Bears game 3: Monday Sep. 27 vs GB on ESPN

[Magnetic Curses]

jay cutler is what we all hoped that rex grossman would be. i'd say as far as arm strength, cutler has a slight edge although rex has a monster arm as well.

 

the two key differences are 1. cutler's legs, he is as fast as any qb not named vick, and 2. his pocket awareness, which is probably more important. for example, on knox's 59 yard catch, cutler does what rex did not, he stepped up. rex would have tip-toed back and either gotten hit hard, or tossed up an incompletion or an INT. 3. he also doesn't get those wide, koala bear-eyes and he's not afraid to go up to his line and give them an earful, subjegating kreutz, who has routinely dominated his quarterbacks. in short, he knows how to handle the veteran red-assed center and that's super important.

[Banedon]

jay cutler is what we all hoped that rex grossman would be. i'd say as far as arm strength, cutler has a slight edge although rex has a monster arm as well.

 

the two key differences are 1. cutler's legs, he is as fast as any qb not named vick, and 2. his pocket awareness, which is probably more important. for example, on knox's 59 yard catch, cutler does what rex did not, he stepped up. rex would have tip-toed back and either gotten hit hard, or tossed up an incompletion or an INT. 3. he also doesn't get those wide, koala bear-eyes and he's not afraid to go up to his line and give them an earful, subjegating kreutz, who has routinely dominated his quarterbacks. in short, he knows how to handle the veteran red-assed center and that's super important.

 

Yeah, Cutler just seems more confident than Rex did. Rex had his moments, sure. But Cutler really seems like the leader of this team. I didn't ever really feel that way about Rex.

[Banedon]

Bears jumped from 22 to 12 in the ESPN rankings...

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrankings?year=2010&week=3

 

John Clayton ranked the Bears 6th!

[UMFan83]

jay cutler is what we all hoped that rex grossman would be. i'd say as far as arm strength, cutler has a slight edge although rex has a monster arm as well.

 

the two key differences are 1. cutler's legs, he is as fast as any qb not named vick, and 2. his pocket awareness, which is probably more important. for example, on knox's 59 yard catch, cutler does what rex did not, he stepped up. rex would have tip-toed back and either gotten hit hard, or tossed up an incompletion or an INT. 3. he also doesn't get those wide, koala bear-eyes and he's not afraid to go up to his line and give them an earful, subjegating kreutz, who has routinely dominated his quarterbacks. in short, he knows how to handle the veteran red-assed center and that's super important.

 

 

I would honestly say Rex has a very very slight edge in arm strength based on what I remember seeing from both of them. Cutler is much more accurate downfield though. That ball to Knox was a bomb though...it was around 65 yards!

 

Anyways, another advantage Cutler has over Rex is the fact that he's 2 inches taller than Rex. I always felt that a lot of Rex's issues came from him not being able to see the entire field well enough when he was under pressure, so he would often make incorrect reads or go off memory of the play and hope there wasn't a safety hiding behind the arm of that lineman that's in his face. Cutler's vision is much better in those situations because a) he's 2 inches taller and b) as you mentioned his pocket presence is superior to Grossman's, and he can move around inside and outside the pocket better than Sexy Rexy.

 

It's sad because Rex has a lot of tools that a lot of QBs wish they had including arm strength and confidence. But he's also missing important tools that kept him from being more than a good backup, marginal starter.

[SpongeWorthy]

I'm surprised you guys think Rex is close to Cutler on arm strength at all. I don't think it's close. Cutler and Stafford are tops in the league, IMO. Rodgers has a rifle too.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm surprised you guys think Rex is close to Cutler on arm strength at all. I don't think it's close. Cutler and Stafford are tops in the league, IMO. Rodgers has a rifle too.

 

When Rex wasn't throwing off his heals he had a cannon, but I do think Cutler has a stronger arm.

[Magnetic Curses]

pure arm strength, it's close, although rex needs his legs underneath him to compare.

[NonProfitCow]

I'm surprised you guys think Rex is close to Cutler on arm strength at all. I don't think it's close. Cutler and Stafford are tops in the league, IMO. Rodgers has a rifle too.

I was thinking the same thing. I can't stand Cutler but I think he has the best pure arm strength in the league.

[SpongeWorthy]

I'm looking at some YouTube videos and no one throws the intermediate route like Cutler, especially when his feet aren't set.

 

But Aaron Rodgers throws deep balls on a line that are just incredible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k67Dfk8G23U

 

Look at the throw around the 1:00 mark.

[Guest]

I'm surprised you guys think Rex is close to Cutler on arm strength at all. I don't think it's close. Cutler and Stafford are tops in the league, IMO. Rodgers has a rifle too.

I was thinking the same thing. I can't stand Cutler but I think he has the best pure arm strength in the league.

Is Russell collecting a check this year?

[SpongeWorthy]

Maybe from a retailer of purple drank.

[rawaction]

I'm surprised you guys think Rex is close to Cutler on arm strength at all. I don't think it's close. Cutler and Stafford are tops in the league, IMO. Rodgers has a rifle too.

I was thinking the same thing. I can't stand Cutler but I think he has the best pure arm strength in the league.

 

I think Rex can throw for distance w/ anybody in the league. He doesn't have the velocity of Cutler though, who also can throw the ball a mile. Rodgers has a gun too. Favre has the velocity, not distance.

 

Strange to say, but I think Peyton Manning is probably bottom 10 in starting QBs of pure arm strength, including trailing his brother. Vick's arm is legit too.

[UMFan83]

Don't forget Sexy Rexy! That's 55 yards from throw to catch I believe.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTm1nyfpEsE

[bukie]

FO has the Bears 9th this week, with slightly above average offense and defense, and almost the worst special teams in the league.

 

Ahead of the Bears are Atlanta, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New England, Indianapolis, NY Jets, and Miami.

[bukie]

More detail:

 

Offensive efficiency (positive better, 0 is avg): 9th passing (40.0), 30th rushing (-32.2)

Defensive efficiency (negative is better, 0 is avg): 4th rushing (-39.9), 16th passing (3.2)

Pass defense broken down by target (again, negative is better, 0 avg): 13th vs #1 WR (-28.0), 11th vs #2 WR (-21.8), 10th vs TE (-19.1), 14th vs RB (-5.8), 32nd vs other WRs (227.5)

 

Individuals:

Cutler - 3rd (254 DYAR, 46.7% DVOA, also 3rd)

Forte - Rushing: 38th of 40 qualified (-41 DYAR, -38.1% DVOA, 37th there); Receiving: 1st of 59 qualified (48 DYAR, 49.6% DVOA, 9th)

Hester - 13th of 84 qualified (46 DYAR, 66.6% DVOA, 2nd)

Knox - 14th of 84 qualified (43 DYAR, 47.5% DVOA, 9th)

Aromashodu - 61st of 84 qualified (-7 DYAR, -21.4% DVOA, 63rd)

Olsen - 21st of 42 qualified (1 DYAR, -5.8% DVOA, 22nd)

 

Offensive Line:

Pass blocking: 22nd (7.6% sack rate)

Run blocking: Overall - 24th, Left End - 1st, Left Tackle - 1st, Guards/Mid - 26th, Right Tackle - 16th, Right End - 22nd

Explanation: Why 24th overall when the left side somehow rates 1st overall? Because 60% of the Bears runs go to the middle, 35% to the right, and 5% to the left (2 rushes left in 2 games).

 

Defensive Line:

Pass rush: 29th (2.4% sack rate)

Run defense: Overall - 1st, Right Out - 15th, Right End - 27th, DTs - 1st, Left End - 15th, Left Out - 2nd

Explanation: The front four hasn't generated much in the way of sacks, forcing either blitzes or too much time to exploit a weaker secondary. Run defense, though, can't be much better (except from the Right End, who I assume is Peppers, and is primarily concerned with pass rushing anyway).

 

Special Teams:

Overall: 18th (-0.1%) adjusted, 29th (-6.4%) raw

FG/XP: 6th

Kickoffs: 13th

Kick returns: 10th

Punts: 31st

Punt returns: 24th

[minnesotacubsfan]

I'm excited for Monday's game. I thought they would loose the the Cowboys, and still have a good chance at beating the Packers. Now, win-win both games, and we're on a roll and getting more confident.

 

Keys:

 

- stop Rogers, but don't totally disregard the run. The Pack are on a back-up RB, but lets not make him look like a world-beater.

- The quick drop, Cutler to whomever. This has been the best blitz neutralizer ever devised, and I love seeing Martz use it.

- special teams, Gould needs to keep nailing the FG's, and pinning them on the kick offs. He's been surprising this year.

[UMFan83]

What do you think has happened to the special teams? Still coached by the same guy. Obviously the personnel has changed quite a bit, and Hester has gotten less effective as has Maynard, but you gotta think the coach should have something to do with the effectiveness of ST play.

 

I do believe it's hard to get consistently good special teams play from year to year because its rare to have someone like Ayenbadejo who is satisfied with being a special teams specialist. Most of them are younger backups that either the Bears want to keep on the active roster in case of injury, so they have to fill up Special Teams, or they are borderline marginal roster players who are on the roster over other guys because they can provide value to special teams. The later seems like the only place where they have input to improve his return blocking, etc.

 

Edit: it's also very possible sample size is at play since we haven't had any sort of sizable returns, and we gave up a TD on a punt return.

[SpongeWorthy]

What do you think has happened to the special teams? Still coached by the same guy. Obviously the personnel has changed quite a bit, and Hester has gotten less effective as has Maynard, but you gotta think the coach should have something to do with the effectiveness of ST play.

 

I do believe it's hard to get consistently good special teams play from year to year because its rare to have someone like Ayenbadejo who is satisfied with being a special teams specialist. Most of them are younger backups that either the Bears want to keep on the active roster in case of injury, so they have to fill up Special Teams, or they are borderline marginal roster players who are on the roster over other guys because they can provide value to special teams. The later seems like the only place where they have input to improve his return blocking, etc.

 

Edit: it's also very possible sample size is at play since we haven't had any sort of sizable returns, and we gave up a TD on a punt return.

 

Maynard blows.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Maynard has nothing to do with Hester.

[rawaction]

Looks like we are going to get rookie, Bryan Bulaga starting at LT across from Julius Peppers. Doesn't matter though as I'm sure he'll be helped on nearly every play. The other DE has to really do something. Tommie showing up would help also.

 

The Packers haven't really done much offensively yet. Strange to say considering they've put up 30 ppg, but they are way off their yardage totals from last year.

 

I actually think our DBs matchup well vs. their WRs. Driver has looked like a possession WR not a guy who put up over 15 ypc last year. Jennings continues to put up all or nothing type games. The one mismatch could be with Nelson and Jones, but Moore has played well at the nickel. The big issue is going to be Jermichael Finley. I'd take my chances of Tillman taking out Driver by himself, which would allow the Bears to focus their attention on Finley and Jennings. The Bears have done a good job of preventing the big play so far, and GB likes the big play.

[DivineBovine]

jay cutler is what we all hoped that rex grossman would be. i'd say as far as arm strength, cutler has a slight edge although rex has a monster arm as well.

 

the two key differences are 1. cutler's legs, he is as fast as any qb not named vick, and 2. his pocket awareness, which is probably more important. for example, on knox's 59 yard catch, cutler does what rex did not, he stepped up. rex would have tip-toed back and either gotten hit hard, or tossed up an incompletion or an INT. 3. he also doesn't get those wide, koala bear-eyes and he's not afraid to go up to his line and give them an earful, subjegating kreutz, who has routinely dominated his quarterbacks. in short, he knows how to handle the veteran red-assed center and that's super important.

 

 

I would honestly say Rex has a very very slight edge in arm strength based on what I remember seeing from both of them. Cutler is much more accurate downfield though. That ball to Knox was a bomb though...it was around 65 yards!

 

Anyways, another advantage Cutler has over Rex is the fact that he's 2 inches taller than Rex. I always felt that a lot of Rex's issues came from him not being able to see the entire field well enough when he was under pressure, so he would often make incorrect reads or go off memory of the play and hope there wasn't a safety hiding behind the arm of that lineman that's in his face. Cutler's vision is much better in those situations because a) he's 2 inches taller and b) as you mentioned his pocket presence is superior to Grossman's, and he can move around inside and outside the pocket better than Sexy Rexy.

 

It's sad because Rex has a lot of tools that a lot of QBs wish they had including arm strength and confidence. But he's also missing important tools that kept him from being more than a good backup, marginal starter.

 

 

Rex certainly had his moments. He looked like a superstar plenty of times. And then he started getting blitzed, and he looked like crap.

 

Well, we can compare specifics about size, arm strength, etc. The fact is that we've seen both of them make amazing deep throws.

 

The big difference seems to be that Cutler has much better poise and seems to move much better to avoid the rush. However, this comparison might not be 100% fair. Because Rex had Ron F@#$ing Turner calling the offense. And when Cutler had Ron F@#$ing Turner calling the offense, he sucked too.

 

We all know how huge coaching is in football. When a team is bringing a pass rush and blitzing, in theory, this should create openings downfield. We actually saw Martz exploit this last week. Ron Turner couldn't exploit mismatches against a pop warner team.

 

I'd be really curious to see Rex get another crack in the NFL.

[jersey cubs fan]

The big difference seems to be that Cutler has much better poise and seems to move much better to avoid the rush. However, this comparison might not be 100% fair. Because Rex had Ron F@#$ing Turner calling the offense. And when Cutler had Ron F@#$ing Turner calling the offense, he sucked too.

 

Cutler supposedly did very well against the blitz last year. And he didn't suck like Grossman sucked. Grossman had a couple really good games, but really settled into a pattern of either sucking, or having his good games be "game manager" types. Cutler still pulled out some fantastic games in a down year when he was the only offense, and his bad ones weren't as bad.

[Flames24Rulz]

Looks like we are going to get rookie, Bryan Bulaga starting at LT across from Julius Peppers. Doesn't matter though as I'm sure he'll be helped on nearly every play. The other DE has to really do something. Tommie showing up would help also.

 

The Packers haven't really done much offensively yet. Strange to say considering they've put up 30 ppg, but they are way off their yardage totals from last year.

 

I actually think our DBs matchup well vs. their WRs. Driver has looked like a possession WR not a guy who put up over 15 ypc last year. Jennings continues to put up all or nothing type games. The one mismatch could be with Nelson and Jones, but Moore has played well at the nickel. The big issue is going to be Jermichael Finley. I'd take my chances of Tillman taking out Driver by himself, which would allow the Bears to focus their attention on Finley and Jennings. The Bears have done a good job of preventing the big play so far, and GB likes the big play.

 

Bulaga's better than Clifton is right now. I hope he gets the start.

 

Our offense struggled the first few games last year too, so I'm not really worried about that.

[UMFan83]

Don't worry, McNabb 16 starts in a season one in the last 6 seasons. Rex will get his chance.

[Soul]

Rex certainly had his moments. He looked like a superstar plenty of times. And then he started getting blitzed, and he looked like crap.

 

I think you just need to beat that blitz badly a few times, then it's on tape and defenses see it. The blitz will come far less often in future games.

 

Last week, for example. That drive with the 2 3 steppers that resulted in a long Olsen TD pass. Every defense in the league is going to review that. You want to blitz when that possibility is on the table? Far fewer DC's are up for that.

 

Blitzing Rex nearly always resulted in success. He needed to beat it big a few times to settle it down, and it never seemed to really happen.

 

I think pretty much every QB looks shaky if pressured effectively.