Interview With Windy City Gridiron

The Cutler to Bears trade is easily the talk of the off-season. While many people are unsure who is the clear cut winner in the trade, Bears fans could care less, as they now have a franchise QB and are excited about the upcoming season. We here at Gridiron Experts wanted to play devils advocate and put Adam Tracey of the Windy City Gridiron to the test. The Windy City Gridiron is one of the top Chicago Bears Blogs on the net and has been covering the Bears for years.

Intreview With Windy City Gridiron-Mike Rodriguez

1. The Bears gave up a lot to acquire Jay Cutler, and coming from a team that had big receiving targets such as Brandon Marshall, Tony Scheffler, and Eddie Royal, what are your expectations in his first season?

It is hard not to expect a lot from him.  Having big time receivers does help, but that doesn’t take away the fact that Jay Cutler is probably a top 5 talented QB.  He just needs to get a bit more time under his belt.  The one thing that is holding him back from being in the elite class of QBs is he still throws the ball up for grabs.  He needs to decrease the interceptions, take some sacks and get rid of the ball.  I think a fair expectation is a playoff birth and the NFC North title.  Being a Chicago fan I don’t have experience predicting numbers this high, but if he can get in the 22-25 TD that would be fair.  Orton netted 18 last year.  The biggest asset he brings is his arm.  We don’t have to modify the offense to work with his abilities.  Cutler can make any throw from anywhere.   We finally have a guy who can hit Hester in stride.  You don’t have to depend on pass interference if the receiver is hit in stride.  Hester should have had 10 TDs last year, but he always had to wait for the ball.

I still expect the Bears to look at a few moves for a receiver.  Maybe not a big name like Holt or Harrison, but I think they will bring a few guys through Free Agency and the draft.

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2. Is there any concern that Cutler’s attitude may cause problems with the offensive style, going from a pass happy offense to a more balanced attack? Or do you think the Bears will adjust the play calling?

What most people never recognize is that the Bears take more shots down field than a lot of teams.  They know that is where Hester’s strengths lay.  A few years ago with Bernard Berrian they led the league in attempts over 20 yards.  The Bears are firstly a run team, but I expect at least equal balance to start.  They will force a team to pick what side they want to stop.  Then we just ride the other.  Forte protects Cutler from double teams down field and Cutler protects Forte from too many 8 man fronts.  There is a mutual benefit in this one.  The Bears are going to lean on whichever is working. Every great QB will tell you the benefit of a great run game.

3. With a strong running game and excellent defense are the Bears now contenders with Cutler under center?

Hard to say currently.  They are contenders for the NFC North and they can win a play off game.  How legit they are really depends on the defense.  Cutler allows the defense to not have to be the best in the league every year and we don’t have to depend on the turnovers.  He let’s us get into a shootout if it goes there, but the defense is still the key.  If the defense can stay healthy and Marinelli can find the pass rush and the Bears can get any

type of production out of their safeties we could be.  I would think the year after next would be a more realistic goal for being a contender.  We need to go this year and see what all the changes we have made has gotten us then tweak what we need to tweak.  There is a saying about a puncher’s chance.  We still can create turnovers and get good run backs, now we have a puncher at QB, so who knows?

4. Who is the one player that we don’t know about on the Bears roster, but we should? In other words, who is your sleeper?That is a difficult question.  We don’t have too many guys hiding in the background waiting for their shot.  Last year I might have said Caleb Hanie, but that is a moot point now.  I’ll answer with two guys who could be big for the Bears this year.  Firstly, Kevin Jones.  Forte ran the ball way too much last year and it wore on him late in the season.  The shelf life of a NFL running back is too short to run your guy 400+ times a year.  Last year Jones was coming back from an injury and he was left off the roster due to too many injuries on the special teams.  Since Adrian Peterson can play both they went with him late.  This year Jones should be fully ready to go.  The other is Earl Bennett.  For all the troubles we had at receiver we didn’t see this guy.  Booker is gone.  Davis and Lloyd aren’t exactly team favorites, so I think Bennett is poised to burst on the scene.  Having his college QB throwing to him should give him a step ahead of other young WRs.  They are already comfortable with each other.

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