The Problem with Jay Cutler - Part Two

The QB as Team Leader.  (Not just leader of the offense).

The head coach leads everybody (players, coaches, trainers, etc) with his vision for the team and with his ability to prepare his players and coaches to achieve that vision.

The QB leads the offense and by extension the defense and the special teams. He’s the only player with his hands on ball virtually every play. All players have to have the necessary confidence that he can lead the team to victory for the team to succeed.  The Pittsburgh Steelers had the number one defense in the NFL last season.  James Harrison of the defense made one of the great plays in Super Bowl history with his 100 yard interception return for a TD at the end of the first half.

But their great defense failed to stop Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and the Cardinals at the end of the game. They were 2:37 away froma a stunning upset.  At that point, all eyes (including those of the Steelers) were on QB Ben Roethlisberger.  Will he or won't he.  And of course, he did.

The object of the game is to score more points than the other team.  I don't care how great your defense is or isn't . . . you have to score to win.  That's why the QB is the leader of the team (or at least should be/better be).

Great teams almost always have great leadership at the QB position. Whether it’s the quiet leadership of a Joe Montana (Joe never said two words. His teammates knew, however, that he would usually make the plays necessary to move the chains) or the much more vocal leadership of a guy like Dan Marino (who had no problem cussing out any of his teammates in the huddle, on the sideline or anywhere else).

Quiet. Or Vocal. Or a combination of both.

Chad Pennington’s  65.61 completion percentage is the highest in NFL history among QB’s who have thrown at least 1,500 passes (Kurt Warner and Steve Young are next in line).

Pennington is almost universally respected in the NFL. Usually quiet and unassuming. But he is a leader.

Herm Edwards: “He always prepared himself to be the guy. And once he was the guy, he took the burden of the team and put it on his shoulders.”

After their 1-15 season in 2007 the Dolphins signed Pennington in 2008 after he was cut loose by the Jets.

(From Dennis Dillon of the Sporting News):  Miami started out 0-2 in 2008. In the first practice before their third game things turned ugly. That’s when the Dolphins saw a different side of Pennington, who chastised the players using language that would have made his mother blush. “I guess he felt us sliding back to the losing culture we had the previous year,” said WR Greg Camarillo “and he wasn’t going to allow it.”

“Weak-Armed” Chad Pennington helped lead the 1-15 Dolphins to an 11-5 record last season.

I don’t know what kind of leader Jay Cutler is or isn’t. Few do. The only ones who do know are the ones that have been a part of the teams he has played on. Not any of us on the outside looking in.

All I know is that unless, at some time, he puts the ‘Team on his Shoulders’ (like Herm Edwards says) and unless he’s willing to get in guys faces as to “Not allow them to slide into a losing culture” (as Greg Camarillo said) then the Bears aren’t going anywhere. They’ll just have a really strong armed QB guiding them into mediocrity.

Jay has stated that he grew up a Bears fan. Perhaps he can revisit Bear history. Say what you will about Jim McMahon. He set more NCAA passing records than any other QB in college football history. He authored one of the greatest college comebacks (the 1980 Holiday Bowl - #4 on ESPN‘s list of Greatest Bowl Games ) when BYU was down 45-25 with less than four minutes remaining against SMU. The highlight of that comeback was when McMahon defied head coach LaVell Edwards by refusing to take his offense of the field to punt the ball away on 4th and two late in the 4th quarter. McMahon went to the sideline and screamed at Edwards not to give up.  That this was Bull S++T, according to McMahon. Edwards relented and McMahon and his offense gained the first down and kept alive the drive and eventually pulled out the stunning upset.  (Edwards:  The guy (McMahon) was upset to no end and so I said "OK, go back in we're going for it").

LaVell Edwards is no slouch.  He's a HOF college head coach.

Jim McMahon arrived at Halas Hall after being drafted with a beer in one hand and a cocky, arrogant attitude in the other. And then promptly backed it up. He hung out with the offensive line and they loved him for it (MIke Ditka:  "Those guys would've done anything for Jim"). He played the game (again quoting Mike Ditka) with “reckless abandon.” His teammates couldn’t help but respect that. He went ’toe to toe’ with Mike Ditka when need be. Who on Earth yells at “Iron Mike?” Jim McMahon did. Usually it happened (according to RT Keith Van Horne) after Ditka would send in a play and McMahon would say: “F==K that, we’re not going to run that. We’re going to run this.” And McMahon’s play would work.

Jim McMahon: “He wanted to be in charge of everything and it times it wasn’t the right way I felt.”

Did McMahon do that to be disrespectful? Not at all.  He just wanted to win. (Mike Ditka, from his book 'In Life, First You Kick Ass'):  "McMahon, I think what you have to understand about him -whether you love him or hate him-is that he is one of the most competitive people on the planet."

Leadership. It’s a beautiful thing. He defied his college coach when he wanted to punt the ball away and essentially surrender the game. That act of defiance led to one of the greatest Bowl games ever. He often defied his head coach in Chicago cause he knew more about the offense that Iron Mike did.

Which then leads to quotes like this:

Mike Ditka

And I don’t care how much talent a QB does or does not have.  How strong his arm is or isn't. Without the ability to execute; to lead and inspire and motivate his troops, his team probably isn’t going very far.