Is Jay Cutler following in Peyton Manning's footsteps?
The Bears quarterback, a noted offensive coordinator killer, has been working with the fresh-faced Adam Gase through the 2015 season and the results have not been as bad as expected. Cutler was well aware of the Bears' willingness to make a clean break and the Bears were likely awaiting the next best thing under center.
But maybe a bit of the unexpected has happened. Gase shared with Cutler the way he helped Peyton Manning prepare over the last few seasons in Denver and how the two made adjustments to the game plan together. Yes, the Bears are 2-4, but Cutler is on pace to throw for more yardage (3,282) than he did during a very good 2012 season, and he missed a game with hamstring issues.
It's not perfect, but the Manning treatment helps.
"When he first got here, he went through his relationship with Peyton and how it worked throughout the week and in the offseason and what Peyton liked, what Peyton didn't like," Cutler said Thursday, via ESPN.com. "You're talking about a lot of experience there and a lot of success. I think Adam had a good feel and picked his brain pretty clean over the last three years. That's been able to help me too."
Some fans will look at this as a horrible development. The team was supposed to bottom out with Cutler this season and start to rebuild next year with the quarterback of the future. Cutler could lead the team to five or six wins this season and his relationship with Gase is a big part of the reason why.
There have been countless wideout injuries and first-round pick Kevin White hasn't taken the field yet. Still, Cutler presses on.
If nothing else, Cutler's season could be one for the resume. Gase has been an on-the-verge head coaching candidate for almost three seasons now, and proving that he can succeed, or make lemonade without Peyton Manning will certainly turn some heads.
