Bears Blitz

Published by Tyler Wickerham on January 27, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship Game.  After the Bears’ second possession in the second half, Jay Cutler was conspicuously absent.

Todd Collins entered the game and immediately threw an incomplete pass.  The crowd became withdrawn from the game as a result of the Bears lack of offense.  After the first throw by Todd Collins you could hear a woman yell, “Are you f**king kidding me, Todd Collins?”

What seemed to bother the Bears fans more than anything, was that Jay Cutler didn’t seem to care that he was out of the biggest game of his career.

Did Jay Cutler care?

How do the fans know?

It sure looked like he didn’t care.  At one point, after Todd Collins got pulled for the third string QB Caleb Hanie, Collins was helping Hanie try to understand the defense of the Packers a little better.

Where was Cutler?

Does this mean that Cutler isn’t tough enough or doesn’t care? To help answer this question, let me refer to the book Blink by Malcolm Galdwell.

Blink argues that the outward appearance of an entity matters more than what is occurring internally.  In one chapter, Galdwell writes about how a liquor company simply changed its bottle in an effort to beat out its competitor.  It worked.  Nothing changed other than how the bottle looks, the liquor in the bottle stayed the same, yet now it was out-selling its rival.  At times, presentation can be of more importance than substance.

Jay Cutler’s outward appearance conveyed a sense on contentedness.  Also, it appeared as if he wasn’t severely injured.  It turned out he tore/sprained his MCL, but he was walking around on the sidelines like he wasn’t hurt at all.

More importantly, he wasn’t showing the competitive desire that fans want their football players to show.

Because he wasn’t doing either of those two things, does it mean he isn’t tough?  Does it mean he doesn’t care? No.  But to the fans and viewers, his actions and demeanor certainly called into question his desire and ability to combat adversity.

Should it matter what everyone else thinks about Jay Cutler?

Should it only matter that his teammates know he’s there for them? I believe so.  There is no doubt that his teammates know he is tough.  Listen to the interview Brian Urlacher gave after the game on Sunday.

Jay Cutler is a tough guy. He had the worst line in the NFL, and therefore took a lot of sacks, with defensive ends often having clear shots on him. 

Jay Cutler only left games prior to Sunday for concussions. He is tough and his teammates know he’s tough.  The problem is his demeanor.

Like the liquor company, what the outside looks like matters.  Cutler’s outside showed Bears’ fans that the game didn’t matter to him.

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