Jay Cutler
Chicago Bears Make Big Free Agent Splash — Add Peppers & Taylor
Friday, March 5th, 2010 | Chicago Bears, NFL, Sports | No Comments
The Chicago Bears wasted no time luring 3 big time free agents to the lakefront of Chicago. The Bears signed the top free agent available – 5-time Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers away from the Carolina Panthers. Peppers will be a difference-maker on the front line of the Bears defense and should help free some space for Tommie Harris, Alex Brown, Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs to wreak some major havoc on every play.
The Bears also got some running back help by signing Chester Taylor away from the NFC North division rival Minnesota Vikings. Taylor will team with incumbent runner Matt Forte to provide a formidable rushing/receiving duo for Quarterback Jay Cutler.
The Bears also landed a legitimate tight end – Brandon Manumaleuna from the San Diego Chargers – who will fit in well in new Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz’s style of offense. That could mean the imminent departure of under-achieving tight end Greg Olsen after just 3 seasons in a Bears uniform.
It’s pretty clear that GM Jerry Angleo and Head Coach Lovie Smith were really desperate this off-season to go out and throw mega-bucks at 3 different free agents. While this doesn’t guarantee anything, a trip to the playoffs in 2010 could save both of their jobs. We’ll see how it all shakes out during the 2010 NFL schedule…
Chicago Sports Teams – Downright Bad – Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls…
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 | Chicago 2016 Olympics, Chicago Bears, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, Rio de Janeiro, Sports | 1 Comment
WOW – it has been a rough year for Chicago sports teams. The Bears and Bulls are just continuing the downward trend for Chicago sports teams. Throw in the fact that the City lost out on the bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics this past October, and you wonder why they even field teams in the “Second City.”
Both MLB teams allowed August collapses to dictate disappointing finishes in 2009. The White Sox (79-83; .488 winning percentage) finished 7.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central Division, while the Cubs (83-78; .516 winning percentage) finished 7.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the American League Central Division. Obviously neither team qualified for the playoffs.
While the Bears and Bulls had promising starts to their respective seasons, things have quickly turned for the worse for each team.
The Bears started off by winning 3 of their first 4 games, but a current 4-game losing streak has the Bears sitting at 4-7. With games against the Vikings, Ravens and Packers (teams with winning records) still on the schedule, a 6-10 finish looks like a best-case scenario. A Bears loss to either the Rams (1 win) or Lions (2 wins) could end up costing Head Coach Lovie Smith his job. While the defense has been pretty awful all season long, the biggest disappointments come on the offensive side of the ball. During the off-season preceding the season, the Bears traded 2 1st round draft picks and then-starting QB Kyle Orton to acquire “franchise player” Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos. Cutler has been a huge enigma in 2009 – while he has thrown for 2671 yards and 16 TD’s and completed over 62% of his passes, he has also thrown a league-high 20 interceptions. His 74.4 passer rating is well below his career 83.9 passer rating. Coupled with Matt Forte’s sophomore slump (1,238 yards rushing with 8 TD’s in 2008 v. 543 yards rushing with 3 TD’s in 2009), it looks like the Bears have a lot of work to do if they want to turn this thing around.
The same could be said for the Bulls. The Bulls started the season with a 6-4 record through their 1st 10 games. But their annual “Circus Road Trip” away from the United Center proved costly. They lost the last 5 games of the trip and now sit at a dismal 6-9. Kirk Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas are both injured, and Derrick Rose is still trying to get back to his top form after dealing with an ankle injury during the pre-season which limited his play. There are a few bright spots for the Bulls. #1 – the Eastern Conference is just awful – even at 3 games under .500 the Bulls would still qualify for the playoffs if the season ended today. #2 – Luol Deng (18.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game) and Joakim Noah (11.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per game) have looked great early on. #3 – the Bulls are set up well salary-cap-wise for the 2010 free agent feeding frenzy – which will include the likes of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Amari Stoudamire and Chris Bosh.
Sorry Chicago sports fans – looks like you better root real hard for the Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup in 2010…
Bengals Crush Bears 45-10; Worst Loss During Lovie Smith Era
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 | Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, NFL, Sports | No Comments
Ouch – the Bears took it on the chin on Sunday, losing to the Bengals 45-10 in Cincinnati. Right from the get-go, it looked like the Bears players wanted to be anyplace but Paul Brown Stadium. It was clearly the worst loss during Lovie Smith’s tenure as Head Coach of the Chicago Bears. Since their 2006 Super Bowl appearance, the Bears have been a .500 team. They went 7-9 in 2007, 9-7 in 2008 and are currently 3-3 during 2009. This is not good news if you are a Bears fan or if you’re Lovie Smith.
In Sunday’s demoralizing 45-10 loss, the Bears scored on each their 5 drives in the 1st half and on their 1st 2 drives of the 2nd half. The Bengals led 31-0 and then 45-3. It was the classic home team beat down. Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer threw 5 touchdown passes, going 20 of 24 for 233 yards. Former Bears cast-off Cedric Benson rushed 37 times for 189 yards and 1 touchdown, making it look easy against his former team. Cad Ochocinco caught 10 passes for 118 yards and 2 scores. Anyway who played for the Bengals on the offensive side of the ball had a field day against the Bears defense on Sunday.
The best side story was Benson. In 3 seasons with the Bears, he frustrated Bears management and fans with his lack of dedication. 2 brushes with the law ultimately forced the Bears to cut ties with Benson.
Benson’s Bears stats – in 3 seasons, 35 games, 420 rushes, 1,593 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 3 lost fumbles.
Benson’s Bengals stats – in 1+ seasons, 19 games, 378 rushes, 1,467 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 1 lost fumble. Benson is averaging over 100 yards per game in 2009 and he looks focused and ready like never before.
Another interesting look is Jay Cutler v. former Bears QB Kyle Orton (now with the Denver Broncos).
Cutler’s 2009 Bears (3-3 team record) stats – 6 games, 82.9 passer rating, 65% completion percentage, 1,452 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and 7 fumbles with 1 lost fumble.
Orton’s 2009 Broncos (6-0 team record) stats – 6 games, 100.1 passer rating, 63.9% completion percentage, 1,465 passing yards, 9 touchdowns, 1 interception, and 1 fumble with zero lost fumbles.
Crazy crazy stuff… The Bears are tied for 9th in the NFC while the Broncos are tied for 1st in the AFC.
There’s still time for this 2009 Bears club, but if they continue to play the way they did against the Falcons and Bengals instead of the way they played against the Steelers and Lions, it could be another frustrating season for Lovie Smith, Smith’s staff and Bears fans all over the country.
Jay Cutler will get a trade
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 | NFL | No Comments
Looks like Cutler is getting what he wanted, the Broncos said they will look to trade the QB.
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