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Yesterday the news broke that that Marc Trestman, head coach of the Chicago Bears, will be benching starting quarterback Jay Cutler in favor of back up Jimmy Clausen for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions.
This move may very well signal the end of the Jay Cutler era in Chicago, an era that has been largely marred by mediocrity and failure. During Cutler’s tenure with the Chicago Bears, the team has only managed to reach the playoffs 1 time, and received sub-par performances from Cutler when they did get there.
This season, which started with such promise for the Chicago Bears, has been embarrassing for the team, which has played to just a 5-9 record, despite having what, in theory, should have been the top offenses in the NFL with support from big time players like Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, and Matt Forte.
After throwing 3 interceptions during last Monday’s game against the New Orleans Saints, Cutler threw 3 interceptions, adding to his league leading count of 18 interceptions and 24 total turnovers.
This move seems to be in order to guarantee the health of Cutler so the Bears have the opportunity to trade or cut Cutler before they must pay his $10 million guaranteed for next season.
Not only may this move be signaling the end of the Cutler era for the Chicago Bears, but it may also signal the end of the Trestman era at head coach. Trestman was brought in to be an offensive guru who could finally help Cutler reach his full potential and lead Chicago into a new era of high powered offense. Though Trestman had an okay inaugural season as head coach, his offense, and team have fallen off this year. Under Trestman this season, the Bears’ offense has yet to break the 30 point barrier in a game, and their defense remains firmly entrenched at the bottom of the league.
Whatever the offseason will bring to the NFL, it is nearly a guarantee that Chicago will see an incredible amount of change before the 2015-2016 season gets started. The only question is just how much change the Bears will have to undergo to return relevance in the NFC North.
