Come To Think Of It: Jay Cutler is the Football Equivalent of Fool's Gold

Look, I'm sick and tired of defending this guy. When the trade happened, I was ecstatic. Denver fans warned us that Jay Cutler couldn't get it done in the red zone. He was reckless in key situations. He threw too many interceptions.

I figured it was sour grapes. Look at that strong arm, I would say. See all those yards he has thrown for. I screamed about how we finally had our franchise quarterback.

What a fool I was. Jay Cutler is the football equivalent of fool's gold. This Bears fan has seen enough.

Oh, he looks like the real thing, all shiny and polished. Rocket arm? Check. Youth? Check. Wins? Well, no, but that was largely out of his control. The Denver defense was awful last year.

Oh, but now I know it was all fool's gold. Five interceptions? Really? Sure, two weren't his fault, but the others were—and could have had a couple more.

And it's not like this is the first time. He has now thrown four or more picks in two games of a season that still has a ways to go. Why, at this rate, we may start longing for a Caleb Hanie sighting.

OK, that won't ever happen, but you get my point.

All along, while I was watching the evidence before my very eyes, I would make excuses for Cutler. He has a bad offensive line. He doesn't have the weapons he had in Denver.

And hey, isn't he tough? Sure, he lost again, but man, he can take a pounding. He gets knocked down, but he gets up again.

Well, now I'm not so sure I want him to get up again. Not that we have any better options at our disposal. Let's face it, he will be our QB for a long time. That used to excite me. Now it makes me shudder.

You can make all the excuses in the world for the man, and many of them are true. We do have a bad offensive line. We have no running game. Our receivers aren't great. But hey, he makes bad decisions. He forces the ball into tight situations.

In short, he may have that cannon of an arm, but he has the football brain of Rex Grossman.

He is just not good at playing the quarterback position.

If you think I'm overreacting, here is some news for you: Cutler has nine interceptions in the red zone in the past two seasons, more than twice as many as anyone else .

He leads the NFL in interceptions with 17. He became the first Bears quarterback since Billy Wade in 1962 to have two four-interception games in a season.

I'm not even going to write about the dumb penalties. And don't you dare tell me how good the defense played. We play well against mediocre quarterbacks like Alex Smith. Against real talent, we stink. Period.

Both teams played ugly, but I'd rather win ugly than lose ugly. As for Cutler? This is not my definition of a franchise quarterback. A franchise-killing quarterback maybe, come to think of it.

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