Greg Cosell's Film Review: Why Jay Cutler hasn't worked out

Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman’s offense is grounded in Bill Walsh’s West Coast philosophy.

I know the “West Coast Offense” term is vague by now because of how many changes have been made to it by different coaches, but the offense’s foundation is grounded in rhythm passing and its precision. If it’s a three-step drop, the ball goes here. If it’s a five-step drop, the ball goes there.

And my sense from afar, watching the film, is that Jay Cutler is not that kind of precision quarterback for that offense.

[Join FanDuel.com's $2M Week 16 fantasy league: $25 to enter; top 17,475 teams paid]

Before we get more into the fit between Trestman and Cutler, here’s a play that I think is telling. It was the second play of Chicago’s game last Monday night against the New Orleans Saints. On second and eight from the Bears’ 9-yard line, Cutler had a three-step drop and a throw that should have gone to the right. A three-step drop is not a full-field read; you don’t read both sides because it is supposed to come out quick. Tight end Martellus Bennett is immediately open to Cutler’s right, and that’s the throw. You get it to him, he likely gains a minimum of 5 or 6 yards, and now it’s third and 2, a manageable situation to sustain a drive.

Except that Cutler didn’t throw the ball to Bennett, and for whatever reason he looked to the other side of the field, and that’s not in play on a three-step drop. He threw the ball away. Instead of it being third and short, it was third and 8. On the next play, Cutler threw an interception.

.

Here's the end-zone angle of that play, right after the snap, and you can see Bennett breaking open on the right:

Everyone looks at the big plays with Cutler, like the interceptions that get dissected. But the small plays like this one add up, even if it won't be noticed or remembered by most people. And small plays are what Trestman’s offense is built around. If the quarterback is not making those plays, he’s not executing the offense.

This is all just my sense of what has happened in Chicago, I’m not there inside the building to know what’s going on. But I think when Trestman came in he thought about Cutler, "There’s a lot to work with here. My system is precise and it gives you answers and I can make him into a better, more consistent quarterback with those answers.” It appeared as if it was trending in the right direction last year, Trestman’s first in Chicago.

I think you can compare what has happened this year to when you’re trying to teach someone something brand new, and it takes hold for a while. Then all of a sudden it doesn’t take hold anymore because that’s not who the person is, and things get worse.

Walsh’s offense, which is the foundation for what Trestman does, is built around precision in everything, especially for the quarterback. The drop, the footwork, everything has to be very precise. Cutler doesn’t do that, and never really has. He has never been a pure anticipation thrower or a disciplined structured player. He has immense arm talent, and likely because of that he’s a “see it, throw it” quarterback. He’ll wait until he sees a receiver come open, then throw it. That’s the antithesis of being an anticipation thrower. And his arm is good enough to make many of those throws. But he’s not a highly disciplined, nuanced quarterback, which is what is needed for Trestman’s offense to work at a high level.

You need the right fit between quarterback and offensive system. Every offense has rhythm and timing, but Cutler might be more comfortable playing a game where he can pass the ball down the field regularly as part of the offensive system. However, Mike Martz was offensive coordinator there with his vertical philosophy in 2010 and 2011 and that wasn’t the answer either, so who knows.

At this point Cutler will be viewed a bit as damaged goods. But he can still throw the ball and is a talented guy, and with the dearth of quality quarterbacks in the NFL I’d guess someone will trade for him, if the Bears decide to go that route. I’m wondering if Cutler should be headed for a different type of role in an offense. Always with Cutler, coaches have looked at the physical skills and thought he would be a lead quarterback to build an offense around. Maybe he’s not that guy for whatever reason. Maybe he needs to be a complementary piece in an offense built around the running back, on a team with a big-time defense, so he can be used as a play-action passer and not put the whole offense on his shoulders.

There are a thousand things that go into Cutler not having a good season, of course. If the Bears had a better defense, maybe they have three more wins and we’re not talking about this at all. The offensive line hasn’t been very good, and that’s a factor too, especially since the Bears can’t sustain a run game even though they have a really good back in Matt Forte. But those things haven't happened, Cutler hasn't had a good year either, and now the Bears are turning to Jimmy Clausen this week.

In my opinion, I don’t think Trestman did the wrong thing trying to get Cutler to fit in his scheme. He looked at Cutler and said, there’s so much there to work with, I need to make him better so he can be good every single week, not just once in a while. I don’t think you’re doing the wrong thing when you’re trying to get a talented player to play with more structure and discipline. If that’s not who Cutler is, that’s not who he is, and that might just be where we are at this point.

- - - - - - -

NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.