National Football League

Every cream's a nightmare; Cutler beginning to look lost after another six-pack of sacks

Published Oct. 18, 2010 10:15 p.m. ET

foxsports

If this continues, we could see the end of Jay Cutler's career. This season.

The Bears quarterback has been sacked 23 times, 15 in just his last six quarters of play.

Cutler was beaten like a Persian rug by the New York Giants two weeks ago, getting sacked an NFL-record nine times in the first half before leaving with a concussion. He took a week off to recover, then came back to be brutalized Sunday in a 23-20 home loss to the Seattle Seahawks, getting sacked six more times.

They're called sacks for a reason. They aren't plain old tackles. Running backs get tackled. Tight ends get tackled. Quarterbacks get sacked because they're in the backfield occupied doing something else -- i.e., passing, looking downfield, scrambling for their lives -- when they get creamed.

But sacks aren't the only measure of the beating Cutler is taking.

Consider that early in the fourth quarter, Seahawks defensive end Raheem Brock pinned Cutler's arms to his sides and slammed him to the Soldier Field turf after the ball was gone. The back of Cutler's head whiplashed off the ground. Helmet or not, this was a serious blow to the brain.

But it wasn't a sack. Nor was it a roughing-the-passer penalty. Nor was it anything that will show up in the game stats. It was just a moment in the life of a guy who at times seems to have been cloned from a crash-test dummy.

Cutler is either being used as the equivalent of a mine-sniffing dog by sadistic Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz or else Cutler has a subliminal death wish and is using suicide-by-defensive-lineman to achieve his goal.

Whatever it is, it's not fun to watch anymore.

''Most of the time when you get sacked that many times, it's a combination of protection up front, the quarterback, receivers -- everybody is involved,'' Bears head coach Lovie Smith said.

True. But all that stupidity coalesces at the QB's noggin. That the Bears hardly attempt to run when Cutler is in the game -- just 12 times by Bears rushers Matt Forte and Chester Taylor -- means Cutler is the target in the cross hairs.

That he seems to be getting less and less certain about his surroundings is a bad sign.

STUCK IN THE MUD

Yes, his offensive line was horrible Sunday, and it appeared Forte forgot to pick up the blitzer when Cutler was sacked and fumbled for a safety in the third quarter. Oops.

But veteran Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was not sacked once, and a lot of that was because he seemed to sense what was going on around him better than Cutler.

Cutler couldn't convert a single third down the entire game? What's that all about?

Granted, many of the Bears' 12 third downs were long-yardage ones -- about eight yards on average. But there was a third-and-six, a third-and-five, a third-and-four and a third-and-two. Zip.

Cutler completed 17 of 39 passes for 290 yards and threw no interceptions, but his quarterback rating was a weak 69.4. At least three of his passes should have been intercepted, one of them by two defenders.

All of a sudden, something just seems terribly wrong with the Bears' offense.

If Cutler is going to slowly be liquidated, why not put in some quarterback draw plays for him, Martz, to even the field? Sure, they're risky. But better to run and slide than stand and splatter.

OUCH MAKES GROUCH

Cutler himself seems to get surlier and more evasive with the ongoing beat-down. Has anybody ever seen this guy laugh? Chuckle with sincerity? He won't talk about his head, about anything. Concussions? What concussions?

It's all fine.

''You guys will write whatever you want to write,'' he snapped when asked about the four other reported concussions he received at Vanderbilt and with the Denver Broncos.

Didn't that hit by Brock rock you?

He shakes his head, looks away. It's not even worth discussing. Heck, it's not even worth giving a civil answer to.

Cutler is an odd dude. His body language is there for all to read. It's that of a guy who doesn't enjoy talking to people, doesn't communicate well with folks, doesn't care what anybody thinks, doesn't need to go rah-rah anywhere, anyhow. He's a self-contained island of ice.

Though the Bears are 4-2, their opponents have more rushing and passing first downs, better third- and fourth-down conversion rates, longer time of possession, fewer interceptions, more net yards, a higher completion average and fewer sacks.

Cutler's there in the middle of it all. Maybe he's just scared witless.