North: Cutler's detractors lining up
Are the Chicago Bears going to win when they take on the New England Patriots in Foxboro, Mass., on Sunday?
I doubt it, but it's not improbable. NFL teams and players who catch a beating with the fans and in the media after a poor showing, like the Bears had last weekend, seem to bounce back and quell the criticism in their next game.
As everyone knows, the Bears aren't a Super Bowl team, and they may not be a playoff team. But hope will return if they can pull off this upset as a 7-point underdog.
The outcome can be boiled down to one key matchup: Tom Brady versus Jay Cutler.
Can you say mismatch?
If Cutler wants to change his image with fans, he needs to deliver and make people take notice.
As a radio guy who's had a relevant Bear on the airwaves, I can tell you it's huge for a radio station. Cutler skipped his weekly show on ESPN (1000-AM) on Monday, and waited until Thursday to tell the media that he missed it to take his son to the doctor.
Whatever you believe, that told me what I've always known - he can't man up.
When Mike Ditka did local radio in 1992 in his last year as head coach, he was under siege frequently. At the time, we had rotating hosts for the show, so I wasn't there every week, but I'm pretty sure he showed up every time. Of course, it didn't hurt that the show was done at Ditka's O'Hare.
Cutler's detractors are starting to get louder. Brandon Marshall said he and Cutler were cool, but it wasn't an accident he omitted Cutler on Sunday when he talked about the positives of the offense.
Ditka also took issue this week with the Bears' rotating system for captains, saying a team needs at least one specific leader. I couldn't agree more, and it's obvious this Bears QB isn't considered a leader.
And then there is Brian Urlacher, the former Bears' linebacker and future Hall of Famer, who says the only elite thing about Cutler is his salary.
I was alone on the boat with my assessment of Cutler, but now others are jumping on board.
Bears general manager Phil Emery and coach Marc Trestman, along with the rest of the players, must take some responsibility, but I believe they can't move Cutler soon enough.
That said, it probably won't happen because the Bears' brass will have to admit their blunder.
Maybe they can trade him to Tampa Bay for the injured Josh McCown, who rejoined practice this week. Don't laugh - Cutler would lose in Tampa and at least we know "Big Game Josh" can run the Bears' offense with the key skill position players already on this team and keep the mistakes to a minimum.
Or how about Kyle Orton? Oh, I know, Bears' fans will tell me I'm nuts, and I am, but what could be nuttier than paying an underachiever $54 million?
Program notes:
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