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Cutler Evokes Memories Of Past Ravens QBs

  • Tuesday, December 22, 2009 6:43 PM
  • Written By: NFL Blog Blitz

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The title is not a reference to the regal shots of the Johnny Unitas statue covered in snow. Nor does it have anything to do with former Ravens coach Brian Billick calling the game. The Week 15 obliteration of the Bears was a textbook "Which Ravens Quarterback Is That?" game.

An explanation: the Ravens’ miraculous streak of ineptitude at the quarterback position also featured virtually every kind of bad quarterback you can encounter.

Want immoble panic? Enter Scott Mitchell. How about a soul-crushing 99-yard pick-six? Vinny Testaverde. Difficulty with the QB-Center exchange? Kyle Boller.

And Sunday, we got a bunch of them in the Bears’ Jay Cutler.

Before we get into this, it should be noted that there isn’t a Joe Flacco yet. This is due to the fact that Flacco could end up being a great quarterback, even though at the moment his legacy is defined by his streakiness. Flacco has 23 career INTs, spread out over 13 games. For those keeping score at home, he rarely just has one.

Anyway...

Once declared the savior of Chicago, Cutler is looking like an unmitigated disaster, another in a long list of coups by year-one Denver front-man Josh McDaniels, and when you get bamboozled by a guy named Josh, it should count twice.

-- Cutler Pick No. 1 – He attempted to look off the safety right and then locked on left, not really thinking it was possible for Domonique Foxworth to jump the route. Like there was one more guy on the field than he had planned for. Stoney Case.

-- Cutler Pick No. 2 – A swing pass that seemed like a great idea at the time. The problem was Jarrett Johnson was right there. "Easy," thought Cutler. "I’ll just drop it over his head." The fact that it was in the red zone makes it a classic Elvis Grbac special.

-- Cutler Pick No. 3 – Crazy blitz coming, Cutler escapes the pressure and tries to throw on the run...directly into double coverage. The result? Kyle Boller.

-- Cutler Pick No. 4 – Again, everyone and their mother was coming on the blitz. Cutler threw like all he wanted out of life was to get the ball out of his hands. Off the back foot to Johnny Knox, an old buddy...like Marcus Robinson was to good old Anthony Wright.

The distance how much better even the streaky Flacco is than any other quarterback in this franchise’s history is even greater because of Joe’s best game as a pro. It was a classic Joe Flacco game: get a bunch of completions early and it’s like he forgets he can miss. That’s the method for Pittsburgh next week: get the running game going and get Flacco connecting early and often to anyone. It’s a simple proven way to make Flacco look like the franchise signal-caller everyone hopes he is. They’ve got to make that happen.

Because if they don’t, who knows who he could look like. --- MIKE ROSOLIO.


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