Will Jay Cutler have a better/worse/similar season?

[germansbombedph]

He will get better and he will surprise many. He'll be generating some Attention. I expect him to come up with some big Plays.

Why? We improved the OL big time, we even got some depth. Compared to last year, we'll be better. The WRs should be more healthy. This will help him. The running game will get involved a lot with Fox as HC and our Guards. This will open up some space and Play Action will work. Now you have some chances to throw some bombs and we have Speed and Size outside. The Play calling will be up to Cutlers strenghts. I don't think they want to fix Cutler or teach him or let him be a QB he just isn't. He is what he is and now let's Play to his strenghts.

[hawkeye21]

I think Cutler can do better but I'm expecting something similar to last year. Just don't be worse than last year and everything will be ok.

[4dabers]

I don't care who you are, it always comes back to that running game doesn't it?

If you can't get two yards when you need it running the ball, then your passing game will be swarmed. If you can run the ball 4 to 6 yards a carry, then the passing game will be wide open. 

I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling better about our running game since the Sitton signing and Long/Massie will do well for our running backs on the right side.  I am also excited about the potential for Jordan Howard to make a difference.  I know his yards were against the reserves in our last game, but that kid looked like someone very special to me.  Honestly, I'm not so sure Langford will be the #1 for the whole season.

If our running game does well, Jay will do well, and I peg him as continuing his maturity and rate of success this year.  I predict a QBR of 95 or better this season and who cares about the yards; if he ain't getting em, then the running backs are and that's OK by me.  I'm an old school guy and as exciting as a great passing game is, there is nothing more gratifying than pounding the rock all game long and making opposing defenses eat it.    

[JABF]

Sept 6, 2016 13:31:51 GMT -6 4dabers said:

I don't care who you are, it always comes back to that running game doesn't it?

If you can't get two yards when you need it running the ball, then your passing game will be swarmed. If you can run the ball 4 to 6 yards a carry, then the passing game will be wide open. 

I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling better about our running game since the Sitton signing and Long/Massie will do well for our running backs on the right side.  I am also excited about the potential for Jordan Howard to make a difference.  I know his yards were against the reserves in our last game, but that kid looked like someone very special to me.  Honestly, I'm not so sure Langford will be the #1 for the whole season.

If our running game does well, Jay will do well, and I peg him as continuing his maturity and rate of success this year.  I predict a QBR of 95 or better this season and who cares about the yards; if he ain't getting em, then the running backs are and that's OK by me.  I'm an old school guy and as exciting as a great passing game is, there is nothing more gratifying than pounding the rock all game long and making opposing defenses eat it.    

+1
If you don't have a run game that can pick up short yardage in critical situations to keep the chains moving, and to punch the ball into the end zone when it's a few feet you need to score - then that's a killer to the QB.  That's part of what's happened in Chicago.  I'd get so sick of watching us get stuffed in short yardage run situations.  The opposing D would be in the backfield about the time Forte would get the ball from Cutler.  I'd get angry watching it happen.

A stout run game, especially in short yardage situations, is a QB's best friend.  I'm cautiously optimistic we may have the beasts now to pick up those short yardage 1st downs and scores now.  It should also limit the 3-and-outs we see all too often here. 

[germansbombedph]

I want to add, that I hope we see him start 16+ games

[AlexM]

Sept 7, 2016 6:15:28 GMT -6 germansbombedph said:

I want to add, that I hope we see him start 16+ games

especially the + part

[Deleted]

Sept 5, 2016 7:46:24 GMT -6 @belliot said:

Sept 4, 2016 19:10:54 GMT -6 @soulman said:

I'll go out on a limb and say that even with a more run centric offense provided his receivers stay on the field he'll have his first 4000 yard season as a Bears QB.  I expect the running game to carry the ball down the field more this year and for Jay to be able to air it out downfield more frequently especially if we can make the play action stuff payoff.

That may be why Loggains decided he wanted more size and speed in his WR core which meant Mariani and Braverman were lesser fits at the moment than guys like Meredith, Bellamy, and Thompson.

Good connection. We have a stable of big bodied or fast receivers who pose vertical threats. Even Eddie Royal who's our SL guy can run every route tree. The threat of the deep ball is always there and those 50/50
Jump balls with White Meredith and Jeffery should be 75/25 or better.

As good as that sounds though I'm grounded by the reality that is John Fox. Hopefully our very game isn't grounded too much by him.

That would be frustrating to watch. Teams dream about being able to have a true long passing game complimented by a real running attack that is capable of getting yards in chunks. And if you have both, it is really the reason you have both in the first place. In other words, each opens up the other to allow both. Simple in theory, extremely hard to put together, and rarely done. But it is still the goal.

It is difficult because you need a top notch OL to allow time for the long game, and the ability to create lanes for the running game. That's 5 players right there and some are not cheap. You need two (preferably three real receiving threats. Preferably big bodies that can out run people. It is HARD to find big bodies people that can outrun defenders. Usually you get one or the other. And they need to fight for everything that comes their way. You want more than one and they are expensive. If you can get them. And you need a really good RB or two. Average are common, but top end guys are less so. And most important, you need a field general in the QB that can read the defenses, stay calm, make all the throws, and protect the ball at the same time. It hard to get more than one or two of these. Getting them all is like hitting the lottery. You don't NEED them all, but if you want a truly top long passing game as well as a top running game, you almost DO need them all. That is why it is rarely seen. We actually have the bones of this now, but I think that when we see it happen on the field, it will fall short of it's potential. It's what almost always happens.

But boy, would it be cool to watch for a season or two!

[Deleted]

Jay should be thrilled about the addition of Sitton and having his pass blocking ability protecting him rather than Aaron Rodgers now.  The ability of Sitton and Long plus whoever ends up at OC keeping his "front porch" clear so he has ample time to go through progressions and can step up in the pocket and into throws for a change will be key to being able to get a vertical passing game going with AJ and White as his targets.  That's a luxury he's seldom had in the past and also why I believe he'll throw for over 4000 yards this year.

A great ground game will help too but in previous years Jay has seldom had the time in the pocket to go downfield consistently.  That's what needed to change because he's statistically a much better passer when he can and he actually gives up fewer picks when he's in sync with his WRs downfield than he does in his short passing game where the play calls have always been more predictable and the timing of the throws and precision of the route more important.  Cutler is not the style of QB you want for a dink and dunk WCO type passing game.

Little by little the Bears have finally surrounded him with the talent he's needed at the skill positions and for the first time in memory he'll actually have a pretty fair pass blocking OL as well.  The only true weak spot may be Massie but as long as even he can manage to push his man to the outside if Long and Sitton can keep the pocket clean Jay can step up and away from that outside rush.  In Miller he also has a speedier TE who can challenge the middle of a defense with seam routes and make it more difficult for opponents to blitz a Safety or LB.  He and Loggains just need to pick up on that and make those adjustments when needed.

There were less reasons than ever before for Jay not to have succeeded last year and to a great extent he did.  Hopefully we've added enough more to the offense to make it even easier this year provided he and Loggains can find ways to take advantage of that.

[AlexM]

Sept 8, 2016 6:40:52 GMT -6 @soulman said:

Jay should be thrilled about the addition of Sitton and having his pass blocking ability protecting him rather than Aaron Rodgers now.  The ability of Sitton and Long plus whoever ends up at OC keeping his "front porch" clear so he has ample time to go through progressions and can step up in the pocket and into throws for a change will be key to being able to get a vertical passing game going with AJ and White as his targets.  That's a luxury he's seldom had in the past and also why I believe he'll throw for over 4000 yards this year.

A great ground game will help too but in previous years Jay has seldom had the time in the pocket to go downfield consistently.  That's what needed to change because he's statistically a much better passer when he can and he actually gives up fewer picks when he's in sync with his WRs downfield than he does in his short passing game where the play calls have always been more predictable and the timing of the throws and precision of the route more important.  Cutler is not the style of QB you want for a dink and dunk WCO type passing game.

Little by little the Bears have finally surrounded him with the talent he's needed at the skill positions and for the first time in memory he'll actually have a pretty fair pass blocking OL as well.  The only true weak spot may be Massie but as long as even he can manage to push his man to the outside if Long and Sitton can keep the pocket clean Jay can step up and away from that outside rush.  In Miller he also has a speedier TE who can challenge the middle of a defense with seam routes and make it more difficult for opponents to blitz a Safety or LB.  He and Loggains just need to pick up on that and make those adjustments when needed.

There were less reasons than ever before for Jay not to have succeeded last year and to a great extent he did.  Hopefully we've added enough more to the offense to make it even easier this year provided he and Loggains can find ways to take advantage of that.

You are exactly right Soul, everybodys talking how our O is much weaker than last year and I just dont see it. 1st of all Matt is a loss, but I believe our young RB's can make up for it. Then at TE's Bennett was almost a non-factor last year, well he was ok at blocking and other duties but Miller took over most of the work. At wr's we have White back and that should be huge for us, if with that we get healthy Alshon we're good to go! Much better than last year. And finally O-line, last year we had that failed Long to T experiment, now we got Sitton, Whitehair, Massie, who I believe is a competent RT and Long back to HIS place. Well, not only does is sound worse, in fact it sounds better than last year, so far.

[Deleted]

Sept 8, 2016 6:50:34 GMT -6 AlexM said:

Sept 8, 2016 6:40:52 GMT -6 @soulman said:

Jay should be thrilled about the addition of Sitton and having his pass blocking ability protecting him rather than Aaron Rodgers now.  The ability of Sitton and Long plus whoever ends up at OC keeping his "front porch" clear so he has ample time to go through progressions and can step up in the pocket and into throws for a change will be key to being able to get a vertical passing game going with AJ and White as his targets.  That's a luxury he's seldom had in the past and also why I believe he'll throw for over 4000 yards this year.

A great ground game will help too but in previous years Jay has seldom had the time in the pocket to go downfield consistently.  That's what needed to change because he's statistically a much better passer when he can and he actually gives up fewer picks when he's in sync with his WRs downfield than he does in his short passing game where the play calls have always been more predictable and the timing of the throws and precision of the route more important.  Cutler is not the style of QB you want for a dink and dunk WCO type passing game.

Little by little the Bears have finally surrounded him with the talent he's needed at the skill positions and for the first time in memory he'll actually have a pretty fair pass blocking OL as well.  The only true weak spot may be Massie but as long as even he can manage to push his man to the outside if Long and Sitton can keep the pocket clean Jay can step up and away from that outside rush.  In Miller he also has a speedier TE who can challenge the middle of a defense with seam routes and make it more difficult for opponents to blitz a Safety or LB.  He and Loggains just need to pick up on that and make those adjustments when needed.

There were less reasons than ever before for Jay not to have succeeded last year and to a great extent he did.  Hopefully we've added enough more to the offense to make it even easier this year provided he and Loggains can find ways to take advantage of that.

You are exactly right Soul, everybodys talking how our O is much weaker than last year and I just dont see it. 1st of all Matt is a loss, but I believe our young RB's can make up for it. Then at TE's Bennett was almost a non-factor last year, well he was ok at blocking and other duties but Miller took over most of the work. At wr's we have White back and that should be huge for us, if with that we get healthy Alshon we're good to go! Much better than last year. And finally O-line, last year we had that failed Long to T experiment, now we got Sitton, Whitehair, Massie, who I believe is a competent RT and Long back to HIS place. Well, not only does is sound worse, in fact it sounds better than last year, so far.

Much of the media will say that until proven wrong Alex.  Matt Forte was always good for 1500-1700 total yards from scrimmage each year but we seldom had another back who contributed much of anything beyond that.  It's inconceivable to me that the three RBs we have now in combination can't produce 1500-1700 total yards.

Hell Carey and Langford had just under 1000 between then in 2015 playing less snaps Forte had for his 1300 yards.  So that's 2300 total yards between 3 RBs we need to cover in 16 games or about 140 yards per games.  We should be averaging 80-85% of that per game from rushing alone especially if Howard gets used to hammer at defenses later in the game.

Bennett had one good year for us and by the end of last year Miller was out producing him and we have what will hopefully be all three of our top WRs playing 16 games this year instead backup for 80% of the time we had last year and even without that the depth is far better.

The potential is all there they just have to get the kinks worked out and start playing up to their combined ability as a unit.  That's really where the problem lies.  It's not so much a lack of talent as it is a lack of cohesiveness and efficiency.