Category Archives: jay cutler

NFL Storylines: Week 3

Joe Pasquali is back with another post here on America’s White Boy. He had stopped by a few times to rattle off some analysis and critique. He writes some thoughts about week 3 of the NFL season. Who are the pretenders and contenders this season? Which teams have a quarterback controversy brewing?

It’s only Week 3 of the NFL season and it seems like some of the same quarterbacks are getting injured. The fashionable injury these days is the “rib injury.” I think it would be a great time for McDonald’s to add the McRib back on the menu permanently, but that’s me.

Contenders and Pretenders

San Francisco (2-0)- Love the rushing attack of Frank Gore, but time has shown NFL backs take a ton of wear and tear, need someone to step up as a second option for a 16 game season. Also, Shaun Hill is NOT going to get the job done if you want to play with the big boys. Like the defense and the physical nature Coach Singletary has brought, but they aren’t there yet. Pretender

Denver (2-0)- Moreno is a great back and has this team rolling, but wins at Cincinnati on a fluke play and blowing out the hapless Browns at Mile High won’t impress anyone. The defense seems much improved, but we won’t really know how good they are till week 4 against Dallas. Kyle Orton isn’t a playoff caliber QB. Pretender

New Orleans (2-0)- Everyone knew the Saints would be good, but THIS GOOD?? Yeah, yeah, they stomped on the terrible Lions, but THEN went to Philly and smoked a pretty good Eagles defense. Drew Brees is firing on all cylinders and the running game doesn’t look to shabby either. The Saints defense is forcing turnovers and coming up with some big plays, something this team wasn’t doing the past few years. Contender

Cincinnati (1-1)- The only 1-1 team I am going to mention, and this is because I think a lot of people have them under the radar. They should be 2-0 right now and got their one victory at Lambeau field. The Bengal’s have shown they can run the ball AND stop the run, two things good football teams do. Add a veteran QB with that and you got the chance to do anything. Only problem is, they still play Baltimore and Pittsburgh twice…. Contender

QB Controversies

Detroit- You gave the team to the rookie, let them sink with him. It can’t get worse than last year and he needs time to grow.

Cleveland- You have scored one offensive touchdown in two games, and Brady Quinn has been sacked nine times. You got three options, try a new QB, buy a new O-Line, or fit Brady for a body cast.

Dallas- Tony Romo can’t win big games? Ok, maybe he can’t. But you think Jon Kitna can? Yeah, shut up.

Things to watch in Week 3

Detroit has a good shot at getting it’s first win in 19 games. Washington has looked bad and it’s in Ford Field.

Green Bay should destroy St. Louis by about 20+ points

Frank Gore may have a tough time running against the Vikings this week, expect a lot to fall on Shaun Hill.

Tennessee must win at the Jets. No team has ever started 0-3 and made the playoffs.

Michael Vick will play against the Chiefs. If the Eagles offense sputters, you’ll start to hear the Vick chants from angry Philly fans.

The Cardinals and Colts may score a combined 5012091 points in the Sunday Night Game.
Can Jay Cutler keep up the winning ways in Chicago? It was a close game against Pittsburgh, but was the game against Green Bay just nerves? We will see this week against Seattle.

Could the San Francisco/Minnesota contest be the game of the week? Frank Gore has been the only offensive weapon for the 49ers and Minnesota stops the run. Can Shaun Hill step-up and get his team to 3-0?

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Is Jay Cutler To Blame For Chicago’s Loss?

The Chicago Bears lost to the Green Bay Packers tonight in a pretty ugly game. Aaron Rodgers out-played Jay Cutler and the Green Bay secondary made Cutler look terrible. Was it Jay Cutler’s fault that the Bears lost tonight or is there a bigger picture? I look at the big picture and I lay the blame on someone else.

If you look at Jay Cutler’s line for the game tonight against Green Bay, it looks like either Jeff George or Rex Grossman were under center. He threw for 277 yards, completed less than half of his passes, and threw four interceptions. He did throw one touchdown tonight, but the night was plagued by Cutler throwing ball after ball to one of Green Bay’s defenders. He should have thrown more than four picks, since there was a period in the first-half that Cutler threw five straight passes that should have been picked off.

I watched the game from coin toss to post-game show and I don’t blame Jay Cutler for the 21-15 loss tonight. The pair of balls that were intercepted could be blamed on him, but he’s dealing with receivers that quit on routes and aren’t very good at running them. His top non-tight end receivers are Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, and Johnny Knox, not exactly establish receivers. Hester runs sloppy routes and still lacks the ability to beat double-teams when the safety is in front of him. Earl Bennett looked decent, but he’s still catching up to the speed of the NFL. Finally you have Johnny Knox, he’s fast, but that’s about it. He looks completely lost out there, although he did show a flash of brilliance when he beat Charles Woodson on a play. If you run that play ten times, I doubt Knox will beat Woodson, on that exact play, more than once. If Cutler had an elite receiver, or even a veteran possession receiver, he could have a good year with the bears, but this team lacks that piece. The tight ends didn’t help Cutler out either. Greg Olson and Desmond Clark both dropped balls and didn’t do a good job of getting open.

Matt Forte caught over 60 balls last year and there wasn’t many balls thrown in his direction today. The one that I remember was actually intercepted by a defensive tackle, Johnny Jolly. Forte did carry the ball 25 times for 55 yards, but that’s only 2.2 yards per attempt, not up to par with his ability. He is a good running back, but you need to pass him the ball on the flat and let him work against cornerbacks and outside-linebackers more. It will open up the deep ball, which Cutler loves to throw. Forte wasn’t used properly against the Green Bay Packers.

Patrick Mannelly didn’t help the Bears out with his fake-punt audible in the 2nd-half. The Bears were up at that point and he thought he caught the Packers ill-prepared and sent a direct snap to Garrett Wolfe. He wasn’t ready for it and barely gained four yards on a 4th and 11 attempt. That kind of play isn’t going to win games when you just giveaway great field position so late in the game.

After saying all of that, I lay the blame of this loss on Offensive coordinator Ron Turner and General Manager Jerry Angelo. Clearly this team needs an actual wide receiver. Devin Hester would be a great slot receiver on a team, but he has yet to show the ability to be a solid #1. If they went out and signed a veteran wide receiver like Torry Holt or Marvin Harrison, maybe Jay Cutler wouldn’t have to guess where his receivers would be. A precise route-running wide-receiver can make play quarterback pretty easy. Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, and especially Brandon Stokely are great route-runners and you have seen what he can do with those kind of receivers. Ron Turner’s blame would lay on his lack of screen passes to Forte. I know Kyle Orton passed so many balls to him last year because he had to dump the ball off, but he did a great job after the catch. If would bring the defenses in and make them defend against it. The safeties and linebackers would play in and you could utilize the speed of your receivers and run a streak or deep post pattern with a higher percentage of success.

I thought the Bears would be good this season and it’s only the first game. Brian Urlacher and Pina Tinoisamoa were out for a good portion of the game, but if they played as sloppy as they did tonight, it could be a long season.

This may be a horrible end to this story, but can someone please tell me what the Bears’ obsession with players from Vanderbilt is? They have five players on the team and the last time I checked, the Commodores weren’t exactly a perennial BCS Bowl team.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

2009 NFL Preview: NFC North

I recently went through every game on the NFL schedule and predicted every game. I will be using those totals to predict who will win the NFC North this season. Will Brett Favre help the Vikings this season? Will Jay Cutler compose himself? Can the Packets defense step up and help their offense? Will the Lions win a game? Check out out NFC North Preview.

Chicago Bears– (Projected Finish 11-5)

The Bears sold the farm and got their prized quarterback. Jay Cutler is going to be a nice addition to the Bears offense. They haven’t had a decent quarterback since Jim McMahon, Erik Kramer almost had that title, but one good season doesn’t count. Matt Forte is going to have a great season and I would watch Earl Bennett to be catching balls left and right from Cutler. The Bears offensive line is sold and with the addition of Orlando Pace and with Chris Williams having a year under his belt, Cutler will stay upright more than he was in Denver.

The Bears still have a strong defense, but their Achilles heel would be their secondary, especially safety. The linebackers have to hold this defense together and makes sure that they control the running game, so the safeties can cheat a little to make up for the lack of athleticism at the position. They aren’t the same defense that made the Super Bowl a few seasons ago, but they are still very good.

The NFC North play the NFC West and AFC Central this season and they lucked out. Both of those divisions are a bit down, minus the Steelers, but Chicago gets them at home. The other non-divisional games are at Atlanta and they get Philadelphia at home, both should be very tough. The Bears should bounce back and make the playoffs this season and will at least garner a share of the division title this season.

Minnesota Vikings– (Projected Finish 11-5)

Brett Favre made the Minnesota Vikings as popular as the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers this off-season. There were more stories about them than both of those teams combined. Favre isn’t the quarterback that lead the Packers to a comeback season two years ago, but if he can stray away from the turnovers, he can help this team. All they need to do is give the ball to Adrian Peterson, throw some underneath passes to Percy Harvin and let him run, and go over the secondary and throw deep to Bernard Berrian. It’s a pretty simple plan and it will work.

The Vikings defense has been statistically one of the best defenses over last three seasons. The addition of Jared Allen added the extra pass-rushing presence that they needed to be elite. Pat Williams and Kevin Williams cog up the defensive line and make it near impossible for any running game to be established. The way to beat the Vikings would be to pass on them and allow the running back to help pass block. Antoine Winfield will pick off passes and make quarterbacks pay, but he is the lone star in the secondary.

The Vikings early season schedule is very favorable. It can allow Favre to get seasoned and get into better shape as the season goes by. The five out of the last six games of the year, they play possible playoff teams. They play Arizona, Carolina, NY Giants, and Chicago twice. If Favre can stay healthy all year, they will make the playoffs.

Green Bay Packers– (Projected Finish 6-10)

Packers’ fans have only two games circled on their calendar, at Minnesota, and home against Minnesota. I believe they realize that they won’t be a playoff team, but their season would be considered a success if they can beat Favre. Aaron Rodgers had a decent season last year and should have another decent year, if he can stay upright. Ryan Grant had an off-year last season and needs to produce or Green Bay could be looking for a new running back next season. James Jones and Jordy Nelson should establish themselves and up-and-coming receivers this season.

The Packers have put in a 3-4 defense and Aaron Kampman is going to play linebacker. It’s a change from a defense that looked like swiss cheese last year. The addition of B.J. Raji should help their run defense and look for decent seasons from A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett. Their secondary is old and they need to get younger. Al Harris and Charles Woodson have been in the league 12 years and are showing signs of age. Teams will be able to pass on them all day. They will need to score a lot of points to win games this season.

Green Bay is a tough place to play towards the end of the season. They get Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Arizona at home the last month of the season. They will need that extra Lambeau-edge to compete with those teams. The Packers are facing another tough season this year and need to re-build their secondary to be a contender.

Detroit Lions– (Projected Finish 2-14)

Good news for the Lions, they will win a game this season. Bad news for the Lions, they will lose a lot of games. It doesn’t matter who plays quarterback for the Lions, they aren’t going to win many games. Matthew Stafford will be starting by mid-season, but Daunte Culpepper might be a decent option to start the year. Calvin Johnson and Bryant Johnson are both nice receivers, but they need a QB to throw them the ball. They should rely heavily on Kevin Smith this year, but their offensive line still needs work.

Head Coach, Jim Schwartz, should help get this defense up to par, but they are still a long way from being good. They have some nice pieces there, but they will need to gel as a unit. Julian Peterson, Ernie Sims, Phillip Buchanon, Anthony Henry, and Stuart Schweigert should all help out. They have at least one good player at every area, but the depth is not there. If the injury bug hits the defense, it will be even worse.

The Lions will be searching for their first win in over a season. The third game against the Redskins could potentially be their first win, but that would be the earliest potential win and it is still a long shot. The sixth game agains the Packers or the seventh game againt the Rams could be when the winless streak ends. One game that I have to watch is the game on October 11th against the Steelers. I don’t think the game will be competitive, but it will be a good litmus test of how this team will react when they are faced with elite talent.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Why You Shouldn’t Draft These Players

Going into your fantasy football draft, you have a few players already planned that if they are available, you’re going to pick them. You may have an allegiance to them because they are on your favorite team or your favorite fantasy football analyst picked them to have a big year. If you’re on the fence about a few players, here are reasons why you shouldn’t pick certain players. I’m just talking you guys off the ledge, not pushing you off. All of these players will probably be great, but they all have possibilities of an epic fail this year.

Tom Brady – Did you see how his knee bent last year? Also, I’m pretty sure he’s using all of energy on Gisele Bundchen, wouldn’t you?

Aaron Rodgers – Before last season, he was known as “injury-prone,” one full season and that suddenly disappears?

DeAngelo Williams – Jonathan Stewart is a touchdown vulcher…even if he’s only 70% healthy, he’ll still get touches in the red zone.

Michael Turner – see DeAngelo Williams, but add in Tony Gonzalez as the touchdown vulcher.

Jay Cutler – It’s hard to throw a football with a pacifier in your mouth.

Peyton Manning – He spent the off-season filming commercials and Marvin Harrison is currently sitting on a couch somewhere.

Adrian Peterson – Brett Favre is in town and he’s the NFL version of Stephon Marbury, he’s a ball hog.

Donovan McNabb – He looks like he’s been eating a lot of Chunky Soup lately…probably an extra 15 pounds of beef and potatoes in his mid-section.

Matt Cassel – I hear Scott Mitchell called and he said that he wishes him the best this season.

Thomas Jones – He had more candles on his last birthday cake than touchdowns he has left in his career.

LaDanian Tomlinson – Emmit Smith looked good in a Cardinals uniform right? Jerry Rice was great for the Seahawks, right? Tomlinson will probably look good in a Texans uniform next year too.

Chad Pennington – Does he have any ligaments or tendons left in his arm?

Brian Westbrook – The Eagles have already ear-marked a spot on the injury report for him, right between Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis.

David Garrard – If he can somehow be able to throw from his back, maybe he can throw a few touchdowns.

Maurice Jones-Drew – When Warrick Dunn went to the only option in the backfield he had his worst year.

Calvin Johnson – He should probably play quarterback and throw passes to himself.

Chris Johnson – LenDale White will eat him by Week 4.

Brandon Jacobs – You should probably pick him early or he will go to your draft and give you a power-bomb courtesy of Captain Insano.

Eli Manning – You may have a better year if you draft Archie.

Steven Jackson – Remember when he was a first-round pick? Back when the Rams played like an NFL team…it’s been awhile.

Kyle Orton – Did you see his pre-season games? That’s probably why he’s still available.

Matt Schaub – Do you think he will be healthy all year this season? Didn’t you ask youself that the last two seasons?

Marion Barber – I’m sure Felix Jones won’t take any touchdowns away from him this year…even though Jerry Jones is in love with him. Nah, go ahead and draft him, yeah….yeah.

Ben Roethlisberger – After getting punished last year by an awful offensive line pass protection, they have improved it right? No? Okay, stay away from Big Ben.

Kevin Smith – He plays for the Detroit Lions.

Tony Gonzalez – The Falcons were 31st in the NFL at throwing to the tight end last season.

Terrell Owens – He will be a contestant for “I Love New York” by mid-season. No one will notice that he is gone.

Brandon Marshall – An emotional, hot-headed, receiver always does well when their team is bad. I’m sure he will keep his composure and not demand a trade. Oops!

Trent Edwards – I’m glad that he has that Stanford degree to fall back on. I hear J.P. Losman already landed a new job.

JaMarcus Russell – Al Davis bet the farm on him, but he looks like he has eaten all of the animals.

Reggie Bush – Kim Kardashian broke up with him, his year has already started horribly, do you think its going to get better?

Larry Johnson – Todd Haley loves to pass the ball, the Arizona Cardinals running attack was putrid last year.

Willie Parker – Don’t turn around, Rashard Mendenhall is right behind you.

Chad Ocho Cinco – I’m sure all that UStream experience will be handy on the field.

Joseph Addai – When your team drafts a top player at your position, how do you take it?

Braylon Edwards – Maybe he will get an endorsement for “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter,” on top of his “5-Hour Energy” endorsment money.

Darren McFadden – He plays on a team where his coach broke the face of an assistant. Sounds like a good team atmosphere for a break-out season.

Michael Vick – A few months out of prison and all the pressure to perform well to resurrect his career…you think he’ll be pretty calm and clear-minded?

Brady Quinn – Express and Limited Corporations are located in Ohio, maybe he can pose for some modeling campaigns on the sideline when he’s holding a clipboard by mid-season.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Unused NFL Nicknames

I’m growing tired of the nicknames players either give themselves or announcers coin a nickname by used first initial and the beginning of last name (A-Rod). Also, enough with the recycling of nicknames, LaDanian Tomlinson is not “LT,” that nickname should only be used for Lawrence Taylor. My list of nicknames are ones the players never use, because most of them I made myself.
Use them in sentences and blog posts, let’s get these in the vernacular of sports fan and establish them in the sports lexicon. Okay, I’ll stop using words that I learned in Linguistics class.

Maurice Jones-Drew – The Hyphen

Peyton Manning – The Good Son

LaDanian Tomlinson – The Forgotten

Hank Baskett – The NFL’s Rick Fox

Terrell Owens – The QB Killer

Tony Romo – Page Six

Matt Schaub – 10-Game All Star

Brian Westbrook – Day-To-Day

Plaxico Burress – Six Shooter

Michael Vick – The Postman

Steve Slaton – The Mosquito

Brandon Jacobs – Diesel

Kurt Warner – The Octo-Dad

Pierre Thomas – The French Tickler

Vishante Shiancoe – The Kickstand

Chris Cooley – The Streak

Wes Welker – America’s White Boy (I’ll let him use it)

Brandon Marshall – Fast Food

Darius Heyward-Bey – Unlucky

Knowshon Moreno – Leapfrog

Shaun Rogers – BBQ Rib Combo

Jay Cutler – Huggies

Beanie Wells – Injured Reserve

Jerricho Cotchery – Armadgeddon

Torry Holt – I’m A Jag?

Steve Breaston – Bouncing

Kyle Orton – The Hillbilly

Sage Rosenfels – Paprika

Chris Brown – 3rd String