Jay Cutler named NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week
Chicago Bears’ quarterback is on the road to redeeming himself. He has long drawn the ire of Bears' fans, justifiably so to some extent. Last season, when the quarterback arrived in Chicago, he threw more interceptions than touchdowns. Cutler had been somewhat
disappointing to watch throughout this season too. Before Sunday, Cutler was responsible for 12 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. Today, his record stands at 16 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.
Jay Cutler threw 247 yards and four touchdowns against Philadelphia Eagles to win the game. His passer ratings were a career high of 146.2. This was his third 4-touchdowns game in his career and the second with Chicago. The offense had been Chicago’s Achilles
heel. Commentators and analysts had predicted an Eagles' victory unless Bears’ offense performed. For his performance against the Eagles, Cutler has been named NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week and he couldn’t be happier. “When you have a game like that,
you deserve to get an award like that,” said Coach Lovie Smith.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Cutler said that being awarded the title was ‘special’ for him and for the players in Chicago’s offense. “Without them, I'm not able to do anything, so the offensive line should take a lot of pride in that.” The offensive
line has been part of the problem for Cutler. Cutler has been sacked a whooping 37 times this season. He has been pressurized by his opponents’ defence and that has negatively affected his numbers.
In the game against New York Giants, Cutler was sacked 9 times, intercepted once, and fumbled the ball three times. His improvement over the last few weeks is mirrored by improvements in the offensive line. “This is the kind of scheme where if you have one
guy out of eleven out of place, not doing his job, the whole thing is going to fall apart.”
The ever so humble Cutler was shy about taking the credit. When asked if he thought he was making better decisions, the quarterback said that everyone on the team was doing what they were supposed to do, including himself. He said that if the individual
parts of the team continued to perform their best, Bears would continue to have success in the season.
Cutler isn’t a quarterback who is comfortable with big plays. He is more comfortable with throwing shorter passes. This Sunday, Cutler threw 247 yards in 14 successful passes. “As far as pushing the ball 40, 50 yards in the air, I don’t think we’ve touched
on what we’re capable of doing there yet,” Cutler said. He added that long passes were something that could not be forced and that they haven’t yet had the opportunity to make big plays.
The quarterback said that every defence’s first priority is to eliminate the big plays. He said that Chicago had an advantage of speed on the outside. Cutler said that if he could get the ball deep, his receivers would be hard to tackle. The strategy so
far for Chicago has been of receiving short pass and running with the ball. Chicago’s receivers have been able to gain significant number of yards in that way. Still, there has been criticism of Chicago’s receivers.
Beating Philadelphia has been a boost of confidence for the whole Bears’ squad. Winning an offensive award for a team that has relied almost entirely on its defence has given the team hope of great things. Cutler said that he believed that the Bears could
go on winning. “I think everyone’s got their feet back on the ground now,” Cutler said. He said that the whole team was excited in the locker room. “I think in the back of everyone's mind, we got a little bit of respect by beating a team like that.” Beating
Philadelphia was just the start; Cutler said that the Bears were far from finished.
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