As teams enter the second quarter of their schedule, they have had four games to knock off the rust, get a good idea of where they stand personnel and scheme wise, and evaluate what direction to go in for the rest of the season.
As the Bears enter this part of the schedule, I thought it might be interesting to look at how Jay Cutler has performed in the second quarter during his career. Obviously, he didn't assume a starter's role until the last 5 games of the 2006 season, so we'll have to start in 2007 to get a look at his numbers.
In the four games of the 2007 season, Jay Cutler posted a 1-3 record, despite having 3 of those games at home. He completed 66.9 % of his passes, threw for 4 TDs and 3 INTs. It is noteworthy that he was injured in the 4th game (a loss at Detroit) during the second quarter, and had only thrown 4 passes to that point. His only win (at home vs. Pitt) came after the Bye week.
Looking at 2008, Cutler again posted a 1-3 record in the 2nd quarter of play, again with 3 games at home during the stretch. He completed 59.4% of passes, with 6 TDs and 6 INTs. Coming off the Bye week, he threw 2 TDs versus 3 INTs during a loss at home against the Dolphins.
Cutler's win/ loss record of 2-6 in the second quarter of the season is not good, especially considering he had the luxury of playing at home in 6 of those 8 games. He has never won on the road in the second quarter of the season. Overall, his second quarter numbers are: 63% completion of passes, 10 TDs, and 8 INTs.
Looking at the Bears second quarter games this season, we play @ Atlanta, @ Cincinnati, then at home versus Cleveland and Arizona. Cutler has shown steady improvement since the first game at Green Bay, and surely we can expect his second quarter performance in 2009 to be better than the previous two seasons.