Alaskan Grizzly

Welcome. Good to see you.

True. Nicely said.

Good job Jay. Hold onto that ball. Dont want to throw it downfield. Brandon must not have been open.

Yep . Sounds good. We need to get a better draft position. Sheesh.

So if I get this right before you and Cracker dog wanted to count receptions and not "targets "? But now you'll consider it? And where has it got the team? Jay has been playing lights out.

He should throw to the FIRST open receiver he sees, not hope Marshall will work open. At least he remembered that AJ can play too.

What?!? A 50 yd FG in 1st down?!??? No?!?!?!!!!!!!

Gonna run outta time because Jay stands there looking downfield forever.

There are other frickin receivers on the field Jay!

Talk about being 'dopey'. Targets SHOULD count (since BM had the majority) because two of those 'non-sensical targets' resulted in INTs. Receptions are only counted if they are CAUGHT by the offense. And for the record BM did say there was a fair amount of "chatter" amongst fellow Bears players before last week's game about Cutler starting over McCown. Something about Cutler throwing a bunch of INTs during practice. Or which "professionals" were you referring to? At the end of the day if Jay steps up and doesn't pull a. Mr Hyde these last two weeks then things will be fine....if not, the "dopes" will be back.

Me too . I'm hopeful that both Detroit and GB falter today. I don't have the faith that Cutler has "bought in" as many here hope. And I fear he'll look crappy today and Trestman won't pull him. But that's just me being pessimistically optimistic.

Ryan is a complete and utter ass. Tucker hasn't had much to work with this year. He should get one more chance at it (3-4?) then we'll see. At least he came out of the press box. Thanks for doing that Mel.

Hmmm..... 84-66 overall record, 3 NFC North championships and a Super Bowl appearance. My how "horrible". Good luck Lovie wherever you end up.

So, since this appears to be based on this years performance, I wonder where Josh would compare? Especially in the salary department.

Couldn't agree more. But I just asked to mentally prepare myself (and stock up on something with a higher proof) for what to expect on week 17. Especially if GB wins this weekend as well as Chicago. Of course the question is; Rodgers has been out for quite awhile now and he too should fall prey to rust and inactivity. But would a beaten up Rodgers be better/worse than an upsurging Matt Flynn? Could make for a VERY interesting (stressful) week 17 matchup. Easiest thing to do at this point is hope that Pittsburgh really wants to make the playoffs. Enough that they put a beat down on the "hatred". Then all my concerns and the above commmentary is moot. And I can drink a simple beer.

Roger that. Wow, who knew that SMC could have been such a determiniing factor in the NFC North race? Terra, what say you?

That is encouraging. Good to hear indeed. Any word on Rodgers? I heard they were going to try and determine today. Just thinking ahead to week 17.

What's good should be good for the gander (bolded). McCown has played with that same crap D. In fact, many here have said that the D was better early in the season, when Jay was playing, before they lost several of their key players. So.....in reality it's McCown that has had he benefit (or detriment) of playing with a bad D, thus putting pressure on HIM to perform. And by not making the comparison to an "all time great" but instead to a former HS Football coach, I found that in 8 games (counting Detroit #2) Cutler threw 13 TDs to 8 INTs and fumbled the ball 3 times. Where McC (in 7 games) did 13 TDs to 1 Int and 1 Fumb. That perhaps measures the "wildly out of control" you are referring to. I think pretty highly of McCown too, especially given from where he started. But looking at pure "distibution" in the games that both McCown and Cutler played with Marshall and Jeffery as the primary WR's. In the first 8 games (predominately Cutler) Marshall had 46 receptions to 38 with McCown. Whereas Jeffery had 33 receptions in the same sample to 42 with McCown. Almost a literal swap. Is that because AJ improved or because McCown does better at surveying the field? So let's look at this last week. Cutler targeted BM 13 times to AJ's 5 (one of which was the 'hail mary' reception). Of those numbers 9 were caught by Marshall in the first half and 3 by Jeffery. The rest (4 / 2) were in the second half. What does that tell me? It tells me that we are confirmed that Cutler was looking like his old self in the first half by trying too much to hit BM. He seemed to spread it around more in the second half. Why? One can only speculate but my guess is he either figured it our or was told to. Again using the Cleveland game as a simple measuring stick I would say I agree that Cutler is "improving". Not sure how well but the next two games will better determine what to do with him next.

I think you hit on some valid points. Those being, is Cutler capable of playing outside his 'norm'? I think we got a pretty good taste of it this last week with his 1st half vs 2nd half performances. As one analyst pointed out, Cutler is notorious for slow starts and probably one of the higher rated quarterbacks in the last two (especially the 4th) periods. The 1st half showcased some of his old habits mixed in with some rust. He threw to BM almost on each and every pass play. He forced it (in my opinion) a few too many times and it paid in turnovers. However, he came back in the second half with less rust and more patience. He started looking over the field and realized there were other recievers on the field besides Brandon. If that was a meausre of what he is capable of, I'm hopeful (not confident) that he can continue the trend. In order for me to be completely (or as close as I can this year) sold on him being able to adapt, I would need for him to be able to maintain that play for the next two games. Then we would find our team in the playoffs and Cutler would most certainly earn himself some leverage in the contract negotiations. Whatever you do, don't EVER tell Cracker that he is completely right.

So how about the second Detroit game where McCown very nearly pulled out a win after Cutler sat? And in that game against Washington I believe McCown did everything he could to win the game, it was due to the defense not being able to stop Washington that lost that game. However wasn't it you (or someone did at least) that pointed out the defense was in better shape when Cutler was playing? Tillman, Melton, Collins and Briggs were all playing so he should have benefited from that counter. Since the point was also made that the line has progressed in the season than so theoretically did McCown benefit from that. Again, the point being made is that since Cutler is better (in your opinion - stats aside) and by many considered a "Franchise QB" he should have a better overall rating. Regardless the opponent and their defensive status. If for nothing else worthy of a large contract extension.

Which part, the offseason? Sorry... Couldn't resist. Anyone hear about Briggs' status? Not sure Tillman not coming back is such a big deal. But IF Briggs were to return and with the apparent emergence of Ratliff, things may not be all bad. If I'm not mistaken Tillman was ruled on short-term IR (whatever they call it) and was ruled out until the playoffs when he first hurt his arm. This really isn't groundbreaking. If the team makes the playoffs and if Tillman were to return then it would be noteworthy.

So the first question I have is which one of those were the game where McCown relieved Cutler? Because his (McCowns) STARTING record this year is 3-2 and you have six groupings there. The second point is if one of this is where he relieved him it wasn't until late in the game where he very nearly pulled off a comeback win. The last point to be made is that despite the opposition McCown has maintained the top QBR. Would he had he started the rest of those games? Never know but we do know where Cutlers rank was based and it's not first.

Problem was Jeffrey was streaking down the sideline with single coverage. There were a minimum of two defenders on BM. That's the part that is frustrating.

Jay redeemed himself...a little bit... With that TD. But yes it seems he hasn't heard that Alshon is having a good year. Hopefully he'll come back in half 2 with some better confidence and less rust and more trust in the other players on the team.

huh?