Chicago Bears need Jay Cutler

Despite missing the playoffs yet again, the Chicago Bears reiterate that Jay Cutler is their quarterback and will be for the 2016-2017 season.

Although the Chicago Bears finished at the bottom of the NFC North with a record of 6-10, quarterback Jay Cutler still had an overall good season and showed signs of being an elite quarterback.

Before the 24-20 loss to the Detroit Lions this past Sunday where Cutler gave up three interceptions, he had not thrown more than one interception in a single game all season.

There was a tremendous amount of pressure on Cutler to step up and be the leader of a depleted roster in the wake of several injuries to key players. Wide receivers Alshon Jeffery, Eddie Royal, and Kevin White were inconsistent targets on the offense as they all suffered lower body injuries early.

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Jeffery missed a few games due to a calf and hamstring injury while Royal had an ankle injury. The Bears could not even rely on future talent to play in the wake of Jeffery and Royal’s absence. The Bears picked White 7th in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft, but he did not play all season due to a shin injury.

In the past Cutler had wide receivers like Brandon Marshall and Marquess Wilson to throw the ball to and those men would make big plays so he did not have to. This season, however, Cutler was essentially alone and he had to rely on running back Matt Forte more than ever. Marshall was traded to the New York Jets and Wilson struggled with injuries during the 2015 season.

Forte played 13 games and picked up 898 yards on offense (a career low) and his likely replacement next season Jeremy Langford will help frame a new Bears roster next season with Cutler at the helm.

Cutler has been a frequent member of the disabled list and he caught a lot of heat for how injury prone he has been in the past. Even this season, he suffered a hip injury that kept him off the field for a game. But with a depleted roster on both offense and defense, Cutler still managed to post his second best completion percentage of his career wit 64.4 percent this season, just missing his career best of 66.0 percent.

Cutler even recorded his second lowest interception total since becoming a Bear with 11 this past season, compared to his 7 in 2011. Cutler’s quarterback rating this season was a career best 92.3. Cutler will still have naysayers and rightfully so as his team has missed the playoffs 6 of the last 7 seasons, but things are looking up for the Bears and especially for Cuter.

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If you do not believe me, even rival Green Bay Packer linebacker Clay Matthews says Cutler looks better and smarter with the ball.

I can genuinely say that I have never been a Jay Cutler fan and it has always been an easy thing to just tear into him as quarterback for the Bears and he never really gave me a reason to think otherwise. This season I kept my mouth a little more closed with my negative comments about him. If the Bears lost a game this season, it was very rare if it was Cutler’s fault, which to me is something to brag about.

Cutler just seems less cocky than he used to be. It seems as if he is finally doing what everyone wanted him to do: stop talking and making excuses and just play football. If he is this elite quarterback, the talent is there then. You can still expect the Bears to keep their eyes open for a solid backup quarterback come draft time because if the old jay does come back, the Bears will need a viable option to take his place.

After waiving quarterback Jimmy Clausen in week 12 in favor of David Fales, who did not get the chance to play all season, the Bears held firm on the notion that the future of the Bears has always been in Cutler’s hands.

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Cutler is with the Bears for six more seasons and with the right players around him, the Bears could certainly compete next season. For now, Cutler can sit at home and breathe a sigh of relief that for the first time in awhile, he’s not the reason the Bears are not in the playoffs.