NFL Week 3

[Cliff Levingston]

Cutler threw six picks (my count after re-watching game)

You can not be serious?
I can watch ANY football game & count what shoulda & coulda been an interception. Brees, Peyton, Brady, & Rodgers ALL make throws that are NEARLY picked off.

Brees, Peyton, Brady, and Rodgers have never thrown SIX 'could've-should've' picks in a game. I'm not talking about tipped balls either. I'm talking about 5-6 truly terrible throws that are simply being forgotten by every national pundit not named Skip Bayless.

Not sure where you get 6. Cliff Levingston will address two of them though.

The play where Zombo got his helmet up in Jay's grill was surely one you're talking about. Cliff Levingston bets that if he punched you in the face while you're trying to throw a pass, you'd have a tough time being accurate with that throw. Not much else to say on that one. Good play by Zombo though; can't fault a guy for trying to make a play. He didn't look like he was trying to purposely go helmet to helmet, it just ended up that way.

The second one was the lob to Bennett. It was under thrown but it was also a jump ball. Bennett isn't the ideal jump ball kinda guy, but had he been allowed to get anywhere near the ball by the defender, then that easily could've been an incomplete pass at minimum with Bennett turning into a DB if need be.

No one is saying Jay is perfect. Cliff Levingston predicted he'd throw 16 INTs on the season which is still a lot, so you'd have a point. Right now, he's on pace for 10-11 for the season. Cliff Levingston gives the Packers' D a lot of credit for keeping the Bears offense largely in check. Nonetheless, you can't look at those stats biggiesmalls provided and claim that Cutler isn't playing great football this year especially when you consider the lack of protection he has.

[Wade-A-Holic]

I also noticed that you didn't argue against the 2010 stats on Cutler that I posted in this thread. Numbers don't lie.

That's exactly what numbers do when your sample size is three games, one being against the Lions, who might have the worst secondary in football this season.

[Wade-A-Holic]

No one is saying Jay is perfect. Cliff Levingston predicted he'd throw 16 INTs on the season which is still a lot, so you'd have a point. Right now, he's on pace for 10-11 for the season. Cliff Levingston gives the Packers' D a lot of credit for keeping the Bears offense largely in check. Nonetheless, you can't look at those stats biggiesmalls provided and claim that Cutler isn't playing great football this year especially when you consider the lack of protection he has.

I'm not really referring to you in my criticisms of Cutler. You have a pretty realistic outlook on the guy. I'm more or less reacting to the Tuesday morning national media that was all over his jock when the reality is that he didn't play that well.

[Susan]

No one is saying Jay is perfect. Cliff Levingston predicted he'd throw 16 INTs on the season which is still a lot, so you'd have a point. Right now, he's on pace for 10-11 for the season. Cliff Levingston gives the Packers' D a lot of credit for keeping the Bears offense largely in check. Nonetheless, you can't look at those stats biggiesmalls provided and claim that Cutler isn't playing great football this year especially when you consider the lack of protection he has.

I'm not really referring to you in my criticisms of Cutler. You have a pretty realistic outlook on the guy. I'm more or less reacting to the Tuesday morning national media that was all over his jock when the reality is that he didn't play that well.

He played significantly better against Dallas. Rodgers outplayed him on Monday and yet the Bears won.

[SportsWorld]

The Cowboys game was probably Cutler's best performance of his career. You couldn't have played a more perfect game than he played.

[Cliff Levingston]

No one is saying Jay is perfect. Cliff Levingston predicted he'd throw 16 INTs on the season which is still a lot, so you'd have a point. Right now, he's on pace for 10-11 for the season. Cliff Levingston gives the Packers' D a lot of credit for keeping the Bears offense largely in check. Nonetheless, you can't look at those stats biggiesmalls provided and claim that Cutler isn't playing great football this year especially when you consider the lack of protection he has.

I'm not really referring to you in my criticisms of Cutler. You have a pretty realistic outlook on the guy. I'm more or less reacting to the Tuesday morning national media that was all over his jock when the reality is that he didn't play that well.

13.8 yards per completion, 60% completion percentage and what should've been 2 TD passes. It wasn't his best game but it was good considering how good the Packers' D is and how much pressure they were able to generate. Cliff Levingston continues to be impressed by how he keeps taking all these hits behind his often porous offensive line and keeps sticking his nose in there. He's got some balls.

[BIGGIEsmalls 23]

I also noticed that you didn't argue against the 2010 stats on Cutler that I posted in this thread. Numbers don't lie.

That's exactly what numbers do when your sample size is three games, one being against the Lions, who might have the worst secondary in football this season.

So are you sample sizing the Lions secondary after three games?

Or San Diego's #1 ranking in Offensive yards?
Or Baltimore's #1 ranking in Defensive yards?

Instead of just giving Cutler praise when he has earned it, you & others just find reasons to be critical of him.

[Wooderson]

13.8 yards per completion, 60% completion percentage and what should've been 2 TD passes. It wasn't his best game but it was good considering how good the Packers' D is and how much pressure they were able to generate. Cliff Levingston continues to be impressed by how he keeps taking all these hits behind his often porous offensive line and keeps sticking his nose in there. He's got some balls.

Cliff Livingston should stop saying that Cutler deserved 2 TD passes. Although Desmond Clarke probably should have made the catch on 4th and 1, Cutler clearly rushed an easy throw and put the ball at least a foot behind him. Might as well argue that Rodgers should have had at least 2 passing touchdowns considering the borderline holding penalty on Tauscher that cost Jermichael and the Packers a TD.

[Wooderson]

To add to that, Cutler has looked solid so far this year but it's way to early to conclude that he has overcome his poor decision making issues. I was impressed with Cutler's toughness though, he was hounded in the first half but stuck in there and made some good plays. He definitely has the ability, but the amount of times he throws into coverage when under pressure is reminiscent of a certain ex-Packer QB in the early to mid 2000's. It hasn't came back to bite Cutler or the Bears yet this year, but something tells me it's only a matter of time.

[Wade-A-Holic]

I also noticed that you didn't argue against the 2010 stats on Cutler that I posted in this thread. Numbers don't lie.

That's exactly what numbers do when your sample size is three games, one being against the Lions, who might have the worst secondary in football this season.

So are you sample sizing the Lions secondary after three games?

No. They suck. That's just a fact.

So far, Cutler has had a good game against them, played really well against Dallas, and then very mediocre against Green Bay. Does he appear to be tougher and more composed than in the past? Absolutely, but 1000Degreez hit the nail on the head.

[Mags FTW]

That's exactly what numbers do when your sample size is three games, one being against the Lions, who might have the worst secondary in football this season.

So are you sample sizing the Lions secondary after three games?

No. They suck. That's just a fact.

Yup, 26th in the league last year vs. the pass.

[BIGGIEsmalls 23]

That's exactly what numbers do when your sample size is three games, one being against the Lions, who might have the worst secondary in football this season.

So are you sample sizing the Lions secondary after three games?

No. They suck. That's just a fact.

I gave two other examples (Ravens "D" & Chargers "O"). I could care less about the Lions secondary.

I only pointed out how you started the paragraph basically telling me that I can't judge Cutler's QB play by sampling ONLY three games so far THIS season, yet you turn around in the same paragraph & judge another team's secondary by sampling ONLY three games so far THIS season.

It just seemed to be a little bit of a DOUBLE STANDARD.

[Cliff Levingston]

To add to that, Cutler has looked solid so far this year but it's way to early to conclude that he has overcome his poor decision making issues.

Who's saying that? He's improved them so far but he'll still throw picks. He's aggressive just like a young Favre. It comes with the territory. The simple fact though is that he's playing much, much better than last year so far and has shown more discretion when it comes to throwing into coverage so far even though he'll still make some bad throws.

He's got a good game, a great game and a decent game under his belt so far. The decent game came against the best defense they've faced so far, which is what you'd expect. However, the great game came against the second best defense they've seen thus far; a good defense that just shut down one of the best offenses in the league in their own house. The good game came against the worst defense they've seen, which is indeed a poor defense overall.

[Wade-A-Holic]

I gave two other examples (Ravens "D" & Chargers "O"). I could care less about the Lions secondary.

I only pointed out how you started the paragraph basically telling me that I can't judge Cutler's QB play by sampling ONLY three games so far THIS season, yet you turn around in the same paragraph & judge another team's secondary by sampling ONLY three games so far THIS season.

It just seemed to be a little bit of a DOUBLE STANDARD.

The difference is that you're pointing to statistics in three games to try and demonstrate that Cutler is a changed, much improved quarterback when the reality is that statistical anomalies happen in three game segments all the time. The Lions giving up a ton of yards and points through the air is not an anomaly. I got your point when you said it the first time, but it's not a double standard. I could pick out a three game stretch where Rex Grossman put up some of the best numbers in the league. Now, that doesn't mean I am in any way comparing Grossman to Cutler. It means: let's see where Cutler is statistically after week 10 before we anoint him.

[Roger Murdock]

I gave two other examples (Ravens "D" & Chargers "O"). I could care less about the Lions secondary.

I only pointed out how you started the paragraph basically telling me that I can't judge Cutler's QB play by sampling ONLY three games so far THIS season, yet you turn around in the same paragraph & judge another team's secondary by sampling ONLY three games so far THIS season.

It just seemed to be a little bit of a DOUBLE STANDARD.

Chargers have historically had a good offense and the ravens have historically had a good defense. Every year they are towards the top in their respective categories, so that can be based on more than a 3 game sample size.

Cutler has historically been a mistake prone quarterback who throws lots of interceptions. Just because defenders are dropping his bad throws in the first 3 games this year doesn't mean it will keep happening.