anything wrong with Hester. But he should be a third receiver, using his speed to game-break.)

 

Two: How good of a leader can Cutler be, coming in with the knock that he chafes on some teammates. It'll be interesting to see if he meshes well with Brian Urlacher; I don't take for granted that he will. Because of the Cutler factor and because I don't love the defense the way I did two or three years ago, I didn't want to leap the Bears over so many other teams. But then I went back and looked at their 2008 numbers. The bedrock stats for a good defense, I've always thought, are opponents yards per rush, turnovers forced and opponents' yards per pass. The yards per rush, 3.4, was excellent, third-best in the league. Turnovers forced, 32, was very good, second in the league. And yards per pass play by foes, 6.20, was eighth in the league. All good. If Cutler can lead an offense that puts up 400 points, only a point and a fraction more than a year ago, the Bears should win 12.

[rangercal]

I already knew that!

[witesoxfan]

I didn't see enough of Brett Favre coming out of Peter King's mouth.

[clyons]

Kiss.Of.Death.

[shipps]

I am just as excited as the next Bears fan but this team is gonna have to prove it and its not going to be a sweet smooth ride like all you guys are thinking. There will be some growing pains for this team to mesh together but hopefully it will be brief.

[CanOfCorn]

I didn't see enough of Brett Favre coming out of Peter King's mouth.

 

That's because he was cumming in his mouth...

 

 

 

 

...I thank you.

[shipps]

That's because he was cumming in his mouth...

 

 

 

 

...I thank you.

 

OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!... CanofCorn greatness right there.

[Steve9347]

I didn't see enough of Brett Favre cumming in Peter King's mouth.

That's gross.

 

Damn, beaten to the punch.

Edited May 11, 2009 by Steve9347

[shipps]

poor steve...corn beat you to it...

[SoxAce]

He's got some pretty sexy pics on the bears main website.

[dasox24]

I generally don't like Peter King, but any time you read something like that about your team, it makes you feel excited for next season (and beyond). I can see where King would get the notion that Cutler and Urlacher might not get along, but as long as we're winning, it won't matter. Also, I don't know about the rest of Bear Nation, but I'd rather see Bennett and Iglesias play than Rashied Davis. I don't care if Iglesias has trouble with the playbook or whatever might be wrong with Bennett, they'd still be better than "Hot Hands" Davis.

[whitesoxfan101]

I'd have his 5th, 6th, and 7th ranked teams ahead of the Bears without question. However, I do think the Bears are the favorite in the NFC North, although to be honest I think the Packers would be my 2nd place prediction. To me, Minnesota looks like they are going to finish 3rd right now, and thus I completely understand why they'd want Brett Favre. He's worth the risk considering how much they need a good QB.

[lostfan]

I'd have his 5th, 6th, and 7th ranked teams ahead of the Bears without question. However, I do think the Bears are the favorite in the NFC North, although to be honest I think the Packers would be my 2nd place prediction. To me, Minnesota looks like they are going to finish 3rd right now, and thus I completely understand why they'd want Brett Favre. He's worth the risk considering how much they need a good QB.

Actually I think Favre is really not that good anymore and living off his reputation. He believes his own hype. As a Bears fan I'm really not worried about the possibility of the Vikings getting Favre.

[Steve9347]

Actually I think Favre is really not that good anymore and living off his reputation. He believes his own hype. As a Bears fan I'm really not worried about the possibility of the Vikings getting Favre.

That. He can't be much better than anyone else at this point. Also, if the Williams' are out for the first 4 games as predicted, they will have a rough time getting off to a good start anyway.

[Kyyle23]

Is that Williams Twins thing EVER going to get resolved?

[Chisoxfn]

Is that Williams Twins thing EVER going to get resolved?

Supposed to come down today. I hope they get that 4 game suspension, but I wouldn't be shocked if they didn't.

[shipps]

PFW observations: Cutler and a new NFL reality

By Tom Danyluk

May 15, 3:10 pm EDT

 

Buzz up!9 votes PrintThere remain pockets of disbelievers around the Windy City, jaded skeptics with weathered, furled brows. It’s the Chicago Bears’ pricey acquisition of Jay Cutler(notes) on their minds.

 

 

Fine, we have the QB, the macho arm, but who’s he going to throw to? Who are the targets, the payoff men? Where are the hands?

 

 

I’ve got to be careful here, hoisting Cutler into the company I’m about to mention, but you have to believe – and history has shown – that the big-time passer does a better job of elevating average wide receivers than vice versa. Imagine Trent Dilfer(notes) or Mark Malone throwing to Jerry Rice(notes), Paul Warfield, etc. Or, as we will see in Buffalo, Trent Edwards(notes) trying to throw somewhere near Terrell Owens(notes) and keeping him happy. I mean, it’s not nearly as productive the other way around.

 

 

 

 

Cutler is the Bears’ centerpiece on offense.

(Jim Prisching/Getty)

 

 

John Elway gunned the Denver Broncos to three Super Bowls in the 1980s, throwing to the trio of Vance Johnson, Mark Jackson and Ricky Nattiel – “The Three Amigos,” they were called. Shifty, point-guard types who could burn and break some things open, but certainly not a bunch worthy of a nickname. In the stretch from 1986-89, Elway’s first glory run, the most TDs caught in a season by any Amigo was seven (Johnson).

 

 

In 1992, Dan Marino led the league with 4,116 yards passing, and his recipients were Tony Martin, Freddie Banks and a pair of creaky 30-something Marks (Clayton and Duper). Martin and Banks were inconsistent for Marino – catch-one, drop-one characters. Duper and Clayton were getting old, the RPMs waning and both playing their last season with the Miami Dolphins.

 

 

And can anyone name the New England Patriots wideouts huddling with Tom Brady(notes) as he went to work in the 2006 AFC title game? Probably not. Unknown soldiers, only their names were Reche Caldwell(notes), Jabar Gaffney(notes), Troy Brown(notes) and Chad Jackson(notes). Caldwell and Gaffney were free-agent signees, curbsiders looking for work. Brown was a 14-year vet, Jackson a rookie. The Pats scored 34 points that day in Indy.

 

 

Again, it’s not fair to bunch Cutler in a conversation that includes three present or future Hall of Famers, but the point is, if the arm and accuracy are now present in Chicago, sufficient hands will eventually arise. From surprising places … and not-so-surprising ones – and quicker than you think. Colleges are pumping out more quality receivers than at any time in history. All the Bears need to do is some gathering and let Cutler take it from there.

 

 

• One of the places from where Cutler won’t be getting much help, I’m guessing, is Devin Hester(notes). Mr. Lakeshore Lightning. Everyone loves Devin the Returner’s speed, but Devin the Receiver plays with eight fingers, and he typically had trouble managing the softer, touchier throws of Rex Grossman(notes) and, later, Kyle Orton(notes). Now it will be Cutler firing his way, a Wehrmacht 88, and I see Cutler cutting him in half. Seven fingers.

 

 

• Last November Donovan McNabb(notes) was on the bench, and in January he was in the NFC title game. The Eagles have forgiven all sins and are now arming him for one final thrust at a Super Bowl. The thrusters: WR Jeremy Maclin(notes) of Missouri and RB LeSean McCoy(notes) of Pitt, their top two choices in this April’s NFL draft – speed-and-explosion guys. And it’s a shocking departure from history here. The Eagles hadn’t taken offensive skill players with their first two picks in more than 20 years. Not since ’86, in the midst of the Buddy Ryan reign, when the team fed its starving ground game a 1-2 punch of backs named Keith Byars and Anthony Toney. The Byars choice paid off for Philly; Mr. Toney did not.

 

 

• For the purists, puffs of irritant were released during the appearance of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Patriots owner Robert Kraft on CNBC last month, their chat on “Squawk Box” concerning the NFL’s position in this mega-recession – the painful business-speak of pro football.

 

 

“One thing that’s clear in this kind of environment is there is a flight to quality,” the commissioner said, “and we only have 10 home games, and the quality of what we offer will hold us well. We’re in this for the long term.”

 

 

I.e., we can only soak you a handful of days per year, but we still plan on wetter days ahead.

 

 

Then New England’s Kraft, chiming in with his bit of uplifting news:

 

 

“We were very worried about our season renewals,” he said. “I mean, we’re up in the mid-90 percent now, and they had to have their money in by March for the season, which is a real commitment. … I think we [the NFL] have the chance to become more important, as long as people are comfortable branding with us, becoming emotionally connected to us. Thank goodness that’s happened. When you stay with quality, the fans come.”

 

 

So says the National Football League Corporation and its unending flight to dollars. The blocking and the branding. And now the talk of moving the Super Bowl to London. Makes you want to fly out for more of those $10,000 PSLs, doesn’t it? You know – buying the right to buy all that quality? The gouge in its purest form.

 

 

Don’t kid yourself, gents. This econo-plague recognizes no titles or addresses. It bypasses no arenas. It kisses no rings.

 

 

Welcome to the age of the empty seat.