My thoughts...

First of all, on Da Bears...

I had hours of talks with Bear fans here about the NFC Championship game this year, and my observations still stand unswayed by contrary opinion, so I'll share them here too:

Cutler failed to lead his team to victory... but not because he wasn't "tough enough" to play with an injured leg. The man has proven his "toughness" every single year he's played professional football because he plays every game with Type II diabetes and his sort of physical activity make controlling that disease not only very difficult, but very dangerous too. Add to this the "fact" that he DID go back into the game after the team doctors had determined that he shouldn't because the TEAR of his MCL was severe enough to keep him from being able to plant his foot with any weight on it at all... and anyone that has thrown a football knows you can't do it with any confidence if you can't plant your foot. No, I agree with the rest of Da Bears... Cutler has shown he is tough enough, and he played tough that night.

If I'm going to criticize Cutler, its not in his toughness... its in his ability to project confidence and in his ability to lead a group of men when the chips are down. THAT is where he failed. People keep saying that he isn't the "bubbly" happy sort of guy that pumps his fists in the air and works the sidelines to get spirits and confidence up... but as the leader of the team and the man behind the ball, I'd say its his JOB to do just that, when the Bears are winning AND when they are not.

Cutler is a legitimate quarterback... but he is NOT a leader. Its the same problem I had with QBs like Kolb for the Eagles and Eli Manning in NY... tons of ability, no measurable ability to lead and inspire his team. Rodgers has that, Brees has that, Peyton Manning has that, Favre used to have that, and QBs like Montana, Young, Bradshaw, Starr, Aikman, and Fran Tarkenton epitomize that sort of on-field leadership.

This segues nicely into Jambo's post about the disappointing Vikings...

Look at the list of "leaders" that the Vikes have had since they came into the League in 1960... and one can't think that it isn't an impressive list of talent. Bud Grant was one of the best coaches to ever lead a team in the NFL (thus his Hall of Fame status) and Fran Tarkenton still holds records unbroken today. In fact, the 1975 Minnesota Vikings are STILL considered one of the greatest teams to ever take the field, and Fran's role in that team won him both the NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year award... AFTER LOSING TO THE COWBOYS in the NFC Championship game. The loss was a freak... a one-in-a-million chance throw that won the play the now timeless title of the first "Hail Mary" pass for a touchdown win in NFL history. It is one of those storied losses that create a mythos as timeless as many wins, in fact...

Someone during that game threw an empty bottle onto the field and hit an official in the head, just before the pass was thrown. This act not only prompted the NFL and all football venues to ban glass containers at games for all times, but it also "created" the myth that all bad calls from that time to this (calls that cost the Vikes games, I mean) are part of the "Judge's Curse", as is the loss due to the Hail Mary pass in 1975. Isn't this just as silly (but just as real) as the "Curse of the Bambino" in Boston?

I guess my point is that, looking back over the last 30 years or so, the Vikes haven't had real "leadership" in the QB position since Tarkenton left the game. Yes, Kramer was a great QB, but he wasn't a leader, and neither was Wilson, Gannon or Moon. I had real hopes for Johnson... ability and command skills... but he was plagued by injuries (within his front line and his own) and the defense sucked all through his years as a QB. Cunningham was a leader, but had no real ability left after years of abuse in Philadelphia. They need that "star" quality at the helm that can not only take them to championship games, but can groom the next generation of players. The ownership at Minnesota keeps looking to buy that kind of leadership... Favre is an excellent example of this... but what they NEED is to build it from within. That kind of building and planning stems from good coaching... and we can all hope that this new coaching era will give them some of that.