Have I overrated Jay Cutler?

So I'm watching the Eagles-Bears on Sunday night, and Jay Cutler just looks terrible. His passes are sailing all over, and he missed Greg Olsen and Devin Hester on back-to-back plays that would have been TDs. Cutler's struggles this season are well-documented, with 17 INTs already. Normally I ignore knee jerk reaction-type criticism (Peyton Manning used to get criticized, and by the time he retires he may be the best QB who ever played), but Cutler is becoming difficult to defend. Have I overrated Cutler in the past?

There's no doubt Cutler has always thrown a few too many INTs, and that's just how it's going to be with this guy. Maybe when he's 40 he'll have a Favre-like awakening and all of a sudden become a caretaker (seriously, I keep waiting for Favre to start throwing it to the other team and it just hasn't happened) but right now you just have to deal with a few INTs. 17 in 9 games, of course, is more than a few. But you know what? I'm willing to overlook the INTs, and say that maybe a few of them were flukes, and hey shit happens. But his inaccuracy tonight is startling, and it looks like he's afraid to just throw the ball. This is not the same QB who played so well for Denver last year, and looked like a future great player.

It really has me wondering what's going on. I've stated before that I don't like Chicago's talent, and that hasn't changed. That offensive line sucks, and those receivers are subpar. But you know what? Tom Brady posted an 87 rating in 2006 with his leading receivers being Reche Caldwell and Troy Brown. Whatever the circumstances, you suck it up and play. Excuses are of no use in the NFL.

So is Cutler just simply slumping, or is he just not as good as I thought? I've never thought that Cutler was a great player, as much as I thought he would be. But he has not progressed, and rather has regressed. Like I said, I can forgive the INTs if he's firing strikes otherwise, but he's not. He doesn't look the same at all, and if I didn't know who he was I'd probably be saying that this guy sucks. I haven't seen a guy regress this badly in awhile.