Rodgers & Cutler: A Tale of Two QBs

I couldn't help but notice Monday night, during the Green Bay-Seattle game, that Aaron Rodgers was getting obliterated by the Seahawks. Rodgers' line was downright awful. He was getting blasted time after time, his line looked overmatched and he was taking hits as soon as he hit the back of his drop.

It all seemed too familiar didn't it? After just eleven days earlier it was Jay Cutler taking the blows, the hits and whose line looked overmatched.

However, both quarterbacks reacted differently to this.

Cutler was sacked three times in the first half of the Green Bay game and threw one interception. He completed four of nine passes for 37 yards. When he really unraveled was in the second half, getting sacked four more times and throwing three interceptions.

His counterpart, on Monday night, Aaron Rodgers, finished the first half 12/15 for 83 yards, no TDs, no INTs. He, however, was sacked eight times. In the second half Rodgers avoided a meltdown, wasn't sacked again and played well enough for the team to be in a position to win. He ended with no touchdowns, but more importantly, no interceptions either.

So what does that say about these quarterbacks? I think it's a worthwhile conversation to have. After our own Dave Gilbert was blasted for his 30 QBs Better than Cutler, which I thought was also a worthwhile article to write, it got me thinking.

So I sorted the QBs by sacks, to see if anything jumped out at me stat-wise. Rodgers has been sacked more than any QB in the league so far through three games and yet he is middle of the pack in passer rating. His 87.0 rating is nearly 30 points better than Cutler's.

This is what it tells me; Rodgers is better under duress than Cutler. It's easy to write off Cutler's troubles with "well his offensive line is horrible" but what does it say when you have another QB, with just as many weapons as Cutler, getting sacked more times and not melting down?

And it's not just Rodgers. Of the quarterbacks who have sacked 10 times, Cutler has the lowest rating...by 15 points. Next lowest is Matt Cassel, with a 73.8 rating and he has been sacked 11 times, the same as Cutler.

Cutler also has the lowest completion percentage. He's got the most INTs (tied for league lead in fact with Michael Vick).

At some point Cutler has to step his game up. It can't all be on the offensive line. What else plays into it though? I believe the play-calling could help him, but at the end of the day, it appears that Cutler is the worst QB in the league under duress.

Everyone says "yeah, but what QB is good under pressure?" Well, statistically, Cutler is the worst.