Bears

Chicago fans are buzzing with the acquisition of Jay Cutler from Denver. Every aspect of his time in the city so far has been judged and scrutinized from his late night habits to his 90 yard plus drives in exhibition games. I know that the preseason is all we have to go by this early in the season, but one needs to remember what he is playing against. We all know that the guy can obviously play and that Josh McDaniels let go of a quarterback that was being compared to John Elway in Denver.

The conflict that arose between the two is suspicious, especially when coupled with the new developments about Brandon Marshall. Who is at fault is likely a mixture of both parties, but it must be noted that playing for a guy who did not see you as a long term solution for a team would be difficult to handle gracefully. Especially since must of the media and your fans just saw you carry a team to the brink of the playoffs with one of the worst defenses in the league. Anyway, how well Cutler gels with new teammates will be a work in progress this season, but with someone of his talent on the field at quarterback the offense will always have a realistic possibility to produce against any team.

A bigger question might be how well Cutler will respond to being second fiddle to Matt Forte and a more conservative play calling scheme then what he is used too. The run is usually a qbs best friend but without the game continuously in his hand Cutler might try to force the issue more when given the opportunity to air it out. Also, Greg Olsen and Devin Hester, along with the rest of the Bears pass catchers, will be asked to do more than ever before. Hester especially will not just be able to run streaks and reverses but must be counted on to consistently get open....and if it isn't him then who knows if any wide reciever will emerge. A positive thing going for him is that with Cutler, unlike Kyle Orton for instance, the cushion recievers like Hester will have to create can be smaller and he can compensate for them being tightly covered with his arm strength.

The Bears as a whole are extremely interesting for the reason that each side of the ball seems to be going in different directions. The defense continues to get older and slower since their Super Bowl run in '06 but still have the big names and a good deal of talent. While the defense is declining the offense has gotten a young spark with young position players at tight end, wide out, running back, and quarterback. This unit will likely continue to get better and better in the years to come and they may have a team with reversed fortunes compared to the last few years where the defense has covered for the offense for much of the season. If the units can meet at a time when both are doing well then this team could realistically be a Super Bowl contender soon.....but probably not for a year or two. This season just feels like a year to early for the Bear faithful.