Keeping their offense off the field SHOULD throw off their rhythm but none of that mattered yesterday. The Bears matched the production of the Rams after spotting them 14 until the very end. They were only down a touchdown and the Rams ran the ball down the Bears throat to end the game and a sack/fumble added to the margin.

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McCown clearly doesn't have Cutler's arm but he hit Bennett for a long pass of 30+ yards.

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But matching them isn't good enough when you are down 14. They want you to match them. You can't match them, you have to hit them. After you spot them 14 points, you know you have to outscore them by 15 the rest of the way. That's also why Trestman went for it on 4th down at the goalline.

I do prefer what I saw from Cutler in this offense. Sure, if he played yesterday, and being down 14-0, he might have thrown a pick, or took some bad sacks, and people would say "I wish McCown played this game!" But now we've seen that scenario. He didn't throw picks and he didn't get sacked, and they still lost.

There's a term in poker, "Broomcorn's Uncle". That was the Bears yesterday.

I actually agree completely with the emboldened part of your post. Absolutely. I want someone who is Cutler +, I guess. What McCown has is a willingness to take what the defense gives him when bigger throws are not there. Now, I agree with you that taking what the D gives you is not a recipe for success if that's all you're going to do, but good QBs seem to be able combine great throws down the field with smart, safe throws when the time is right. The point is moving the chains to eventually get into red zone, where the chances of a TD are greater than anywhere else. At times you get there by great throws down the field, and at times you can get there with smart throws to check-down options that build to something else later in the game or drive.

As for the St. Louis game, the Bears were definitely in it the whole time, even with a 21-7 deficit. Remember they left at least three points on the field due to Trestman's wrong-headed decision to go for it on fourth down. Fourteen of the Rams' 42 points were due to TOs and a fluky, end-of-game TO. The Bears were in it. If the Bears take the FG in the third quarter, it changes the whole philosophy on offense going forward.

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Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

This is crazy. Cutler was slightly above average this year. The fact that a guy who was out of the league is at least equaling his production tells you all that you should know. Yes, McCown can't make some of the throws Jay makes. Well, Jay doesn't make them very much either and that is why his statistics have always been so mediocre compared to so many other quarterbacks. Saying McCown isn't that good is probably the #1 piece of evidence to let Jay walk. A QB who isn't good is running the offense better than the potential franchise player! It's not about philosophy. It's not about who is the better quarterback. It is how Jay Cutler's production has been so unimpressive that McCown can come in and look as good or better even with his subpar skills.

The Bears need to improve on defense. Someone putting up the numbers that McCown is should be enough to win in every game. There is no reason to think he can't continue. Let Jay walk and maybe we'll be lucky to find a quarterback who has the potential to be elite. Imagine how good a quarterback could be in this offense if McCown is as bad as some of you think he is!

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

He did, and he also had a real nice long pass in OT against Baltimore to Martellus to set up the game-winner. Yesterday he needed to do it more often, but, he knows it's not his game and he feared throwing picks. You have to take those risks when you're down. Orton threw some nice long passes too, just not nearly enough.

Cutler consistently played like crap when the defense was great. The problem with the point you're making is the defense still has to stop them. That wasn't happening. If McCown would have scored on every possession after falling behind by 14 it would not have made a difference if the defense couldn't stop them. Cutler turnover prone tendencies would have only made that worse.

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No quarterback was gonna win this game. It was a defensive and special teams disaster.
If all the stars align, and the football gods smile upon us, and we have a Grossman, erh, ahem, a slinger of a quarterback, the Bears are lucky to score 41 and they lose this game.
Any quarterback, even the best of them, will struggle when down 14-0 within the span of 2 minutes.

24 guy, I couldn't disagree more. You can spend a fortune on the best possible quarterback and you're losing games 34-39, 32-42 shit like that because this defense can't do anything right now at all. 42 points? That's a win for any teamm regardless of who the opposing quarterback is 19 times of 20.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

So, let's take away the garbage time fumble.

We expect Josh McCown to win a game where the other team score 35 points? Where were these high standards when Cutler was failing to bail out his defense? Looks like we can put the loss against the Lions on Cutler now.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

The Bears defense couldn't stop anyone. This is a bad argument to make in favor of Cutler being the QB. Taking more risks wasn't going to make the defense stop anyone. The offense was still scoring and moving the ball. Now if he was dinking and dunking on a game winning drive then I could somewhat understand.

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Yes the defense was horrid, no question. And my point isn't to laud Cutler. My point is that McCown's supposed success does not mean the Bears should settle for that type of QB instead of one that can throw vertical.

Rick, I disagree that you should win every game with McCown's performance yesterday. The Rams gave him all those throws, because they were up 14. If they weren't up 14, they would have played tighter and dared him to go long. They were essentially playing prevent, and McCown "took what they gave him". I suspect the Rams are happy about that, and not sweating about how McCown almost beat them.

Yards per attempt:
Jay Cutler 7.2
Josh McCown 7.5

What about our offense?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Sounds like a few Cutler games this year too.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

But it was against what was essentially a prevent defense yesterday.

Yes, the Bears most likely would have still lost if Cutler was QB yesterday. They might have lost 42-40, or they might have lost 52-28. But it was also possible that Cutler could have hit on a few big plays and erase the 14-pt deficit, and maybe they can win from there. I want a chance to win. If I lose, I don't care how ugly it looks.

Could be. I'm not arguing in favor of Cutler, I'm arguing in favor of a big-arm QB instead of a ball-control QB. Are you debating that, or just debating against Cutler specifically?

Your "chance" was over with 13:00 left to go in the first. Even the best of the best would struggle overcoming that with decent defenses.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

They were in the midst of erasing that deficit. They were on the freakin one yard line I think down 21-7 and failed to convert. They got there just fine behind Mccown.

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Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

And Forte and Marshall were not in on that play IIRC... who fucked that up?

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I agree.

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GO BEARS!!!

Bush! They are your 2 best players. There is no reason at least 1 of them shouldn't be in for every offensive possession. It at least gives the defense something to think about.

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Well this is a slippery slope, because you can go game-by-game through Cutler's career in Chicago and point out how close they were in all the loses. "If not for this" and "if not for that".

To make another poker analogy, that's called "fancy play syndrome". "They know we'll throw to Marshall, so I'll take Marshall out! Ha! That'll fool 'em! "

My complaint is that Cutler is a shit ton like Grossman was. Just... like a lot. It bothers me.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

That's why I loved him at first. He is clearly more talented but Grossman had something that Cutler doesn't and that is likeability. His teammates loved him. McCown and Marshall are probably Cutler's only friends and he probably hates McCown now.

Am I the only one that wants to type McNown even though it's been over a decade?

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That's true, but you said you would have liked to see how Cutler would have done with a 7-21 deficit, and I pointed out the Bears did what you'd like to do, that is drive all the way down the field. They ended up not scoring from the one, but the fact that they were in it until the defense got shredded by the third string running back obviates I think your point about Cutler being in there. Fwiw I'd like to see Cutler in there too because he's the starter for good reasons, but QB play wasnt an issue yesterday.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

McCown played his ass off. Those turnovers were basically because Bushrod got beat like a drum and Jeffrie lost a 50/50. I don't want to read about zone defenses. Does Tom Brady get his stat's broken down into when they played Prevent against him? There are QB stats for a reason. Stats can be ripped apart and disected a million different ways.

I personally think McCown has outplayed Cutler. He looks smarter at the position. He moves quicker out of the pocket,he throws balls on the run and he knows when to run sooner more then later.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

I know but, it took too long to almost catch up. You could almost pull a Wannstedt here: "If we didn't give up those last 14 points at the end of the game, and then had another quarter or two, we might have caught up". When the other team is putting up points on you fast, you have to sling it, and sling it now. You can't take your time and maybe almost catch up in the 4th quarter.

McCown has played it safe, and that provides the illusion of better decision-making.

Cutler takes risks. If the ones he takes aren't the right ones, then get someone else. But I'm not falling for the "look Mom, no picks!" routine any more than I'm falling for the banana in the tailpipe.

I wish Cutler would play like McCown some. He would be a better QB.

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I don't disagree. I think that's what Trestman ultimately thinks he can do. Teach Jay when is the right time to throw Brandon open for a 40-yard hit, and when is the right time to dump it off. Whether he can do it or not is another story, and whether the team will invest the money required to do so is yet another story. More stories here than the Willis Tower.