Jay Cutler Won’t Solve Miami Dolphins’ Biggest Problem
By Erik Lambert
The Miami Dolphins have to pursue Jay Cutler. It’s the most logical move they have after potentially losing Ryan Tannehill for the year.
He’s familiar with head coach Adam Gase and his system. He’s a veteran quarterback with loads of experience and still plenty of talent. The price tag should also be manageable as well. All things considered there are worse emergency backup plans to have. At the same time, it’s hard to imagine this changing the overall status quo for the Dolphins.
That of course being the New England Patriots. If anything it worsens their odds. Cutler has an ugly record against elite teams in his career. Everybody knows his woes against Green Bay, but he’s also 0-3 vs. the Pats with a 4-5 touchdown to interception ratio. Well-coached defenses tend to take advantage of his gunslinger tendencies a lot.
Could Adam Gase change that? Maybe to a degree. They did manage to beat the Packers one out of two times with Chicago in 2015. That however was aided by a huge defensive effort allowing 14 points. The odds of that happening against Tom Brady are negligible at best.
Big picture says worry about the playoffs first
Of course the Patriots didn’t stop the Dolphins from reaching the postseason last year. Would having Cutler have changed that game in Pittsburgh? Well it wouldn’t have made their run defense any better. Regardless the truth is Cutler is a solution to keep Miami in the playoff picture. Beating the Patriots and reaching the Super Bowl? Let’s not get carried away.
In this context it comes back to the original statement. It’s the right move for the right reasons. However, ambitious fans need to stay grounded about the ceiling this signing would have. At best it keeps them in the wild card hunt. The division and the big dance? Cutler doesn’t exactly have a strong history of sniffing either, with or without Gase.
It would take more magic. A lot more.