I wish I could make a poll in this thread, but I guess I can't.

My question is this:
Is Alshon Jeffrey a better WR now because McCown is making him a better WR, or is he a better WR because he has stepped his game on his own?

(**Asked under the assumption that we all agree he is a different kind of animal the last 6 weeks or so**)


Here is why I ask - I think the answer to this question has a lot to do with the answer of McCown vs Cutler. If Alshon is a damn stud because of something specific between he and McCown, then I gotta say the Bears should stick with McCown. Because Marshall has still been productive as well. The passing game has been special lately.

BUT - I tend to think that Alshon has stepped it up on his own, and quite honestly, has bailed McCown out on more than a couple passes - the two "miracle catches" for sure. The miracle a couple weeks ago was underthrown and probably would have been intercepted on most chances. I think Alshon has taken his game to another level and would continue to do so if Cutler came back 100% healthy.

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I think he simply improved his game. He was great at SC and was underrated in the draft. I know a lot of people that loved him coming out of college. He got a bad rap.

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Elections have consequences.

I tend to agree with you spanky. His play the last few weeks has more to do with him than who his QB is.

Remember when people were bitching the Bears drafted a fat overrated WR that would not make it.....

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
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No. He's good, period. I don't think Cutler had the trust to throw it up to him like McCown has done. Cutler has that trust with Marshall.

Culter, seeing the recent production from Jeffrey in the last few games, now knows he has a beast. Seeing him go up and rip the ball down like he has done. Especially in the redzone.

All I know is, the passing game has been a monster the last few games. I tend to think it's more due to the WR's than to the QB. I think Cutler can continue this monster if the WR's can continue this kind of play.

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It's the WRs.

But it also has been McCown's quick decisions and his instincts. He feels the rush so well and knows when to step up, slide or run. Nobody discuses this trait of McCown. But it's very impressive.

That Jeffery TD was a great catch. But McCown put it in the perfect spot where only his guy could get it. You gotta give him credit for that. It wasn't just throwing it up for grabs on that play.

I will give McCown all the credit in the world He has played damn good. And he has better feet than Cutler for sure.

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Jeffery has definitely stepped up his game. I don't think that even really a question honestly.

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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

Top 5 receiver

Really? In the league? Better than Marshall for sure?

Calvin
AJ
Julio
Dez
Alshon

Is that the list?

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Its awesome that its debatable. I just threw it out there


He needs to do it longer but right now he's better than Marshall

I just threw 4 more names out there real quick.

He's a beast lately, but I'll ease up on the top-5 thing. Top-20 is fantastic with me.

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Jeffrey has stepped it up since he got out of that deal w/ Adidas.

Josh Gordon should be on that list instead of Dez. Worse QB and worse team in general.

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

He's been hot lately but he did have his first monster, 200+ yard game with Cutler.

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Thats only because the balls he caught with Cutler were throws only Jay could make otherwise they wouldn't have been completed. When he did it with McCown, its because he was so wide open.

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It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

That is what big time receivers do. They get thrown balls when they look like they are covered. So, he's not really bailing out McCown. McCown is just trusting him to make a play. McCown isn't making those throws to Earl Bennett.

I'm sure Jay would be playing well too, but I doubt he'd be playing any better and if history is any indication he'd probably be performing at a worse level since Jay has never played as well as McCown is now even in Denver.

You bring up a good point, but I think it takes us to a different discussion. If the offensive talent is so good that Josh McCown, who was out of the league, can perform at such an elite level there is no need to keep Cutler and pay him and a rookie quarterback.

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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!

Trade him now and use the draft pick to take a QB. His value will never be higher.

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I hope you're kidding right.

This whole thread was due to a conversation Spanky and I were having last night via text. My point to him was that Josh right now gives us the best shot to win. He's putting up very solid numbers and doesn't turn the ball over even close to the amount of times Cutler does. The less time our defense is on the field the better, as they are the reason we are losing not a qb or anything else.
My point last night to Spanky was that McCown has played better all year than Cutler. We look at the way the offense was moving the ball and think Cutler has to start when he's healthy but if you look at the numbers, they favor Josh remaining the starter and it's not even close. We all saw McCown have two passes almost picked off in the Dallas game but they weren't. Does anyone have any stats on how many almost interceptions Jay has thrown on top of the 8 that he actually did throw? Not to mention 4 fumbles 3 which were lost. But Spanky doesn't want to count those because those are offensive line issues (the same one Josh plays behind) but he wanted to count interceptions that didn't happen but should have?

Jay's time in Chicago is almost over and I'm Ok with that.

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Is anyone willing to make the case that Cutler will be more productive than McCown when Cutler returns?

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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!

Considering that McCown had 5 starts and a half where as at best Cutler gets 3 more games this regular season, I think that would be a silly thing to say.

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That's a strange answer.

I was talking on a per game basis. Of course I'm not asking if Cutler can throw for more yards and touchdowns in 2 less games.

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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!

Does he have to be "more" or is "as effective" good enough?
If Alshon keeps playing at this level, then yes, I'd say Cutler would easily be just as effective. It's amazing how good an NFL QB can look with two badass WR's - that's way different than having one that gets double teamed all the time. Carson Palmer miraculously looks a lot better lately now that Floyd has his head out of his ass.

Does Cutler get credit for the 1st half of the season the unicorn had, or does McCown get blame for his struggles the last handful of games? Because Bennett was hot as hell when Cutler played. He blows lately.

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He should be more effective. There is a decent chance that Cutler underperforms what McCown did. Now, I know people will find all of these excuses as to why that happened but we never know.

That is why it is almost unfair to put Cutler back in. He needs to play better than he ever has in his career to meet the standard set by McCown. Cutler has never been that good. McCown may just be a fluke, or benefiting from elite talent, but people are going to rightfully complain that it was a mistake if Cutler isn't at least as good as the pace McCown is on.

I don't think McCown should get that much credit for how other players are performing. He should get credit for how he is performing.

Ultimately, I just don't think Cutler is a difference maker in this offense. At best, he'll perform as well as McCown, with the very real chance that he won't be as good as McCown was even with his perceived "talent" advantage.

Everyone may be best served letting McCown go until he fails because Cutler is being setup to fail if he starts the next game.

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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!

I'm not willing to make that case but I do think it's in the Bears best interest to start a healthy Cutler. I believe McCown would have likely regressed if he played the rest of the season.

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You also wouldn't have expected McCown to outperform Cutler when McCown was sitting on the bench.

This isn't even like the argument for keeping a poorly performing rookie Kyle Orton in because they are "winning" even though he was playing pretty horribly. McCown is literally playing better than Cutler was by a pretty substantial margin. It is entirely possible that right now, when given this offense, that McCown is a better quarterback than Jay Cutler.

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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!

It is possible. I just am taking what we have known the past decade plus about McCown vs what we think we've learned about him in the past 5 games.

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I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I think he is just improving week to week. He needs to stay healthy tho, I know thats a generic thing to say but it still applies. I'm having alot of fun watching a Bears offense with so much talent. Sucks the defense has been put on blast for almost the entire season.

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If the rule you followed lead you to this, of what use was the rule?

^^keeping score^^

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HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAA..... * INHALES.... EXHALES * HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHALKFA.DJD;KGFLSDANF

dude this is the funniest thing i've read all week....god bless you #McClowns... i must be queen victoria's evil twin cuz fuck that miserable Caller Bob I AM AMUSED when i read stuff like that.

look, mccown is a capable/serviceable quarterback who is thriving in an offense that's coming together as the season goes on. you don't just have a new OC in there trying to do the same general stuff that lovie expected from teh offense, this is a whole new regime and offensive system being implemented, so i mena, what you're seeing with alshon is that he's blossoming as he becomes more and more familiar with trestman and his playbook, which is the main culprit behind maximizing alshon jeffery. it's not because magic mccown is throwing him the rock.... dude you could have brady brees rapelisberger or even mike fk'n glennon there throwing him the ball..... what you're seeing is the offense as a whole getting more and more comfortable with the trestmaniac offense and now that this team has 13 games under their belt, they're obviously running at a much higher efficency than they were in their first few games with the new HC/OC/system.

and the quarterback these last ~6 weeks just happens to have been josh mccown.... but i'm telling you if cutler never got hurt the bears are no worse than 7-6 and prolly something like 9-4 right now and playing these remaining games for more homefield advantage in the playoffs..... but because mccown came in there were some games you lost where having a superior-athlete-quarterback could have made a difference (see: the vikings game. the rams game. etc) but yeah, mccown is nothing more than a system quarterback.... i guarantee you if he goes to, say, houston next year he's prolly not gonna have the same gaudy #s he has in an offense with marshall/alshon/forte/that-o-line.

mccown would do well to try and get a nice cushy backup deal here and if he can get 2-3mil/year for ~2-3 years then jump all over it.... cuz i guarantee he'd basically be a somewhat better version of matt flynn 2.0 if he left to go be a starter in jacksonville as opposed to staying here in chicago with this coach/offense/system.

tl;dr= HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHH comeon dude.... josh mccown didn't make alshon jeffery a better player. alshon jeffery and marc trestman have made alshon jeffery a better player.

or maybe i'm totally wrong and you #McClowns are right and JOSH MCCOWN IS THE WAY and, shoot, just think if he was the QB when david terrell came up....why by your logic i reckon we'd be talking about david terrell being a lock for the HOF, right?

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