When people had nothing else bad to say about Alex Smith
Funny thing is no one would ever call Troy Aikmen a game manager, but take a look at that dudes numbers.
Troy Aikman is one of the most overrated QB's in the history of the NFL, but to call his name in the same breath as Alex Smith is why people stay ragging on you.
Game manager has nothing to do with stats. It has to do with what is asked of the QB. There's nothing wrong with that. Alex Smith plays within a system that doesn't ask him to do much and he plays well within that system. We have seen him in a system where he's been asked to carry the team and win games and he struggled.
The only bragging you can really do about Alex Smith is his play in the 2 games this season and his late game heroics in the NO game in the playoffs. Last season we had an anemic offense, record breaking defense, field goal kicker and return game...but were last in 3rd down conversion and redzone efficiency. Just watch the offense last year, it was bad.
This year though, Alex's play is worthy of high praise. I still don't think he's good, but he's playing well.
Cutler has a big arm and has that gunslinger mentality. High risk, high reward. He's a douche, which is why people will dump on him (sometimes unfairly) when he fukks up. So, the guy has Martz as his OC, and gets killed behind the oline for several years. Keep in mind Cutler hasn't had the luxury of a coach telling him to check it down, take the sack or throw the ball away if a play is not there. To me, this is what separates Cutler from Alex. Harbs is the best thing to happen to Alex. He literally has Alex only throwing the ball if he's certain it will be completed. I don't know a QB in this league that does this...so much of Alex's success I'd put on the shoulders of Harbs.
That said, Cutler is a good QB but needs to be paired with the right OC that will beat that gunslinger mentality out of him. He also needs a line.
It is type odd though to see the same dudes who have made excuses for Alex's horrific play over 6 years... trash Cutler for the same shyt (no receivers, no O-line, horrible coaching). Some dudes like to talk on both sides of their mouths.