Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler gets tagged with a lot of criticism, but oftentimes it’s not as aggressive as the verbal volleys that former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb lobbed at him on Thursday morning.
In an interview with the “Kap and Haugh” radio show, McNabb called Cutler the “Tony Romo of the Midwest,” and talked about how Cutler’s penchant for mistakes hurts the Bears:
“He can put up 280, 340 yards passing, but you look across the board he’s got two interceptions in a game that cost them 14 points or so. That hurts a football team……A quarterback is measured by your body of work, meaning your wins and losses record, the numbers you put up. And the end-all-be-all is how many playoff wins do you have? If you only have one to show for almost a decade of play that means you can’t lead your team to the playoffs.”
Leading his team to the playoffs is one thing that McNabb did, appearing in 15 playoff games with the Eagles. Once he got there however, he posted an 8-7 record, losing in the NFC Championship Game four times and losing in the Super Bowl in 2004 to the New England Patriots.
In the 2002 NFC Championship game, McNabb threw an interception and lost a fumble as the Eagles lost 29-24 to the St. Louis Rams. In the 2003 title game, McNabb threw another interception and lost two fumbles as the Eagles fell again, this time to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Finally, in the 2004 game against the Carolina Panthers, McNabb threw three interceptions as the Eagles lost 14-3. He also threw an interception and lost a fumble in the 2009 NFC Championship Game against the Arizona Cardinals.
Looking at just his record, it’s clear that McNabb knew how to get his team to the playoffs. He even won a good number of games and made it to a Super Bowl, both of which are things Cutler admittedly hasn’t accomplished. The reality of course is that McNabb is throwing stones in a glass house, based on his failures on the sport’s biggest stages.
This notion that McNabb is an authority on what makes a quarterback a “winner” is simply laughable. His Eagles teams routinely failed when the pressure was at its highest, and it all started with their signal caller. His criticism of Cutler does have some merit, but before NFL fans parrot what he said, they have to consider the source.
