2013-2014 NFL Thread

[RockRaines]

Maybe the learning the offense has some merit, but it is funny McCown can come in right away and hit the ground running. If you had to choose between the 2, there is no question Cutler is better, but if you determine this offense makes a journeyman like McCown this efficient, and his performance isn't a fluke, the question is how much of your cap do you want to commit to Cutler when you have half the roster as free agents after the season.

But it's not like you dont know what McCown is, he's been around a long time and was just recently out of the league. The difference with him is this staff and I want to see the much more talented Cutler play in this system when healthy.

[Jenksismyhero]

The big difference between the two is that Jay has the arm to win in the red zone. McCown doesn't.

 

What? This is nonsense. McCown has every tool you need to win in this system. It's not his fault the play calling in the red zone has been pretty terrible this year. Dude can make 20 yard passes all day long just as good as Jay.

 

More importantly, he's never been injury prone, and he's smart with the ball. I used to dream that at best Cutler would be a poor man's Favre, but in reality he's just the next Jeff George. He still doesn't get "it." For every wow play he can make with his arm, he makes another, absolutely dreadful decision.

 

To me you get an appreciable upgrade with Cutler in physicality but i'm not sure you get the smarts to go with it. And you're doing it at the expense of being able to sign more guys on defense. If the defense was average McCown would be undefeated right now with his current 109 QB rating in 7.1 games. We'd all be happy as clams that this team was not only good but a super bowl contender.

 

McCown isn't the future, but he's a quality starter who could bridge the gap to the next franchise guy. Emery might miss on him, but so what? You're rebuilding major portions of the team in a few years anyway. The window is now. If he can upgrade the defense more without Jay, I say do it.

[Jenksismyhero]

But it's not like you dont know what McCown is, he's been around a long time and was just recently out of the league. The difference with him is this staff and I want to see the much more talented Cutler play in this system when healthy.

 

How much better could Cutler play? And is that upgrade more important than upgrading the defense?

[BigSqwert]

How much better could Cutler play? And is that upgrade more important than upgrading the defense?

I have to agree with you. McCown is playing out of his mind. The defense is atrocious so you might as well use that Cutler money to try to patch up that side of the ball. McCown can obviously get things done for the next year or so until you figure out your long term QB plans.

[Jake]

I think its better to have an amazing offense and an improving young defense than have both units be average. The defense this year is incredibly injured, what are the odds that we lose that many players next year? Plus the LB core will actually have some experience and we can fill with draft picks.

 

What about this offense looks average? I've never seen a Bears offense look as good as it has during the "McCown era" starts

[Soxbadger]

How much better could Cutler play? And is that upgrade more important than upgrading the defense?

 

NAME ATT COMPPCT YDS AVG YDS/G LONG TD TD% INT INT% SACK YDSL RATE

 

QB A 265 167 63.0 1908 7.2 228.5 58 13 4.9 8 3.0 11 80 88.4

QB B 220 147 66.8 1809 8.2 253.1 80 13 5.9 1 0.5 11 37 109.8

 

Its not always about being the tallest, fastest with the best arm.

 

Sometimes brains matter, and like I said weeks ago, I think that the Bears best move is to put more money towards defense, because it makes no economical sense to pay $15mil plus for a QB if you can get similar production at 50% of the cost.

[Kyyle23]

I have to agree with you. McCown is playing out of his mind. The defense is atrocious so you might as well use that Cutler money to try to patch up that side of the ball. McCown can obviously get things done for the next year or so until you figure out your long term QB plans.

 

This is the kind of mentality that got the Bears stuck in a "Havent had a good QB since Sid Luckman" drought. I think the D can be fixed and Cutler can be paid. The question is, does Cutler want to get paid like Stafford? If that is the case, then they will be forced to let Cutler walk.

[BigSqwert]

This is the kind of mentality that got the Bears stuck in a "Havent had a good QB since Sid Luckman" drought. I think the D can be fixed and Cutler can be paid. The question is, does Cutler want to get paid like Stafford? If that is the case, then they will be forced to let Cutler walk.

I don't. There's a salary cap in the NFL.

[StrangeSox]

All I know is I think Josh uses the weapons in this offense better than Jay, primarily because he doesn't focus on Marshall so much. In Jay's defense, he had to rely on Marshall so much in the past that it's probably just habit to focus on him on almost every passing route. I'd like to see Jay get a chance to exploit defenses with his new toys a bit more before I really feel like we will know what we have here.

Jay was throwing to Marshall much less this year before he got injured.

[Soxbadger]

What about this offense looks average? I've never seen a Bears offense look as good as it has during the "McCown era" starts

 

Because Trestman has more confidence in McCown to call plays and run the offense. Its pretty clear that Cutler is on a tighter leash, which is kind of ironic as hes the "starter". But in a Trestman style system, sometimes brains beat brawn.

 

Also important to note that several times McCown has been compared to Gannon, who is generally considered one of Trestman's successes. Gannon was 37 when he won the MVP.

Edited December 10, 2013 by Soxbadger

[StrangeSox]

Anyone advocating dumping Cutler for a stop-gap in McCown and drafting a QB late in the first round is insane. We finally have an offense full of talented players, and you want to rely on a journeyman QB who's playing the best he's ever played but is in his mid-30's or a rookie late-1st QB?

[StrangeSox]

Because Trestman has more confidence in McCown to call plays and run the offense. Its pretty clear that Cutler is on a tighter leash, which is kind of ironic as hes the "starter". But in a Trestman style system, sometimes brains beat brawn.

I'd really like to see some evidence of this versus the playbook expanding as the whole offensive unit gets more familiar with a brand new system.

[Jenksismyhero]

Anyone advocating dumping Cutler for a stop-gap in McCown and drafting a QB late in the first round is insane. We finally have an offense full of talented players, and you want to rely on a journeyman QB who's playing the best he's ever played but is in his mid-30's or a rookie late-1st QB?

 

I ask again, how much better can Cutler play than McCown right now?

[RockRaines]

How much better could Cutler play? And is that upgrade more important than upgrading the defense?

A TON. His time in Chicago has been behind a patchwork line and a few inept coordinators. We finally have a competent offensive mind running the team and he's only had half a season on the field to show his worth. The blocking schemes from last night are night and day compared to when he went out.

[southsider2k5]

Anyone advocating dumping Cutler for a stop-gap in McCown and drafting a QB late in the first round is insane. We finally have an offense full of talented players, and you want to rely on a journeyman QB who's playing the best he's ever played but is in his mid-30's or a rookie late-1st QB?

 

Everything about this year screams fluke for McCown. It is just insanity to let a franchise QB walk away in the modern NFL.

[BigSqwert]

Anyone advocating dumping Cutler for a stop-gap in McCown and drafting a QB late in the first round is insane. We finally have an offense full of talented players, and you want to rely on a journeyman QB who's playing the best he's ever played but is in his mid-30's or a rookie late-1st QB?

The Bears have one of the worst defenses in football right now. How do you address that if you have to dump a ton of money on a QB that's up and down and relatively injury prone?

[RockRaines]

I ask again, how much better can Cutler play than McCown right now?

Do you think Josh McCown is a 100+QB rating type of guy or is he the 77 he's shown in his career?

[StrangeSox]

I ask again, how much better can Cutler play than McCown right now?

 

Substantially. McCown has been putting up a ton of yards, but outside of last night, they've struggled to score points and have lost games because of it. McCown simply cannot make some of the throws that Cutler can, whether it's a deep pass or a pass that needs to be on a rope.

 

And let's not pretend the McCown has been mistake-free, either. There were two easy, easy picks last night that the Cowboys dropped.

[BigSqwert]

Do you think Josh McCown is a 100+QB rating type of guy or is he the 77 he's shown in his career?

Under Trestman he's probably in the 90 range if he keeps playing. As a lifelong Raiders fan I saw what he did with the journeyman Rich Gannon.

[Jenksismyhero]

A TON. His time in Chicago has been behind a patchwork line and a few inept coordinators. We finally have a competent offensive mind running the team and he's only had half a season on the field to show his worth. The blocking schemes from last night are night and day compared to when he went out.

 

A ton? Come on. I don't think the offense can get much better than it is right now. They're the 2nd highest scoring team in the league. They have weapons all over the field. I think at best Cutler can be as good as McCown these last 7 games. Maybe slightly better, but at what point is that just a waste of resources?

 

The offense can be the best in the league. Cutler could become the next Manning. If the defense still sucks, it's all for naught.

[RockRaines]

Under Trestman he's probably in the 90 range if he keeps playing. As a lifelong Raiders fan I saw what he did with the journeyman Rich Gannon.

And I think Cutler is a 100+ QB rating guy with Trestman and this line.

[Kyyle23]

I don't. There's a salary cap in the NFL.

 

I am aware, the Bears have a lot of money coming off the books next season. Like I said, if Cutler wants to get Stafford/Flacco money, it cant happen. If he wants to stay in a situation that suits him, they can work it out.

[iamshack]

Everything about this year screams fluke for McCown. It is just insanity to let a franchise QB walk away in the modern NFL.

Not arguing we let Cutler walk, but McCown's passes are accurate and he makes good decisions. He's also pretty darn athletic. Yes, he's 34, but he doesn't have the mileage on him that a normal 34 year old NFL qb has. It doesn't look like a fluke to me at all.

[BigSqwert]

And I think Cutler is a 100+ QB rating guy with Trestman and this line.

Hard to put up those numbers when you're always dinged up.

[StrangeSox]

The Bears have one of the worst defenses in football right now. How do you address that if you have to dump a ton of money on a QB that's up and down and relatively injury prone?

What part of the modern NFL screams "dump your QB for an old journeyman/rookie crapshoot to marginally improve your defense"? If the Bears could have picked up a yard on two tries last week, they'd be sitting on 8-5 and on top of their division right now even with their horrible defense. Why would you want to knee-cap your offense when you finally have great WRs, a good RB and a serviceable-and-improving line?

 

I honestly don't know, is there some great free agent class coming next year on the defensive side of the ball.