Ron Turner, You Are The Weakest Link

I know people are going to give Jay Cutler the business for today for throwing 5 interceptions in the game last night against the 49ers, but allow me to throw someone else under the bus. Cutler threw the ball 52 times last night in a game where Chicago was never down more than 7 points and in a game that ended up in a final score of 10-6. Let me say that again, he threw the ball 52 frikkin times!!!

Now we all know that Cutler is prone to throwing interceptions and if everyone else can see it presumably his coaches should be able to see it to. So why then would Ron Turner give him 52 opportunities to throw an interception? Well I think it comes down to the difference between a good to great coach and an average coach.

See a good or great coach on offense, defense, or special teams always has a good game plan and scheme. But what separates them from the rest of the pack is their ability to make adjustments. And that doesn't just mean adjustments to what the other team is throwing at them, it also means adjustments to their own personnel.

See an average coach has his scheme and his gameplan but they can only really be successful when they have the perfect players to go with their scheme and gameplan. If you put them in a situation where their talent doesn't fit with what they are trying to do on offense then instead of adjusting what they are trying to do, they just keep trying to put a square peg in a round hole. And results usually are disastrous.

In the case of the Bears they now have this big time quarterback with a strong arm who can make all the throws anywhere on the field. But they also have a quarterback who has a propensity to throw into coverage several times a game believing that he can squeeze in throws that he can't. And of course that leads to interceptions. But its not just Cutler that is the problem.

What you also have in Chicago are receiver who are not very big and don't have especially good hands. You also have an offensive line that makes swiss cheese look solid. You put that all together and you SHOULD come away with the distinct impression that what your team needs to do is lean on running the ball heavy and save the throws mostly for play action pass or 3rd and 4 or more. I mean the Bears have a decent defense and outstanding special teams so if the offense doesn't turn the ball over generally they will always be in it at the end.

But like a kid with a brand new toy their offensive coordinator, Ron Turner has decided that he simply must show off Cutler's arm. This in spite of the fact that they have a very good young running back in Matt Forte. Where they should be pounding the ball and wearing defenses down along with shortening the game by running the clock, instead they have Cutler running for his life and thrown the ball down field to the likes of Johnny Knox and Devin Hester.

But here is what is really funny to me. So called sports "experts" actually claim the Bears should be throwing the ball MORE. LOL What a bunch of clowns. See a lot of sports pundits nowadays are just a bunch of lazy minded followers of conventional wisdom. It seems the only way to be "aggressive" on offense these days is to throw the ball down the field every other play. It reminds me a lot of the stupid criticism of Alabama in college football. They have in my opinion the best stable of running backs in all of college football and yet week after week I have to listen to Lee Corso or some other "expert" tell me that they can't win a championship unless they start throwing the ball downfield even though their quarterback is usually the only guy on the field for either team that can actually beat them.

NEWSFLASH. Running the ball when your passing game is suspect is ALSO aggressive. It opens up the play action pass which gives young, inexperienced wide receivers a chance to get open against single coverage. And it also helps your offensive line so that the other teams defensive line can't just get in sprinters stances and tee off on your quarterback. It keeps them honest where they have to at least hesitate on the run fake. Which does what? Gives your quarterback time to throw the ball down the field.

Oh and by the way, if the Bears kick field goals instead of throwing redzone interceptions they probably win the game last night.

So hey by all means throw Jay Cutler under the bus today, but make sure you save some room for the guy calling the plays for him.

It is what it is.