Cutler Haters, Apologists: Meet Halfway

As with any polarizing figure, Jay Cutler brings about strong emotions on both sides of the fence. Many people believe he's the worst thing that ever happened to professional quarterbacking, someone who sucks so bad he'll be in the UFL in a few years. Others believe his golden arm will carry him to the Hall of Fame eventually and every mistake he's ever made has been someone else's fault.

As with most extreme arguments, the best answer lies exactly in the middle. Cutler has tons of talent, but he has very large strides to make before he can be considered the franchise quarterback many believe him to be.

In a Thursday night 10-6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, we saw a wide variety of failures on his part in addition to things happening to him that weren't his fault.

His first interception was one of the worst passes I've ever seen a quarterback make. And I officiate elementary football. How in the world Cutler thought he could throw a football, literally, through three defenders and get it to Kellen Davis in the end zone is beyond anything I can comprehend. I can't even use the proper language to describe what an egregiously brutal decision that was. Throw it away and take the three points -- especially in a game that was scoreless and already into the second quarter. Cutler's last interception was ill-advised and equally bad in his physical placement. He could have placed it high and to the left of Greg Olsen and possibly completed the game-winning touchdown. Instead, he threw right to Michael Lewis for a loss-clinching interception.

On the flip-side, the offensive line was pathetic, as usual. Cutler rarely had even three seconds to throw the football and constantly had to quickly dump it off into the flats. The run game was, once again, non-existent as the sorry line couldn't give Matt Forte any running room -- and if you doubt Forte's running ability, watch him on the screen passes. Cutler did check down well, which is a step in the right direction. His second interception was clearly not his fault, as Devin Hester fell down after the pass had already been released. You could make a case the third and fourth interceptions weren't his fault if you wanted, too. I'm not going to bother, because -- even if you make the case -- his first and last interceptions were ultimately what cost the Bears the game.

The amazing thing is Cutler's ineptitude in the red zone. He drove the Bears down the field with ease, after getting a very generous illegal contact penalty to extend the drive, and had them in position to win the game. He worked beautifully on the drive, pre-pick, hitting eight consecutive (excluding the two spikes to stop the clock) passes and moving the Bears 70 yards in just over two minutes. Then he fell apart when the team needed him most.

It's the way things have gone thus far in his career. This is where the haters proclaim he's not a winner and he sucks. Which is where they lose my backing.

He's 26, not 36. This wasn't a one (or two) year rental like the Vikings are doing with Brett Favre. The team acquired Cutler to make him the long-term answer and build an offense around him, not to be a quick fix. Sure, many thought he catapulted the Bears to the Super Bowl discussion, but that doesn't mean he needs to be dumped after one sub-par season. Let the Bears find him a line, let the young receivers grow rapport with Cutler and -- most of all -- please get someone to coach Cutler.

The errant red zone passes have to stop. Someone needs to teach him to throw the ball away. Someone needs to tell him his attitude is not acceptable (seriously, what the hell was with taking the helmet off to scratch his head and put it back on? That was embarrassing). Someone needs to coach him to shut the hell up instead of screaming at officials after he throws a pick (he was even called for unsportsmanlike conduct against Arizona). Someone needs to make him accountable for all his mistakes, not just blame them all on someone else. And being accountable -- by the way, Cutler did personally apologize to the defense in the post-game press conference -- isn't enough. He has to learn from his mistakes and change the way he plays.

Of course, the masses also need to realize the problems on the Bears are much more complicated than simply blaming their favorite whipping boy.

Is it Cutler's fault that the defensive line can't line up properly (four off-sides penalties, including one that nullified an interception in San Fran territory)? Is it Cutler's fault that the Bears decided to leave Greg Olsen on the sideline and instead use their third-string tight end and a tackle-eligible on a pivotal goal line third down (which resulted in the aforementioned first interception)? Is it Cutler's fault that a lineman was downfield illegally, which nullified a 40-yard completion to Earl Bennett? Is it Cutler's fault that Chris Williams drew a foolish unnecessary roughness penalty on the last drive, taking them backward 15 yards when time and yardage were at a premium? Was it Cutler's fault last week when the defense couldn't stop Arizona, even on the ground?

Blame Cutler for his ills, just not for the entire team's ills -- including coaching. Thursday night, we witnessed an undisciplined mess of a team on offense, defense and special teams (a delay of game on a field goal attempt? Seriously?). There's plenty of blame to go around right now, so place it properly.

While you're at it, remember this is Year One of the Cutler era in Chicago, not the one year of it.