Miami Dolphins: Open letter on Jay Cutler from a Chicago Bears fan
The Miami Dolphins signed quarterback Jay Cutler to replace the injured Ryan Tannehill. Take it from a Chicago Bears fan, you fans are in for a wild, up-and-down ride in 2017.
The Miami Dolphins had high hopes for their 2017 season. They surprised everyone last season and finished 10-6 and made it to the playoffs. They expected at least the same, and some even started thinking about dethroning the New England Patriots (as crazy as that sounds). Then training camp started and on Aug. 3 Ryan Tannehill went down untouched. Now it appears as if his season could be over before it started.
The Dolphins decided that beginning the season with Matt Moore as their starting quarterback was not a good idea. Moore isn’t a bad quarterback, but he is a career backup for a reason. The team decided to reach out and sign a player with ties to head coach Adam Gase — former Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.
As a lifelong Bears fan, and someone who truly supported Cutler from the beginning until the last three seasons, I wish to write an open letter to you Dolphins fans:
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Dear Dolphins fans,
I see you are the proud owners of a new quarterback. You may think he is the answer (at least a temporary one) to your situation, but I’m here to tell you he is not.
Cutler will suck you in with his talents. You will see that he is a talented player. He still has a rocket for an arm. He’ll throw that ball in the middle of a double team into his receiver’s hands. Also, his scrambling skills are excellent. He can slide to give himself some time, move around and hit the open man. He’ll also tuck it and get you a good chunk of yards if he cannot get the throw off.
When you see what he can do, you will be excited. “Hey, he isn’t bad,” you’ll say.
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Then, after looking like a world beater in one game, he’ll go in the completely opposite direction the next two or three games. He’ll throw it again into double coverage, but this time the defender gets the ball. He’ll drive the offense into the all-important red zone, then he’ll throw an awful-looking interception, or he’ll get sacked and the ball falls out of his hand and onto the defense.
Okay, I’m sure a lot of you will say “Hey, Cutler had his best season with Adam Gase as his offensive coordinator.” Okay, let’s look at the stats:
| Year | Tm | GS | QBrec | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Y/G | Rate | QBR | Sk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | DEN | 5 | 2-3-0 | 59.1 | 1001 | 9 | 5 | 200.2 | 88.5 | 43.9 | 13 |
| 2007 | DEN | 16 | 7-9-0 | 63.6 | 3497 | 20 | 14 | 218.6 | 88.1 | 67.2 | 27 |
| 2008* | DEN | 16 | 8-8-0 | 62.3 | 4526 | 25 | 18 | 282.9 | 86.0 | 64.1 | 11 |
| 2009 | CHI | 16 | 7-9-0 | 60.5 | 3666 | 27 | 26 | 229.1 | 76.8 | 54.0 | 35 |
| 2010 | CHI | 15 | 10-5-0 | 60.4 | 3274 | 23 | 16 | 218.3 | 86.3 | 55.1 | 52 |
| 2011 | CHI | 10 | 7-3-0 | 58.0 | 2319 | 13 | 7 | 231.9 | 85.7 | 63.4 | 23 |
| 2012 | CHI | 15 | 10-5-0 | 58.8 | 3033 | 19 | 14 | 202.2 | 81.3 | 48.6 | 38 |
| 2013 | CHI | 11 | 5-6-0 | 63.1 | 2621 | 19 | 12 | 238.3 | 89.2 | 72.7 | 19 |
| 2014 | CHI | 15 | 5-10-0 | 66.0 | 3812 | 28 | 18 | 254.1 | 88.6 | 54.6 | 38 |
| 2015 | CHI | 15 | 6-9-0 | 64.4 | 3659 | 21 | 11 | 243.9 | 92.3 | 65.9 | 29 |
| 2016 | CHI | 5 | 1-4-0 | 59.1 | 1059 | 4 | 5 | 211.8 | 78.1 | 33.2 | 17 |
| Care | 139 | 68-71-0 | 61.9 | 32467 | 208 | 146 | 233.6 | 85.7 | 302 | ||
| 8 yr | CHI | 102 | 51-51-0 | 61.8 | 23443 | 154 | 109 | 229.8 | 85.2 | 251 | |
| 3 yr | DEN | 37 | 17-20-0 | 62.5 | 9024 | 54 | 37 | 243.9 | 87.1 | 51 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/8/2017.
In 2015, Cutler had a decent season. He had his highest quarterback rating, yes, but his 3,659 yards ranked 19th in the NFL, below average for a starter. Also, he had 11 interceptions, which ranked 15th.
Speaking of interceptions, had it not been for a couple of injuries that ended his season early, Cutler would have 10 consecutive seasons of 10+ interceptions. That is not good. If he plays a full season, do you expect him to throw fewer than 10 interceptions?
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As I said, I was a Jay Cutler fan early on. In fact, I wrote some pretty high words of praise for him. I even felt he could be the MVP back in 2014. He had some pretty good weapons in Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, and Martellus Bennett, and he had a good running game with Matt Forte.
Things were set up much the way they are for him this season. He was in his second year of an offensive-minded coach (Marc Trestman) after having a pretty good first year. This is his second season under offensive-minded Adam Gase, and he has good receivers in Jarvis Landry, DeVante Parker, Kenny Stills, and Julius Thomas. Additionally, he has a good running attack with Jay Ajayi.
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What happens if Parker has one of his lulls, or Jakeem Grant drops a couple passes? When things don’t go as planned, Cutler has a tendency to check out. During the 2014 season, I felt he checked out early and just never got back, even after getting benched. Many fans, myself included, never forgave Cutler for quitting on the team, and that began the beginning of the end for him. Will he do the same in Miami?
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The Miami Dolphins avoided possible controversy by passing Colin Kaepernick, but believe me when I tell you that Cutler will bring his own controversy. He was a lightning rod in Chicago.I still have to say that I wish Cutler well. I like reclamation stories. If he can put it all together in Miami, half of Chicago will say “I told you so.” If not, the other half will say “I told you so.”