Imrem: Did Cutler pick up any tips from Brady?
Tom Brady made an interesting comment on an NFL pregame show Sunday morning.
The Patriots' all-time great quarterback said that he studied fellow all-time great quarterback Peyton Manning.
Made me wonder whether Bears all-time frustrating quarterback Jay Cutler ever studies Manning and Brady.
They were on the TV screen together Sunday afternoon: Brady and the Patriots beating Manning and the Broncos 43-21.
I'm not talking about Cutler watching the game like we would. More like a commoner would study royalty.
Study what Brady and Manning did well and how. Study what they did wrong and why. Study how they commanded their offenses in good times and bad.
How did Brady and Manning manage the wintry conditions? How did they compensate for not having a running game? How did Brady play with the lead? How did Manning play from behind? How did they respond to a sack, a dropped pass, an interception?
Cutler could stand to learn some of the whys and wherefores from the best … but maybe it was unfair to expect him to watch that game.
It could be that nobody — Cutler, Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford or any other quarterback on break — sat home and watched football.
But, man, wouldn't it be comforting for a Bears fan to believe that Cutler did so in acknowledgment that he could learn something from elite quarterbacks.
The thing about Cutler is the thing that is said about him: He has the size, arm, mobility and just about every other physical attribute to become elite.
So this isn't like wondering whether, say, Josh McCown sat home to study Manning and Brady.
McCown, last year's Bears backup to Cutler, and Jimmy Clausen, this year's, could watch Brady and Manning all day every day and not resemble them.
But with Cutler's talent, maybe he could at least be close to their class if he picked up clues by watching the best quarterbacks do what the best quarterbacks do.
If Cutler had family obligations that kept him from catching the Broncos-Patriots game, he could have done something else.
During the bye week, Cutler could have taken the tape of the Bears' most recent game and studied that play by play.
That happened to be a Bears loss in which Brady led the Patriots to 51 points.
With fewer weapons around him than Cutler has, Brady made the Bears' defense look like tackling dummies or dare we say just plain dummies.
Cutler could break down that tape and see what a really special quarterback like Brady looks like. He could fixate on Brady's footwork, arm angle, decision making, body language, facial expressions, interaction with teammates and overall presence.
Just the mannerisms would help because Manning and Brady ooze leadership on the football field and only Cutler's bosses believe he does.
Over the years and currently, Cutler's coaches have tried to drill all those Manning-Brady qualities into him.
But being told what to do and seeing a Brady and/or a Manning do them are different. Cutler could see them for himself if he studied the Bears-Patriots game and see them doubly if he studied the Broncos-Patriots game.
Lesser chefs can learn by watching the best chefs on the Food Network. Lesser sports writers can learn from reading the best sports writers on the Internet. Lesser quarterbacks can learn from studying the best quarterbacks in their free time.
Even if Jay Cutler studied Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, he wouldn't become them because he doesn't possess that certain something special that they have.
But studying them and studying them some more might help Cutler get better.
You think he did?
Me neither.
mimrem@dailyherald.com