A Cutler theory | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

A Cutler theory

multistage

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Guys, I'll be straight with you: been into the hootch. And this post is probably drunken bullshit. You've been warned.

So I've kept tabs on our games. They are not shown in my neck of the woods, and I'm too damned old to try and learn streaming and all the other gizmos to watch. My phone came with nfl.com already on it so I catch the scores when I'm drunk enough to stand it.

The Atlanta game has me kinda thinking.....

Was it a reload of the Super Bowl, or did we finally decide we'd had enough? Out of nowhere (down 17-0 at the half is certainly nowhere) we threw, caught, and rushed with with effect. We scored. And scored again. In essence, we acted like an offense. For the first time all year.

Folks blame the O line. Yeah, they're on the hook. Catchable passes dropped. That'd be you, Juice.

Then Pouncey gets banged up. And suddenly, our line starts to click. As does our running game. Then our receivers jump on board. And Cutler acts like he is sober and concerned.

Could it be that Cutler has been shopped too much? He's never really been around long enough to gain true allegiance to any team. Maybe the Bears. He's the guy you always heard about on Sunday, but you never were sure who he was playing for these days. Not that you cared, so long as he wasn't our guy.

Well, now he is.

Look, I get it that it's a biz and it's all about the bucks. But think of the greats: Griese, Bradshaw, Marino, Starr, Brady, and even the guys that played for a couple of teams like Csonka, Favre, and Montana.

It seems like the greats always hung around for awhile. Maybe they came from somewhere else (Buoniconti) and maybe they eventually went somewhere else (Favre, Montana).

But they never equalled what they did with the teams they were great with. Can you see Marino, Elway, or (puke) Brady as anything other than what they were (are)? Did Favre, Montana, Csonka, or Warfield ever come close to what they did with their championship teams?

I think, for whatever reason, Cutler has no real identity in the NFL. He's not a Bronco, nor a Bear, although they are who he is most associated with. He isn't even a Dolphin at this point. He's just a guy that we pulled out from under a rock to fill a void.

I think he does care. He doesn't need our money, although nobody turns down 10 mil. I think he wants to show that he isn't some loser with a rifle arm who couldn't put it all together. Time will tell if he can. Or will. But I don't guess he's ever had the weapons that he has now. I suspect that had a lot to do with his decision to put the pads back on.

I doubt he will hang around next year. This is Tannehill's team, no question. And he's earned it. And this is likely Cutler's last shot at being an NFL quarterback. I suspect he will open up, for better or worse. As he did in Atlanta. As he gains confidence in his O, they will gain it in him.

And maybe he can be associated with a team in a positive light.

Just a theory. I'm outta booze and bullshit. You'll have that when you're a 41 year fan.
 
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Thank you for the post my brother. This was my hope with Cutler. I think Gase put handcuffs on him the first few weeks but it is time to air it out. This is his last shot! Let’s go out swinging!
 
Bro, there is no reason to not watch the games. Get an Amazon Fire Stick and have it jailbroken. Never miss another game or anything again.

Cutler has a cannon arm if he plants his damn feet. I actually think that he is nervous behind our line. Whereas Tannehill would just step into the throw and take a beating. Cutler needs to lose the happy feet and make it happen. The AFC is wide open. We can win this division easily this year if Cutler shows up the entire game. I hope that second half gave him the needed confidence. That was Cutler’s largest comeback in his career or so the announcers said. I’m sure has some rust from being retired but we are 5 games into the season. Time to knock the rust off.

Another issue has been Gase’s play calling. Cutler was brought in because Gase claimed he knew the system. Then why in the hell hasn’t Gase opened up the playbook? Wtf, Gase has been way too predictabe. Play calling looked better against Atl, hopefully this is a sign. However, these are Pros, they don’t need baby steps. I’m not sold on Gase but if he pulls off a .500+ season with Cutler, well, I will be on his bandwagon.

Also, players need to catch the damn ball. Way too mamy drops. As I took my WRs and now my sons, if the ball touches your hands, you catch it. No excuse with these gloves.
 
But I don't guess he's ever had the weapons that he has now. I suspect that had a lot to do with his decision to put the pads back on.
You'd be hard pressed to find better weapons than Matt Forte, Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall. If you can't get it done with those guys...
 
Absolutely agree that this was an ego boost for Cutler. It was supposed to be a season of low expectations where a vet could come in and raise the spirits of the squad. Perfect for the storylines at the end of the season. Interesting may be an understatement. I call conspiracy on NFL to make Cutler look good but he is so awful he can't. The best they can do is make his team win via refs and odd drops/special teams plays
 
Cutler's progress has taken longer per Gase. When you retire, your mental edge is gone. Then he comes back and has to regain this, on top of all the minicamp and training he missed. I think everyone expected a lot from him, because he was 8 months from being released. But I think he ended the season injured last year, and maybe in his head, he was done. I just think it is a tougher climb than people think.
 
Cutler is not as accurate a passer as Tannehill, but he's not as you described, "just some guy pulled from under a rock". You say he has no identity in the NFL but the reality is that he is an experienced veteran (12 seasons) with 144 games starting in the NFL and over 32,000 passing yards. Yes, at 34 he's getting older, but there were still a few passes against Atlanta that were rockets. I don't like the throws when he doesn't properly set his feet. Sometimes he gets away with it but there is clearly a higher risk of something going wrong.
Gase seems to be very committed to the run game and that seems to come first. Right or wrong, Gase seems to be betting big on Jay Ajayi and to date has been conservative with Cutler. The other significant thing to remember from the Atlanta game was that Cutler's favorite receiving target, DeVante Parker, didn't play.
 
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Let’s see how the packers do. Then imagine Rodgers breaks that collarbone again a week before the start of next season. If they manage to better Gase’s record then maybe I’ll fault our coaches and their choice of backup QB.

Right now our record looks pretty good considering all that has happened. Most teams seasons are finished after the starting QB goes down for the year and that has happened every year for Gase so far. And there were other key players as well. We are lucky he didn’t run for the hills!
 
For whatever reason this is a slow starting team and it may be for very different reasons. Last year we turned it around in week 6. This year we pulled a huge upset on the road in week 6 against the defending NFL champions. Luckily our record is much better at this point compared to 2016 (1-4). Cutler had not played a game since November 20th of last year and he only played in 5 games total that year. He has some rust and was not helped much by an offense full of guys who were not game ready for various reasons. He also had to re-familiarize himself with the offense as well as try to establish some chemistry with the receivers.

Nothing is proven yet but at least we saw them wake up from the nightmare in the second half. It's a start. Now its time for payback vs the Jets. It's only a matter of time before McCown has a melt-down. It's almost inevitable. He will not change what he has always been..."inconsistent". He had 2 picks last week against the 32nd ranked pass defense so....

The second half Sunday I finally saw something that had been missing from the offense all season. Intensity.
 
It's been such a strange year. Who would have thought that Miami's defense would be this good, or that the offense would be so bad?

Seems like ever since Tankersley took over for Maxwell that the secondary has suddenly emerged. Same with the linebackers once Timmons got back from his AWOL incident. Holding Atlanta scoreless in the second half? Who would have thunk?

Cutler has played like a bottom tier quarterback this season and the Dolphins are 3-2 coming off a win against one of the best teams in the NFL on the road. Hopefully, his second half is more of what we see the rest of the way.

Bottom line, though, seems like the team wins when Ajayi gets going. That's really the formula for success.
 
I really hope your right. If the line can get it together, and Jay can stay away from bad decisions, or throwing it too off mark, this offense can do some special things with the WRs and RBs they have.
 
I think, for whatever reason, Cutler has no real identity in the NFL. He's not a Bronco, nor a Bear, although they are who he is most associated with. He isn't even a Dolphin at this point. He's just a guy that we pulled out from under a rock to fill a void.

I think he does care. He doesn't need our money, although nobody turns down 10 mil. I think he wants to show that he isn't some loser with a rifle arm who couldn't put it all together. Time will tell if he can. Or will. But I don't guess he's ever had the weapons that he has now. I suspect that had a lot to do with his decision to put the pads back on.

Probably some truth to this. I think Cutler took the $10M (likely around $5M after taxes, agent fees, NFLPA dues, etc.) because you just can't turn that down at age 34. I bet Testaverde would come out of retirement for half that. But now that Cutler's got the money, the question is what motivates him week in and week out. At this point, I'm wondering if his motivation comes from fear of looking like he's just playing for money.
 
The second half Sunday I finally saw something that had been missing from the offense all season. Intensity.
Yes, intensity. And concentration.
No more people slowly walking up to the line. No more people didn't know where to line up. No more people didn't know what play it is. To my surprise, no more delay of game. And no more the ball snap at 0 second on the clock. Looks like the offense is finally in syn.
 
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