Things didn’t get off on the right foot when Jay Cutler first joined the Chicago Bears and he had a lot to prove to the face of the franchise, Brian Urlacher.  While Cutler still has plenty of detractors, don’t count the retiring Bears legend among them.  Even though Urlacher called Cutler a p**sy when he first joined the team, he leaves with quite a different impression.   (more…)

Dec 30, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

We’re in the dog days of the offseason and that means lots of filler content not just here but with the mainstream media as well.  Filler content means a lot of meaningless lists and rankings just to try to spur some debate and discussion.  The latest list of quarterback rankings  that I saw from Will Brinson at CBS Sports really kicked up a burr under my saddle.

Brinson ranks NFL quarterbacks and puts Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler 19th on his list, meaning he thinks there are 18 quarterbacks better than Cutler.  I think that ranking is absolutely ridiculous.  Let’s look at the list and see where he went astray.  (more…)

Dec 30, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

For the third straight offseason, there’s a new bromance brewing at Halas Hall for quarterback Jay Cutler.  This time, it’s quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh who’s crushing on Jay:

“Very impressed with Jay,” Cavanaugh said. “Very impressed. He’s borderline football brilliant. I think he gets it. I think he knows the game. I think he knows offensive schemes. I think he knows defenses.”

I think most of us would consider Jay borderline something, I just don’t know anyone would say borderline football brilliant.  I guess three seasons of Mark Sanchez and a season with Tim Tebow has dulled Cavanaugh’s football sensibilities.  (more…)

May 10, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Matt Blanchard (4) runs a drill during the rookie minicamp on Friday. Mandatory Credit: Reid Compton-USA TODAY Sports

This really is a new era in Chicago Bears football.  Marc Trestman and the Bears are trying something totally new with their quarterback position or at least something I haven’t seen.  For their rookie minicamp the Bears’ AV Club mounted a camera to Matt Blanchard’s helmet, so that Marc Trestman and the Bears coaching staff can see what the quarterback sees when they’re evaluating practice tape.  Just call the Bears coaches the Geek Squad.  (more…)

Dec. 30, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) walks off the field after defeating the Detroit Lions 26-24 at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The waiting is the hardest part.  Waiting for rookie camp to open, OTAs, June cap casualties, training camp, preseason and finally the opening kick-off of the 2013 NFL season.  As Chicago Bears fans, our waiting is magnified, because we are eager to see what impact the Marc Trestman regime has on our Beloved.  Are we beginning a new Ditka-like era of dominance with an all too quick fall from grace?  Will it be a Wannstedt-like era of mediocrity and shame all too recognizable with comparisons of football players to puzzle pieces that “fly around the field” with too many “ah-ah-ah’s” thrown in?  Are we beginning another Lovie-like era with its slow southern drawl and teams just good enough to save coaching jobs?  Or, is this something new entirely?

Regardless of what form the new regime takes, one aspect is markedly different from all of the others.  This regime is starting with a franchise-caliber quarterback in Jay Cutler.  None of the previous regimes had that luxury and by all accounts, Emery and Trestman are betting big on Jay Cutler.  Betting big without a contract extension?  How can that be?

The Bears currently sit with Cutler as the only NFL quality starting quarterback on its roster.  Sure, Josh McCown is a nice back-up and Matt Blanchard has some tools, but he is not ready for the big stage.  The Bears have invested significantly in its O-line this offseason through free agency and the draft all in the spirit of keeping Cutler upright.  I won’t go into whether or not they have just added more chicken shit into the mix in the hopes of making a great chicken salad or not, but they have clearly made the O-line a point of emphasis.  It is almost to the point where I think the competition for those 8 or 9 roster spots can do nothing but ensure that we will have the best O-line Jay Cutler has ever taken a snap behind in his tenure as a Bear.  By my count there are 15 OL-men on the roster and 9 of them having starting NFL experience, so the competition will be fierce and under OL guru, Aaron Kromer, let’s hope the cream rises to the top.

By investing this much on the O-line and by not drafting or bringing in anyone who would compete with Cutler, Emery and Trestman are pushing all their chips into the middle of the table and come hell or high water, Jay Cutler is going to be their starting QB for the long-term.  What remains to be seen is how much money that costs the Bears after this season and Cutler’s contract is up.  I cannot see a scenario where Cutler plays himself out of a job or where this new regime after ONE season will “go in a different direction” at the most important position on the field.  No, I think that time has passed and the gauntlet has been laid down…this is Jay’s team, post the Urlach-a-lypto now and Emery and company are going to fix what’s broken around him.

Hmmm…fixing what’s broken around a franchise quarterback seems like such a novel concept and I wonder why it took so long for management to figure that out…

CAN I GET AN AMEN?!?!?!?!?!?

The DeCon has spoken, so let it be written, so let it be done…

Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler before Jay’s 30th birthday (Photo via @KristinCav)

Happy 30th Birthday to Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler!  The above picture was tweeted out by Jay’s fiance and baby mama Kristin Cavallari before the happy couple headed out for what I can only imagine to be an 80′s themed birthday bash.   (more…)

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) talks actor Ashton Kutcher before an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Noted celebrity Chicago Bears fan Ashton Kutcher was recently interviewed by Esquire Magazine and among the many topics he discussed were his Beloved Chicago Bears and particularly quarterback Jay Cutler.

He has a signed Matt Forte helmet on his kitchen counter. There are more helmets downstairs. Vaguely fun.

He loves pro football, grew up in Iowa, in a house divided among NFC North loyalties. “My mom’s whole side of the family, they’re all Packers fans. My mom’s a Bears fan. My stepdad is a Vikings guy. So that gets ugly. My mom sits upstairs watching the Bears game; he sits in the basement. They can’t watch it together. Football’s a violent anger in our family dynamic.” He smiles when he says it. It’s a broad Cheshire grin, spread slowly, conspiratorially. He wants you in on it. Kind of fun.

He refers to the Bears in the first-person plural, as in, “Our defense is playing like a stud. We have to get more expansive in our passing.” He laments the Bears’ quarterback situation, even offers that he’d like to get a chance to work with Jay Cutler, the taciturn and erratic QB. Like any good fan, he believes he himself might have a role to serve. “I’d love to meet him, talk to him. Because I think he doesn’t do himself any service with his attitude. I don’t think it’s a bad attitude. I just think it’s the way he projects what he’s feeling. I don’t think it’s a matter of him thinking the wrong thing in the absence of the right thing. And I think there’s a way to project it, a certain way, and, you know, I would just like to get with him and work. He’s really fucking hard on himself. And I think I get that. That’s an aspect of me. I mean, writers on the show are always changing a line or something. And they’re looking at me, because I really grind the changes immediately. They’ll ask, ‘Hey, what’s the matter? You all right?’ And I’ll snap at them: ‘I think I can do it better. I can do that better — fuck, man, I gotta do that right.’ They say it was fine. I say fuck no. I can’t be fun to be around. I apologize. But it’s unpleasant. I have to work against that demanding part of me.” So, not fun.

As if the Jay Cutler needed any more help with his image, the former-Mr. Demi Moore would like to give his two cents.  The funny thing is, I don’t think he’s wrong.  It’s the way Jay projects his feelings that’s the problem, not that he’s feeling like that.  Maybe Kutcher could give Jay some acting tips to help him project the right image.  Do you think Phil Emery and the Bears would bring Kutcher on as a consultant?  They went all the way to Canada to get a “quarterback whisperer” to coach Jay up?  Is it so crazy to give him an acting coach?  Then again, doesn’t Jay have a live-in acting coach in fiance’ Kristin Cavallari?  If Kutcher comes to Chicago, I’d be happy to keep his gal pal Mila Kunis company while he’s off with Jay.

BEAR DOWN!!!

They say everything is bigger in Texas and that couldn’t be more true than the latest contract that Jerry Jones just dished out.  Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys agreed on a big, six year $108 million contract including $55 million in guaranteed money.  Including what he’s due in 2013, the 33 year old Romo is locked up by the Cowboys for the next seven seasons for nearly $120 million.   This contract could be of particular interest to a certain Chicago Bears quarterback.  (more…)