Analyzing the interceptions

[jason]

I am disgusted after this week more than I have been in a long time. With that said, the INTs are deceiving in my opinion.

 

INT #1: This was a forced throw by Cutler, but he was left with little choice. The play-calling on this set of downs was typical Turner, and absolutely atrocious. Two runs up the middle on first and second lead the Bears to a third and goal, and EVERYONE in the world knew it was going to be a pass. So, why play action at all? The run didn't fool anyone. And even if the Niners were stupid enough to maybe expect a run, which they weren't, it wasn't like they'd be scared anyway because they just stuffed it on the previous two plays. At that point, they just packed it in and made the passing lanes nearly unpassable. Horrible job by Turner, bad decision by Cutler.

 

INT #2: This is on Hester (or the field conditions if you prefer). Period.

 

INT #3: This is just bad luck. Hester got chipped by the Umpire. This was a good throw by Cutler, but what else could he do? After the play he walked to the sideline, shrugged his shoulders, and pretty much said, "What can you do with luck like that?" This is on luck/officials.

 

INT #4: This was complete BS. This play was THE DEFINITION of pass interference. The announcers said it, and the refs completely blew it. I have no clue what the hell the Back Judge was looking at. He was definitely not reading his keys. And if he was (trust me, he wasn't), then either the Side Judge or the Field Judge blew their read. On the refs.

 

INT #5: Yeah, this one is on Cutler. All on him from what I could tell. But you know what? In that situation, what's he supposed to do? It was ALL on his shoulders, and he made a bad throw.

 

So, to recap boys and girls...

1.5 on Cutler

1 on Hester

2 on the officials

.5 on Turner

 

I don't really think Cutler did that poorly, per se, but he did have a final statline that appears as if he played horribly. The stats do not tell the whole story.

 

[nfoligno]

Jason. Sorry, but you are making excuses here you never would have for Rex or Orton. You and I are so often on the same page, but as high as I am on Cutler, I simply will not just excuse him for a game like this one.

 

You say that stats don't tell the whole story. I agree. There were numerous other passes that could have also been picked off.

 

On the first pick, you really seem to excuse Rex. you can blame Turner all you want, but Cutler made an awful decision. There were four 9'er jerseys, and one Bear jersey. I don't care if Turner made a bad call. When running the play, if the primary is covered (not to mentioned covered by 4 defenders) you don't throw his way. This was early in the game. There was simply no reason to force the throw. Throw it away and take 3. Then, we can talk about Turner and why we had to settle for 3 rather than 7, but that we setting for ZERO rather than 3 is 100% on Cutler.

 

Pick 4 (this was Hester over the middle, right) I think are are a bit quick to excuse Cutler. Sorry, but I don't think it was as 100% as you make out. The DB had his eyes on the QB, and has the right to go for the ball also. Maybe it should have been PI, but I don't think it was as clear cut as you make out. Further, Hester was covered. Period. That doesn't mean a perfect pass followed by a perfect catch doesn't equal a great play, but that isn't the point. Hester was not open. He was covered. AFter throwing 3 picks already, you would think he might not try to continue to throw to WRs who are covered.

 

Pick 5 - What do I expect from our franchise QB? Win the game. The play wasn't there. On a play like that, with what, 6 seconds. You run the play, and if the D has it covered, you quickly throw it 15 yards over the WRs, and out of the endzone. Then you write another play, and try again.

 

Look. When you make a post like this, you give fuel to those who would defend Rex and Orton and say Cutler was a bad trade. You do this because you would have never made such a post in the past when Rex or Orton had similar days. Make no mistake. Plenty of Rex' and Orton's picks were not their fault. Rex was screwed over by the WRs many times as they would allow the ball to bounce off their hands, and then watch it go into the hands of the defender.

 

Rex throw 5 picks. Not all where 100% on him, but (a) 2 were in the red zone, ( one was the potential game winner/ender and © there were numerous other would-be picks that are not going to be reflected in the stat sheet, but that doesn't mean he didn't have other poor passes.

 

I am disgusted after this week more than I have been in a long time. With that said, the INTs are deceiving in my opinion.

 

INT #1: This was a forced throw by Cutler, but he was left with little choice. The play-calling on this set of downs was typical Turner, and absolutely atrocious. Two runs up the middle on first and second lead the Bears to a third and goal, and EVERYONE in the world knew it was going to be a pass. So, why play action at all? The run didn't fool anyone. And even if the Niners were stupid enough to maybe expect a run, which they weren't, it wasn't like they'd be scared anyway because they just stuffed it on the previous two plays. At that point, they just packed it in and made the passing lanes nearly unpassable. Horrible job by Turner, bad decision by Cutler.

 

INT #2: This is on Hester (or the field conditions if you prefer). Period.

 

INT #3: This is just bad luck. Hester got chipped by the Umpire. This was a good throw by Cutler, but what else could he do? After the play he walked to the sideline, shrugged his shoulders, and pretty much said, "What can you do with luck like that?" This is on luck/officials.

 

INT #4: This was complete BS. This play was THE DEFINITION of pass interference. The announcers said it, and the refs completely blew it. I have no clue what the hell the Back Judge was looking at. He was definitely not reading his keys. And if he was (trust me, he wasn't), then either the Side Judge or the Field Judge blew their read. On the refs.

 

INT #5: Yeah, this one is on Cutler. All on him from what I could tell. But you know what? In that situation, what's he supposed to do? It was ALL on his shoulders, and he made a bad throw.

 

So, to recap boys and girls...

1.5 on Cutler

1 on Hester

2 on the officials

.5 on Turner

 

I don't really think Cutler did that poorly, per se, but he did have a final statline that appears as if he played horribly. The stats do not tell the whole story.

 

[adam]

Right now Cutler is making too many bad decisions in the Red Zone. That is where he is killing the team. On the first Red Zone INT, if he just throws it away and we kick a FG, that last one never even happens. Gould would be in for a potential game winner with a few seconds left and Cutler would be a hero.

 

[ParkerBear7]

I am disgusted after this week more than I have been in a long time. With that said, the INTs are deceiving in my opinion.

 

INT #1: This was a forced throw by Cutler, but he was left with little choice. The play-calling on this set of downs was typical Turner, and absolutely atrocious. Two runs up the middle on first and second lead the Bears to a third and goal, and EVERYONE in the world knew it was going to be a pass. So, why play action at all? The run didn't fool anyone. And even if the Niners were stupid enough to maybe expect a run, which they weren't, it wasn't like they'd be scared anyway because they just stuffed it on the previous two plays. At that point, they just packed it in and made the passing lanes nearly unpassable. Horrible job by Turner, bad decision by Cutler.

 

INT #2: This is on Hester (or the field conditions if you prefer). Period.

 

INT #3: This is just bad luck. Hester got chipped by the Umpire. This was a good throw by Cutler, but what else could he do? After the play he walked to the sideline, shrugged his shoulders, and pretty much said, "What can you do with luck like that?" This is on luck/officials.

 

INT #4: This was complete BS. This play was THE DEFINITION of pass interference. The announcers said it, and the refs completely blew it. I have no clue what the hell the Back Judge was looking at. He was definitely not reading his keys. And if he was (trust me, he wasn't), then either the Side Judge or the Field Judge blew their read. On the refs.

 

INT #5: Yeah, this one is on Cutler. All on him from what I could tell. But you know what? In that situation, what's he supposed to do? It was ALL on his shoulders, and he made a bad throw.

 

So, to recap boys and girls...

1.5 on Cutler

1 on Hester

2 on the officials

.5 on Turner

 

I don't really think Cutler did that poorly, per se, but he did have a final statline that appears as if he played horribly. The stats do not tell the whole story.

 

 

Jason, I absolutely agree with your post. Hopefully Cutler can bounce back like Kurt Warner did after his 5 pick game the week before the cards played the Bears. The only problem is the cards seemed to find there running game, also against the Bears. But that is exactly the point: the lack of being able to run the ball has made this team predictable and when your receivers do not come back for the ball than that leaves an opportunity for the defender to make a play on the ball as well. Culter although far from perfect ( the redzone picks were bad decisions that need to be fixed) but I still make this trade today.

 

I also agree very much with Jason regarding the play calling has been atrocious along with everything else has really made a perfect storm for Culter to put up career worst performances on more than 1 occassion this year. But Jay still needs to remeber 3 pts is better than no points and a turn over.

 

Right now this team is not playoff bound and which we all realized earlier in the season. The best thing this team can do is to develop the young offensive players like Devin A., L. Louis and the RB on the practice squad etc as well as get our young DL snaps like Gilbert and Harrison.

[jason]

Jason. Sorry, but you are making excuses here you never would have for Rex or Orton. You and I are so often on the same page, but as high as I am on Cutler, I simply will not just excuse him for a game like this one.

 

You say that stats don't tell the whole story. I agree. There were numerous other passes that could have also been picked off.

 

On the first pick, you really seem to excuse Rex. you can blame Turner all you want, but Cutler made an awful decision. There were four 9'er jerseys, and one Bear jersey. I don't care if Turner made a bad call. When running the play, if the primary is covered (not to mentioned covered by 4 defenders) you don't throw his way. This was early in the game. There was simply no reason to force the throw. Throw it away and take 3. Then, we can talk about Turner and why we had to settle for 3 rather than 7, but that we setting for ZERO rather than 3 is 100% on Cutler.

 

I agree that the end result is on Cutler, but this series of calls from Turner was inexcusable. Cutler should have thrown it away, agreed. But when you give a guy a knife in a gun fight...

 

Pick 4 (this was Hester over the middle, right) I think are are a bit quick to excuse Cutler. Sorry, but I don't think it was as 100% as you make out. The DB had his eyes on the QB, and has the right to go for the ball also. Maybe it should have been PI, but I don't think it was as clear cut as you make out. Further, Hester was covered. Period. That doesn't mean a perfect pass followed by a perfect catch doesn't equal a great play, but that isn't the point. Hester was not open. He was covered. AFter throwing 3 picks already, you would think he might not try to continue to throw to WRs who are covered.

We'll agree to disagree on this one. This was the right pass, the right route, and it was well covered; HOWEVER, it was not completely covered, and the WR had the step. In the NFL, that's all you can ask for. You can't blame Cutler on this one.

 

Pick 5 - What do I expect from our franchise QB? Win the game. The play wasn't there. On a play like that, with what, 6 seconds. You run the play, and if the D has it covered, you quickly throw it 15 yards over the WRs, and out of the endzone. Then you write another play, and try again.

Yes, like I said, it was all Cutler's fault on the last one. But it's easy to understand how a guy who clearly has the city of Chicago football on his shoulders, who has been asked to be the first franchise QB since McMahon, who has been asked to rejuvinate an offense that has been stagnant for quite some time, would try to do a little too much. It's not an excuse; it's an understanding.

 

Look. When you make a post like this, you give fuel to those who would defend Rex and Orton and say Cutler was a bad trade. You do this because you would have never made such a post in the past when Rex or Orton had similar days. Make no mistake. Plenty of Rex' and Orton's picks were not their fault. Rex was screwed over by the WRs many times as they would allow the ball to bounce off their hands, and then watch it go into the hands of the defender.

 

Rex throw 5 picks. Not all where 100% on him, but (a) 2 were in the red zone, ( one was the potential game winner/ender and © there were numerous other would-be picks that are not going to be reflected in the stat sheet, but that doesn't mean he didn't have other poor passes.

 

I don't disagree that there were other bad passes...but the INTs in question were the subject.

[nfoligno]

At the end of the day, this is the point I would make. Some will point to the 5 picks as proof Cutler had an awful game. Others will disect the picks to show it wasn't that bad. I would simply argue that, regardless how you view each pick individually, Cutler had an awful game. Now, I have maintained all along that our offense as a whole sucks, from coaching down, and that this loss is not solely on Cutler, but that does not excuse Cutler for the poor game he had.

 

 

 

I agree that the end result is on Cutler, but this series of calls from Turner was inexcusable. Cutler should have thrown it away, agreed. But when you give a guy a knife in a gun fight...

 

 

We'll agree to disagree on this one. This was the right pass, the right route, and it was well covered; HOWEVER, it was not completely covered, and the WR had the step. In the NFL, that's all you can ask for. You can't blame Cutler on this one.

 

 

Yes, like I said, it was all Cutler's fault on the last one. But it's easy to understand how a guy who clearly has the city of Chicago football on his shoulders, who has been asked to be the first franchise QB since McMahon, who has been asked to rejuvinate an offense that has been stagnant for quite some time, would try to do a little too much. It's not an excuse; it's an understanding.

 

 

 

I don't disagree that there were other bad passes...but the INTs in question were the subject.