Even before the 2015 NFL season started, the writing was already on the wall regarding the fact that Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase would soon be a head coach in the league. Gase was just brought on as Chicago’s OC at the beginning of the year with the reputation of having a great rapport with quarterbacks and bringing the best out of them. This proved to be true after seeing the type of season that Jay Cutler had under Gase’s tutelage.
Cutler finished 2015 with arguably the best season of his 10 years in the NFL. For the first time in his career as a full-time starter, Cutler had only one game with multiple interceptions and finished the year with a career-best QB rating of 92.3.
Now, Gase is the new head coach for the Miami Dolphins, and recently Chicago promoted quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains to be their new OC. In 2016, this will be the sixth OC in the last eight years that Cutler has played under since arriving in the Windy City. Seeing how it took so long to find someone Cutler could gel with, only to have him leave after one year presents an important question. Will Cutler be just as successful under Loggains as he was with Gase?
Many may think that Cutler will revert back to his old, erratic self now that Gase is out of the picture, but head coach John Fox believes that there shouldn’t be much of a difference with Cutler and the Bears’ offensive game plan going into 2016.
“Let me make this clear: Our systems are our systems,” Fox said according to ESPN. “They’re not any individual’s systems; they are our systems. Our systems aren’t changing—offense, defense or special teams.”
So according to Fox, apparently the offensive game plan will be the same as it was in 2015, which means that there shouldn’t be any worry over Cutler’s play next season. I totally agree. Both Fox and Cutler have vouched for Loggains’ character, saying that he was very instrumental the offense’s success in 2015 and that he has a positive relationship with all of the players in the locker room.
With that being said, Cutler should be able to build upon what was a productive 2015 season under Loggains, who was also the OC for the Tennessee Titans from 2012-13. Let’s just hope for the sake of Cutler that Fox’s statements about sticking with the game plan are true. As long as there aren’t any major changes, Cutler and the Bears’ offense should flourish next season.
