First Half 4th Phase Game Ball: Jay Cutler

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Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

Who else would the 4th Phase game ball go to besides Jay Cutler halfway through the season? Phil Emery and Marc Trestman have repeatedly said the most important position on the field is the quarterback and they’ve done everything to assemble a roster around Cutler.

Without Cutler and his two come from behind victories, the Bears are probably a 2-5 team. Outside the Lions game and the Redskins game in which he got hurt, Cutler had a quarterback rating above 90 in every game and was on his way to having his best season as a pro.

While a lot of fans and media folks will say that Cutler can reach his potential as a quarterback, I will argue to say that Cutler has already reached his potential as a player. He’s not going to be perfect, rarely throw an interception, nor will he satisfy everyone at the same time. He’s simply a guy with more talent than most other quarterbacks and will get the job done. What you have is a quarterback who is tough as nails, a true competitor, with gifted physical abilities.

I think people are often disappointed in him because they expect too much from him. While you might think this way, you have to ask yourself where the Bears, as a franchise, would be without Cutler. The Bears could easily still be shuffling around quarterbacks as they have the past 30 years. If you’re the guy is calling for Cutler’s release after his contract is up, who else would you rather have in free agency or through the draft?

With Cutler now out for the next month (although Brandon Marshall thinks Cutler will be back in a couple weeks) we’ll see what this team is made of. If Trestman can rally the troops and the Bears are still competitive under Josh McCown while Cutler is out, then you know that Trestman’s influence on quarterbacks is evident and Cutler will be with this team as long as Trestman is the coach.