New offensive systems can fix certain faults with teams, but it seems like there’s something more profoundly wrong with the Chicago Bears, who can’t even win games when Jay Cutler isn’t throwing interceptions.
It’s been quite rare to see a 0 under the INT column on the box scores when checking out Cutler’s performances, but there was a lot more that went wrong for the Bears in their 18-26 loss against the Saints, making it two in a row for them, aiding a lot of problems surface.
One of them is Brandon Marshall, who isn’t used to being targeted only five times during one game, finishing with 4 catches for 30 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted quite often by Cutler in previous games, but it seems like the loss to the Saints and the way he was used on the field, or simply the way the Saints covered him, brought out a lot from Marshall, who expected to be better than 3-2 at this point.
The goals the Chicago Bears offense set out to achieve had to do with Cutler being quicker with his release due to the problems in the offensive line; a bit more varied in his target seekins, which means not throwing the ball to Marshall all the time, and going a lot more for short plays, like finding Matt Forte and tight end Martellus Bennett.
Cutler actually finished the game with a higher passer rating than Drew Brees in the win, but he did fumble the ball once as his problems of putting on a complete performance keep popping up in different forms this season, as the Bears once again start to realize that making the playoffs in a tough division isn’t going to happen unless they fix things that have been plaguing this team for the last three years. It was only the second time in Cutler’s career that he lost despite having a passer rating of over 10.
Brandon Marshall hasn’t been getting the ball enough over the last three games, but it’s not just about the Bears not having a downfield passing game as evolved as it should be. The defense is picking up injuries, and when the takeaways don’t come, it seems that it’s a lot leakier and fragile that its perception, giving up 377.6 yards per game, good enough for 22nd in the NFL.
Jay Cutler usually gets the blame for the Bears collapsing before the finish line, but Marc Trestman not making right decisions has to be another issue that shouldn’t be overlooked. After all, if the Bears look worse than they did last season on both ends of the field, someone here isn’t doing their job right.