Bears Blitz

Published by Josh Rosenblat on August 30, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Jay Cutler had always been talented, but he seemed to shine only when his teams had poor talent.

He went to a non-traditional football school at Vanderbilt and was selected by Mike Shanahan and the Denver Broncos when they traded up to select him with the 11th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.

Cutler started five games in his rookie season and finished with a record of 2-3. In 2007, the Cutler-led Broncos stumbled to a 6-10 year. The following year, the Broncos started off the year hot and were in a prime position to make the playoffs through their first 13 games. Then Denver finished the season with three straight losses, and the Broncos fell to 8-8 and out of the playoffs.

Through this time in his career, Cutler was thought of as a promising young quarterback that kept to himself for the most part. But in the offseason of 2009, perceptions were about to change.

Due to some confusion over the firing of Mike Shanahan and the hiring of Josh McDaniels, Cutler felt that his time in Denver was numbered. He demanded that the franchise trade him, and it did just that.

Amid that controversy, Cutler landed in Chicago, a land where quarterbacks go to die.

The Bears hadn’t had this type of talent under center in the history of the franchise. And big things were expected of Chicago’s newest sports star.

During his first few months with the team, it was evident that established stars Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs weren’t too happy with the move. Both players felt that Cutler acted entitled and that he wasn’t worth trading Kyle Orton and two first round draft picks.

And it wasn’t as if he did much to change that during the season, either. Cutler threw an NFL-high 26 interceptions while the Bears reversed their 2008 record, with a 7-9, third place finish in the NFC North.

With changes along the coaching staff in 2010, Jay Cutler paired with Mike Martz to try to spark a lackluster offense. Cutler was sacked a league-high 52 times, but was able to hang in there, decreasing his interception rate to 14 and leading the Chicago Bears to an NFC North championship.

For Bears fans and NFL fans alike, one image of Jay Cutler may stand out to them. And that image came in the 2010 NFC championship game at Soldier Field against the rival Green Bay Packers.

Cutler suffered a knee injury that knocked him out of the game and many analysts and NFL players ridiculed Cutler, calling him weak and a bad teammate for failing to lead his team in the second half.

While some players took advantage of the NFL lockout this offseason to relax and recover, Cutler rehabbed his knee with vigor and continued to make efforts to improve technical facets of his game.

Cutler lost 10 pounds in the offseason, sighting a difference in his performance from the first days of camp in July.

“I have not been this lean. I can tell the difference in my footwork and just the ability to get up in the pocket,” said Cutler. “You know, I don’t really get as tired as much throughout camp because I’m not carrying all that weight. Whether it’s good or bad, we’ll wait to see.”

Not only has Cutler impressed critics this preseason with his pocket presence and improved mobility, his teammates are seeing a difference as well.

“I’m expecting big things, not just from [Jay Cutler], but our whole offense. You know, [Cutler] had a good season last year. [Cutler] got hurt the last game of the year and he got a lot of people jumping on him, trying to get after him,” captain Brian Urlacher said. “[Cutler] looks good out there.”

For Cutler, he has made a believer out of Urlacher, and now, in his third season as a Bear, Cutler looks ready to bring the Bears back to a Super Bowl.

Josh Rosenblat is a high school student from Chicago looking to find a way to break into sports journalism. He often writes about the NBA (primarily the Chicago Bulls), as well as the MLB, college basketball, Tennis and the NFL. You can email him at joshua.m.rosenblat@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @JMRosenblat. Feel free to send him comments.

Visit Josh’s Blog: The Rose Garden: Where Sports Fanatics and Writing Meet in Harmony.

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