Monday, March 16, 2009

Crying And Sobbing In Denver

My entire world was inside my mouth. Chicken, tomato, and feta cheese omelets draw my full attention. It’s a level of attention a Buddhist monk never reaches. Enlightenment is a chicken, tomato, and feta cheese omelet. But it never fails. Something or someone always ruins something perfect. Sara turned on ESPN Sportscenter. There was some self-impressed McDude prating on about something, nothing of any particular interest to me. That is, until he mentioned Jay Cutler.

He’s a little bent out of shape. Josh McDaniels, the Denver Broncos’ new head coach, tried engineering a trade for Matt Cassel. That didn’t set well with Cutler, and it didn’t set well with some Broncos’ fans. Cutler finds McDaniels mendacious, while some fans scaled Mt. Elbert just to wax apoplectic about trading a franchise quarterback. Self-interest, body paint, and Matt Cassel aside; it should come as no surprise Coach McDaniels might want to trade Jay Cutler.

Coach McDaniels is an acolyte of the Bill Belichick philosophy of winning football. That philosophy requires players with maturity, sound judgment, and football intelligence. All are attributes lacking in Jay Cutler and so a trade, or a trade attempt, isn’t surprising. But what is surprising is the silly manner in which Cutler has handled the situation.

Cutler’s behavior indicates a lack of maturity. Prior to Tradegate, Cutler got in a verbal confrontation with the AFC West’s other petulant 20something child, Phillip Rivers. It happened towards the end of a Broncos/Chargers game and there’s nothing unexpected about players from rival teams talking a little trash. Trash talk is not unexpected, but pulling the derogatory crotch grab on national television was a bit unexpected, and immature. And it’s congruous with his behavior during Tradegate. He has refused to speak with Coach McDaniels, refused to take phone calls from the Broncos’ owner, Pat Bowlen, put his house up for sale, and openly pouted in the media. It’s becoming an open secret that he’s the one leaking the details of meetings with McDaniels to the media; an act that not only speaks to his lack of maturity, but also calls into question his judgment.

Questionable judgment is a common theme with Cutler. Last season during an interview he claimed to have a stronger arm than John Elway, who, ex-wife excepted, is universally loved in Colorado. Not only that, but he’s one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL. He earned that distinction not through arm strength, which is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for successful quarterback play, but through proficiently reading a defense before the snap and solid decision making with the football. In other words, John Elway possessed sound judgment. Cutler, on the other hand, throws inexcusable, dunderhead interceptions; puts a $2M home on the market during a recession, blabs to the media, and demands a trade while still under contract for three more years; not one a demonstration of sound judgment. There are those, however, that will disagree with me.

The Cutler supporters say elite players don’t get traded, and Cutler is an elite player because he’s a franchise, Pro-Bowl quarterback. A franchise quarterback is one that perennially leads his team to winning seasons, division titles, conference championships, and Super Bowls. Jay Cutler may one day become a franchise quarterback, but he’s not one yet. He’s a young, good quarterback with potential. Potential only means you haven’t developed into a franchise quarterback yet, and you may never do it. Some will say he’s a lock to become a franchise quarterback because he made the Pro Bowl this year. The Pro Bowl is meaningless as an indicator of anything more than popularity among your peers and fan sentiment. For example, let’s compare our two petulant children, Cutler and Rivers. Cutler threw for 4,526 yards, including 25 TD’s and 18 interceptions on 616 attempts; a completion percentage of 62.3, and a QB rating of 85.5. Rivers threw for 4,009 yards, including 34 TD’s and 11 interceptions, on 478 attempts; a completion percentage of 65.3 and a QB rating of 105.5. The numbers show Phillip Rivers outperformed Jay Cutler, yet Cutler makes the Pro Bowl while Rivers was snubbed. If someone clearly more deserving than another is left off the Pro Bowl roster, while the less deserving player goes to the Pro Bowl, then it’s an award devoid of meaning or capacity as an indicator of anything, except popularity. Further, Phillip Rivers was named to the All-Pro team, which is held in higher regard than the Pro Bowl and voted exclusively upon by members of the national media, while Jay Cutler failed to make the team. So Jay Cutler is not presently an elite quarterback and trade talks shouldn’t launch fans into a collective paroxysm of incredulity.

What should give fans fits is Cutler’s low football intelligence. Eighteen interceptions is not an extraordinary amount, especially considering his 616 attempts. But what was maddening is half those occurred while forcing the ball to Brandon Marshall, who was often double and tripled covered. Defensive coordinators realized Cutler compulsively threw Marshall the ball. Cutler appeared unable to adjust and threw the ball to Marshall as if he were single covered, which often resulted in some heinously stupid interceptions. Those types of interceptions are inexcusable because he spent the past four years in the same system, so you have to assume he’s familiar with the offense. So he’s probably going to struggle with this new, unfamiliar offense. In fact, he may struggle more than most would anticipate. I bet McDaniels and the new coaching staff have some idea, though.

So the way I see it, the controversy surrounding the attempted trade is pseudo-news. Jay Cutler is an immature quarterback with a big arm, and lacking in football intelligence and judgment. You don’t need a big arm to have a successful career as a quarterback, but you need an age appropriate level of maturity, sound judgment, and football intelligence. So the trade discussions involving Jay Cutler aren’t really surprising, and the only news is how poorly he’s behaving. I ain’t making it up.