Cutler

[Pugger]

PB:
There is always some uncertainty about a new starting QB, but Rodgers showed enough that the Packers took the unusual step of redoing his contract about half way through the season, when he still had a year and a half on his rookie contract. There were things to improve (I remember holding the ball too long more than "happy feet"), and he had yet to prove himself in big games, but that is because he had not had the opportunity.

As for the 6-10 record, as I wrote, he had engineered something like 3 or 4 late game comebacks only to have the defense or ST give it back immediately, in almost unbelievable rapid form. I think Crosby missed a game-winning FG in one.

I disagree with your suggestion that TT or MM could have been on thin ice. Put the Packers situation in any other city, and I doubt eother MM or TT would have been in any trouble at all after 2008 for their Favre/Rodgers decision. Rodgers showed plenty enough in 2008 that their decision looked solid, long term.

Yes, Rodgers showed so much that Ted and MM were willing to endure the firestorm of moving on with him even after Favre wanted to return.

[pbmax]

PB:
There is always some uncertainty about a new starting QB, but Rodgers showed enough that the Packers took the unusual step of redoing his contract about half way through the season, when he still had a year and a half on his rookie contract. There were things to improve (I remember holding the ball too long more than "happy feet"), and he had yet to prove himself in big games, but that is because he had not had the opportunity.

As for the 6-10 record, as I wrote, he had engineered something like 3 or 4 late game comebacks only to have the defense or ST give it back immediately, in almost unbelievable rapid form. I think Crosby missed a game-winning FG in one.

I disagree with your suggestion that TT or MM could have been on thin ice. Put the Packers situation in any other city, and I doubt eother MM or TT would have been in any trouble at all after 2008 for their Favre/Rodgers decision. Rodgers showed plenty enough in 2008 that their decision looked solid, long term.

I am not trying to prove a direct equivalency between Rodgers and Cutler in their first year starting. Only that Rodgers in 2008 was unproven and he did not have the kind of season he has become well known for. He faced some criticism for his decision making, his durability (the article I just looked up about his contract extension noted he had been playing with a sprained shoulder) and his pocket presence.

I am trying to point out that under slightly different circumstances, Ted and Mike could easily have been in trouble. With a different front office structure or ownership, they could have been in jeopardy for choosing Rodgers over Favre and finishing with a 6-10 season. Remember the criticism of McCarthy and (esp.) Ted's record compared to Sherman? Tank wasn't the only person making that case in 2008.

I think it easily imaginable that another owner or Team President would have sacked someone and then ask the successor to improve things. Had that happened, I don't think Rodgers career looks the same.

To bring it around to the original point, Cutler and Stafford didn't even have the continuity of Joe Flacco, who has had several OC's but the same HC and GM for his entire career. So I can't agree to consign them the franchise killer status given their circumstances. Although yeti makes a solid point that their potential becomes more of a liability as they get older and more expensive.

[Pugger]

They're both pretty easy to pick, especially in crucial moments of a game.

[Cheesehead Craig]

They're both pretty easy to pick, especially in crucial moments of a game.

And there's your winning answer right there. Well done, sir. Your prize: Drew Berrymore's undying love and devotion.

[Patler]

I am trying to point out that under slightly different circumstances, Ted and Mike could easily have been in trouble. With a different front office structure or ownership, they could have been in jeopardy for choosing Rodgers over Favre and finishing with a 6-10 season. Remember the criticism of McCarthy and (esp.) Ted's record compared to Sherman? Tank wasn't the only person making that case in 2008.

I think it easily imaginable that another owner or Team President would have sacked someone and then ask the successor to improve things. Had that happened, I don't think Rodgers career looks the same.

That is precisely what I disagree with the most. Rodgers wasn't a finished product in 2008, no 1st year starter is. But I think Rodgers did enough to justify the bosses' decision, regardless of the owner or team location.

[swede]

I remember early on here that we knocked Rodgers as being injury prone and made of porcelain.

I did...but the first time we sent him in for mop-up duty he promptly broke his foot...that'll get some catcalls.