The Bears have always struggled to find a quarterback. They thought they’d landed their franchise QB when they dealt for Jay Cutler. A little over halfway into the season, the results have been subpar.
Jay Cutler has thrown 14 touchdowns compared to 17 interceptions this year. The former Vanderbilt quarterback also has four multi-pick games. Clearly, Cutler has to be frustrated with his play. But the father of former Bear’s signal caller Rex Grossman might be even more peeved. Here’s what Dan Grossman told the Chicago Tribune:
“It’s a self-perpetuating problem that is not Jay Cutler’s fault,” said Dan Grossman, who played quarterback at Indiana in the ’60s. “It’s not Rex Grossman’s fault. It’s not Kyle Orton’s fault. It’s not every other quarterback who has been through that system’s fault. It’s the fault of the organization for not understanding what a quarterback needs.
“What’s amazing to me is, here we go again with Jay Cutler. He came in and he was going to be the franchise quarterback and lead the Bears. I heard some people say they were going to the Super Bowl this year. And here we are, back in the situation where … because the team is not really built around a passing game, he has struggled. I don’t really blame it on Jay Cutler.
“You know who I feel worse for? I feel worse for the Cutler family because I know how hard it was on our family. We are a very proud family. We’re not going to whine to anybody and we’re not going to cry about it. But we’re human. It’s hard to go through that, especially after you had such high expectations.
Grossman went on to say that Lovie Smith’s run-first mentality has taken a toll on the passing game. That seems a bit misguided considering Cutler is third in the league in pass attempts with 39.1 per game. Conversely, Chicago is 30th in the league in rushing attempts with 22.3 per game. While the Bears may be to blame, Cutler has always had a tendency to turn the ball over. The guy has only managed to get through 12 out of 46 career games without throwing a pick.
Tags: chicago bears, dan grossman, football, interceptions, jay cutler, lovie smith, NFL, quarterbacks, rex grossman
