Comparing Cutler to Aaron Rodgers

by Brandon on Sep 15, 2009 8:00 AM CDT in Analysis Comment 13 comments

You could go with the short answer: QB Jay Culter - 4 INTs; QB Aaron Rodgers - zero. But I wanted to look a little deeper.

On Cutler:

If the Bears were going to fail with Cutler, I expected it would happen because offensive coordinator Ron Turner would turn Cutler into a QB Kyle Orton type check down machine. Instead the Bears let Cutler fire downfield, and it was the Vikings who turned QB Brett Favre into Captain Checkdown.
After the Sunday night game, Tom Silverstein said (via Brad Biggs) "Brett Favre was back." That might be true, but that might be bad for the NFC North. This game reminded me of Favre's first game in 2003. That season, Mike Sherman let Favre sit out most of the preseason, and he had to shake off the rust during a 3 INT first half against the Vikings. I was surprised the Bears only let Cutler throw 44 passes this preseason. For comparison, he threw 36 passes on Sunday night. He needed a lot more time with his new offense and new receivers, and the Bears didn't give it to him. By the way; Favre ended up leading the NFL in 2003 with 32 TD passes.
Football Outsiders' Bill Barnwell, from deep behind the ESPN insider wall, ranked Cutler as the 3rd worst QB on Sunday, behind only QB Matt Stafford and QB Jake Delhomme, said it just looked like the timing and communication was off, and this might turn out to be his worst game as a Bear.

On Rodgers:

After a nearly perfect preseason, it was disappointing to see he only had a QB rating of 92 in the game. It's also hard to believe that a 92 QB rating, no matter how imperfect a rating system it is, could be disappointing. Again from Bill Barnwell; a disappointing game still ranks him 15 out of 30 QBs who played on Sunday.
It was almost a brillant game, if he could have connected on two big passes that were overthrown. He was long on a deep pass to WR Donald Driver in the 1st half, then another deep ball to WR Jordy Nelson in the 2nd. Those are passes I expect he'll make, and he made them all preseason, so at this point just ignore them as being part of a small sample size.
And I'm willing to give him a mulligan for the entire game due to the collapse of RT Allen Barbre. His struggles made it impossible for the offense to get into a rhythm. When Rodgers finally got some time to throw, he hit WR Greg Jennings on a 50 yard TD pass. Despite our hopes and dreams that there might be an alternative, Mike McCarthy said Barbre will start again on Sunday against the Bengals.

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Cutler v Rodgers

Cutler is going to make the Bears more interesting this year but I don’t know if that means he will make them better. He is going to help them win games that they should lose because of the one or two big plays that he makes down the field but I still think that he could cost them a couple of games with efforts similar to this game. Once the Chicago media starts in on him it will be interesting how he reacts to the critisism.

Hopefully this game is a stepping stone for Rodgers towards making plays to win games. The play may make him know he can do was actually the run on 3rd down that was called back by a holding call. He understood what he had to do at the moment and did it. If he can continue staying in the situation like that and do exactly what he needs to do each play then this team can move forward towards the playoff team that people are predicting.

by Dogg Pound on Sep 15, 2009 8:49 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Barbre's on a really short leash.

Cincy has a terribad DL though, he might be able to redeem himself.

by Thaddeus? on Sep 15, 2009 9:41 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The dropped passes really hurt.

I was just stunned at the dropped passes by the WR’s. IIRC, a lot of the drops would have resulted in first downs; therefore, sustaining drives. So that could have hurt some of the momentum there.

I don’t think Rodgers looked bad, it was he just wasn’t getting any help from anyone else like he was in the preseason.

Looking to buy: General Manager Deputy Badge

by Bush League All Star on Sep 15, 2009 11:20 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Rodgers looked uncomfortable after the Urlacher hit. Thankfully he recovered for the Jennings touchdown.

"It ain't over till it's over." - Yogi Berra

by 49er16 on Sep 15, 2009 12:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Good point

He also looked noticeably uncomfortable after Barbe let Ogunleye sack him the 1st time. He just could never get comfortable in the pocket and that played a huge role. I think all of us know that, that was not the Rodgers we normally see, and I think the reason he wasn’t is pretty clear. That being said, he still completed 60% of his passes and threw a game-winning TD (and even on that play Ogunleye was getting pressure!). I think it says a lot that he was able to step up and complete that pass. Keep in mind it was probably a 35-40 yard pass in the air, and he threw it with the perfect amount of touch. For him to do that without ever being able to establish a rhythm the whole game really impressed me.

BTW- I am a former QB, so maybe I am giving him too much credit for his play, but I can definitely side with him and understand why he struggled a bit.

by packallday555 on Sep 15, 2009 10:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rodgers Haiku

Cutler or Rodgers?
09 stats will Bear this out
12 is 2 times 6
http://www.PackerHaiku.com

Clark Osborn - PackerHaiku.com | FavreHaiku.com | BadgerHaiku.com

by PackerHaiku on Sep 15, 2009 3:26 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Cutler Haiku

42.3
Jay Cutler’s QB rating
Rocky Mountain low
http://www.PackerHaiku.com

Clark Osborn - PackerHaiku.com | FavreHaiku.com | BadgerHaiku.com

by PackerHaiku on Sep 15, 2009 3:27 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Give Rodgers Credit

the guy was on his butt the entire night and he still threw for over 60% with a TD and no INT’s. The only truly bad play by Rodgers was running into the end zone with a super quick Daniel Manning chasing him. A couple of his miss throws were to be expected when your getting busted up all night. The kid showed some amazing poise and pulled it out at the end.

by FavreSucks on Sep 15, 2009 3:33 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Cutler proved to be a guy who can buckle under pressure.

Bear fans have the expectation that he is the second coming of Sid Luckman. By week 8, they will figure out that he is Sid Out-of-luck-man.

Cutler has an air about him that strikes me that he is arrogant and smug and stubborn. I think there is good reason that Denver was happy to trade him and he has yet to have a winning record wherever he has been.

As for Rodgers, I think we are seeing a guy who really got a chance to “season” while watching Favre work his magic for so long. He has maturity and leadership that Cutler will never exhibit. Rodgers will have bad days, no doubt, but I think he has the maturity to lead the Packers for a long time. I doubt that Cutler will be a long-term solution in Chicago.

"Truth hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with the seat missing, but it hurts." - Leslie Nielson

by LAcarl519 on Sep 15, 2009 5:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Why even bother?

Comparing Rodgers to Cutler is like comparing apples to toe nail clippings. One (Rodgers) has been with his team for a few years. The other (Cutler) is new to his team, and looked like it. They both struggled for a while during the game. One improved; the other did not. Cutler did find some success passing the ball down field even with all those INTs. If Cutler did not make those bad decisions, then the game might have been a blowout in favor of the Bears. Give credit to the Packers defense for putting pressure on the Chicago QB and stuffing the run. Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come for the Green and Gold. Hopefully, what is NOT a sign of things to come is the poor play of the offensive line in pass protection. The last thing the Pack needs to see is Rodgers go down with an injury. To say that Barbre is on a short leash should be a rather incontrovertible understatement. Yet the entire line needs to protect better. It is grossly unfair to pick on the young RT alone.

by starmark on Sep 16, 2009 5:19 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

If we are doing the "If's" thing...

If the refs wouldn’t have made that horrible call, “illegal contact”, on Al Harris, which should have not been called, which the Bears should have been called for “illegal formation”, in which Devin Hester was lined up a yard behind the line of scrimage. That gave the Bears an automatic first down, and a breath of life, which ended putting the Bears up 15-13.
You’re talking of multiple events, which the Packers defense is designed to do.
If you want to go to multiple events, then we have to go to the RT. I think that if Allen Barbre would have been able to do his job and hold Adewale Ogunleye even half the time, it would have been a different game, in the Packers’ favor.
The Jolly interception, would have been a good pass, if Jolly wouldn’t have put his left hand up to get the ball. But as I said the new design of the defense is to get take-aways.

by #12-tony on Sep 16, 2009 10:00 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

“Yet the entire line needs to protect better. It is grossly unfair to pick on the young RT alone.”

Huh? The rest of the line did a great job. Clifton handled Brown at RE just fine, who from what I’ve heard is thought to be better then Ogunleye. Colledge and Spitz both did a great job against Harris the whole game, who was pretty much a non-factor. The rest of line that good, and much better then last year for that matter. Had Barbre been able to keep Ogunleye in front of him for like at least 2-3 seconds half of the time, things would have been much different.

by packallday555 on Sep 16, 2009 10:57 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tommie Harris

I don’t know who deserves credit for this one, but someone or maybe a couple different players, deserve credit for keeping him contained. Even if he’s playing on one leg.

by Brandon on Sep 17, 2009 12:21 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs