Where Will Jay Cutler Go from Here?

Yesterday it was reported that the Pro Bowl Quarterback of the Denver Broncos, Jay Cutler, had officially requested a trade. Today, we the people, began contemplating where he might end up if his request is honored. I’m sure there are many fans out there whose team could use a guy in Jay Cutler who played like the potential franchise-type quarterback that many analysts foresaw. The scoop is that new head coach Josh McDaniels, who was offensive coordinator for the Patriots, wanted to trade Cutler for Matt Cassel since he was familiar with his system already. This has since angered the young Cutler and he now wants to go… but where?!

To start off an easy process of elimination, every team in the AFC is out since teams don’t usually like to send star players away to in-conference franchises. And although Cassel was finally traded to another AFC team, like his former Patriots, in the Chiefs, that was more of an “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” deal.

This was the widespread thought when that deal went down, because Scott Pioli, the former general manager of the Patriots moved onto Kansas City to try and resurrect that ball club.

So the AFC is out!

In the NFC East, Dallas has Tony Romo, NY has Eli Manning, and Philadelphia has Donovan McNabb. So far, Jason Campbell of the Washington Redskins still has a lot to prove, while Cutler seems way more promising than him thus far when both their careers are compared.

In the NFC North, the Packers have Aaron Rodgers, and the Vikings made moves to throw their young QB Tarvaris Jackson into a competition with newly acquired Sage Rosenfels from Houston. I don’t think that the Lions could attract an odor, so the Bears are definitely a hot spot. They’ve had no success with Rex Grossman, and minimal with Kyle Orton.

In the NFC South, the Saints boast Drew Brees, and the Falcons have a young star in rookie of the year Matt Ryan. The Panthers would have looked to have some great trade bait with the disgruntled Julius Peppers, but now it looks like he may be a Patriot soon. However, with Jake Delhomme being their current signal caller you still can’t count them out. Then there’s the Buccaneers who got rid of veteran Jeff Garcia.

After that, in the NFC West, the Seahawks have Matt Hasselbeck who is not past his better days yet, and Kurt Warner is obviously safe as the Cardinals QB. Cross those two teams out and you have the 49ers with the disappointing results of Alex Smith’s progress, and the St. Louis Rams, who should have started thinking about dropping Marc Bulger quite some time ago.

So there you have it. The top candidates to have Jay Cutler for President!

NFC North Race Tightens Up After NFL Week 6

Week six in the NFL once again proved how the nature of the league changes from week to week. One good example of this is three of the four teams in the NFC North.

The one team that doesn’t “count” is the Detroit Lions. They are rather sad getting smashed their first four games by a total score of 159-76 and losing by an average of 16.6 points which is over three scores. They are immediately excluded from this conversation.

 

 

The Bears looked to be in good shape in reaching a 3-2 record and playing the Falcons this past Sunday. However, they lost and dropped to 3-3. The Vikings are the opposite at 3-3 and looked to be in good shape since they were 1-3 and have now won two in a row to match the Bears. The two face off this weekend in Chicago, and the winner of that game will be tied for the division lead or in first with a 4-3 record barring a tie.

Meanwhile, the Packers, after dropping three straight, got a road win in Seattle and reached 3-3. However, they face the Colts in Green Bay this weekend and could easily lose and drop to 3-4. If they win, they’ll maintain their current division lead 4-3 (Green Bay holds server over the Vikings and Bears as they are 2-0 in their division).

Week seven is huge in the NFC and will do just what week six did… change the look of another NFL division after just one week of games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Games on Sunday in NFL Week 6

The first game that holds some bearing is the 3-2 Bears at the 3-2 Falcons. Both teams have a chance to be 4-2 and both surprises in the league. Kyle Orton looks a little better and his defense is strong as ever, while the Falcons play inspired football with solid play from a rookie QB, Matt Ryan, and a first time fulltime starter at RB, Michael Turner. The defense has John Abraham, but not much else. Huge game for the NFC playoff race! I will have to go with the Bears experience on this one.

 

 

 

 

Baltimore plays host to Indianapolis. Both are 2-2 and need to get above .500. The Ravens’ defense may be tight, but the Colts’ defense has not been too bad without Bob Sanders, and Peyton Manning is something else compared to Joe Flacco. Colts win.

 

Carolina will be in Tampa Bay where both teams at 4-1 battle to lead the NFC South. The Bucs offense has been trifle even though they still have a solid defense. The Panthers combine solid defense with above average offense. I’ll take the Panthers.

 

Finally, Dallas, 4-1, will meet Arizona, 3-2, on the road. Although the Cowboys have a stronger defense, I am going with the Cardinals to pull off the upset. The Cowboys may boast a powerful offense, but the Cardinal offense can be just as potent. I just have a feeling that Kurt Warner and his team are confident and excited to play the Cowboys who will be caught sleeping.

 

These are the best games between teams based on records of wins and losses.

Early Surprise Teams set to do Battle in Week 2 – Chicago Bears at Carolina Panthers

Early Surprise Teams set to do Battle in Week 2 – Chicago Bears at Carolina Panthers

By Alex V

This is a matchup that intrigues me deeply. Both the Bears and the Panthers pulled of rather huge week one upsets against Super Bowl contenders while playing on the road. The Bears did it with their usual run-oriented, turnover free passing offense, and ball-hawking defense that brought them success back when they reached the Super Bowl. The Panthers on the other hand blew a nine point lead in the fourth quarter, and still managed to come back and win in the last second of the game.

I really like this matchup, because there are two possible after-thoughts once the game is over. One of these squads should inevitably win, barring a rare tie. But the game could end up being sloppy where despite bad play, one of the teams had to end the week 2-0. On the other hand, if the winner of the game can play well, or even great, then the January chatter begins to amount. Let’s look at how each team succeeded this weekend.

The Bears have Kyle Orton who didn’t do great, but didn’t do bad either. He finished his game with an 83.4 quarterback rating, completed 13 of 21 passes for a 61.9% completion rate with a more-than commendable 7.1 yards per pass average and 150 total yards. The main facet that got the bears their win on offense was the veteran type performance of Matt Forte. He finished the game with a workhorse load of 23 carries, 123 yards, and a rather gaudy 5.3 yards per carry and one touchdown. Forte managed these stats against a defense that got back Bob Sanders and usually tends to stack the line against teams who do not present a formidable passing threat with him in the line-up (I hesitate to mention the return of Dwight Freeney as he operates mainly as a pass rusher).

As for Jake Delhomme, he finished the night with 247 yards, one touchdown, went 23 of 41 (which culminated in a not so substantial 6 yard per pass average) with a QB rating of 82.1. His running game came in the form of Deangelo Hall (18 carries, 86 yards, and 4.8 per carry) and Jonathan Stewart (10 carries, 53 yards, and 5.3 per carry).

The most notable factor in the Bears’ victory was how they were able to hold Indianapolis to 13 points. On the other hand, the Panthers who faced an opponent with just as much offensive potency in the Chargers, still gave up 24 points, which is just around the average a team like San Diego should get. In hindsight though, the Panthers have comeback ability, which they showed versus the Chargers, whereas the Bears usual strategy is to have the victory in hand by the start of the 4th quarter if possible.

So, in conclusion, the Bears should be the favorite to win, as they played well throughout their entire game, and the Panthers blundered, but managed to eke out a win in literally the waning seconds of their game. As long as the Bears can prevent the big play as they did against the Colts, and not falter anywhere down the stretch, they should come out on top. However, regardless of coming out the victor in this week’s matchup, the winner must display a continued consistency in what they do to earn the respect of NFL fans, columnists, and analysts alike, even if one should remain undefeated.