The Jay Cutler Effect: Introducing the New and Improved Bears Offense

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Bears fans actually saw glimpses of Ron Turner’s ideal offense when Rex Grossman briefly impersonated a top-flight quarterback during the 2006 season when the Bears made the Super Bowl. With the acquisition of Jay Cutler, Turner can now run his West Coast offense, which features a liberal dose of down field passing.

The whole Lovie Smith mantra of the Bears running when they got off the bus has proven to be bluster apt for the Windy City, wise talk that does not follow with action.

In today’s NFL, you need to have an efficient and consistent passing game that can control the ball and move the chains, with enough running game sprinkled in to keep defenses honest. The best offenses also have the ability to capitalize on big plays made in the down field passing game.

For a fleeting moment, Grossman to Bernard Berrian formed a potent connection that caused defenses to start game planning against a Bears passing game. However, once defenses started accounting for Grossman as a threat he disintegrated into the quarterback currently looking for a job without much luck.

Unlike Grossman, Cutler has displayed the consistency the past two seasons to prove that he belongs in the talks for best young quarterback in the NFL.

Adept at hitting the tight end down the middle, a wide receiver on out patterns along the sidelines, or the streaking open man on go routes, Cutler can accurately make all the throws needed to lead an NFL offense.

An underrated route runner, Devin Hester showed the ability to run crisp intermediate and deep routes on the sidelines to go with his ability to get down field.

Greg Olsen has proven to be a good target in the middle of the field, with the added bonus of being able to split out wide and work the sidelines with his 6'5" frame.

Rookie Juaquin Iglesias did a nice job on the outside in college and hopes to transfer those skills to the NFL. He will need to practice and gain experience at working the middle of the field, but with Olsen and dependable veteran Desmond Clark at tight end he will not have to be rushed into that role.

Finally, dual threat running back Matt Forte can be a safety valve out of the backfield in the passing game, get down the sidelines on flare routes, and pick up blitzing rushers as a pass blocker.

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