North: Cutler and Luck don't make smart choices
It's only Week Three in the NFL and already the accident-waiting-to-happen has happened to the Chicago Bears.
Is it any surprise the quarterback Jay Cutler is the topic of conversation again for all the wrong reasons? For the second straight week, he gave the other team a touchdown via an interception and now he is hurt.
Coach John Fox likes to keep us guessing so we are unclear of his actual injury. Is it a hamstring? Does he have a concussion? Is it a shoulder injury or all of the above?
I can't help but say Cutler is mentally deficient in regards to his football performance. I keep hearing how smart he is because he went to Vanderbilt. OK, that's legitimate, but nobody makes more costly mistakes on the field, except perhaps Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck, who has a league-high 5 interceptions and quarterback rating of 28.5.
At least Cutler's QBR is 56.3. Luck is also considered one of the smartest quarterbacks in the league and attended Stanford, but something is missing with both of these players right now.
With the Bears 0-2 and heading to Seattle, we better start believing in miracles, because a win there is unlikely.
My prediction: Seattle 27, Bears 10. Sorry folks. I hope I'm wrong, but hope is all the fans have right now.
Cubs should rule awards:
I believe Jake Arrieta of the Cubs should be the Cy Young Award winner in the National League. Tuesday night's shutout victory at home against the Milwaukee Brewers made Arrieta the first major-league pitcher to win 20 games this year. No one expected him to be so spectacular, and this last 123-pitch performance in a soft-serve age of baseball is a testament to him, especially in light of pitchers like the New York Mets' Matt Harvey with his limited inning and pitch count controversy.
Arrieta's consistency (18 consecutive quality starts) and an ERA of 1.88 make him the best candidate. Jon Lester, (10-11) who came to the Cubs with a lot of fanfare, was supposed to be the man on this team, but "Big Game Jake" is a major reason the Cubs are staring at 89 wins and counting.
I realize the pitching tandem of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke has been great for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but I believe they should cancel each other out. It's Jake's to lose.
In the meantime, the manager of the year in the National League is most likely a two-horse race with the Cubs' Joe Maddon and Cardinals' skipper Mike Matheny (with apologies to the Jerry Collins of New York Mets and Clint Hurdle of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
While the Cards are in first place in the NL Central Division even though Matheny lost ace pitcher Adam Wainwright and left field slugger Matt Holliday for a good part of the season, I still think Maddon deserves the nod.
Somehow he convinced this mix of kids and veterans they could compete. C'mon the Cubs in the playoffs? You have to vote for Joe!
Program notes:
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• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.