This is one of the simpler, but perhaps more telling things we’ll keep a track on regarding Jay Cutler. We see Cutler’s passer rating following each game. Bear Down Stats does its own adjusted rating factoring in drops, throw aways and other factors that are out of the quarterback’s control. This however compares Cutler’s performance against a team relative to the defensive team’s opponent passer rating numbers. It’s simple, not overly specific and flawed… However, over a 16 game sample, we should get a somewhat accurate judgment at how well Cutler fared relative to the strength of the opposition’s defense.

It’s much easier to explain and understand by looking at the chart. You see Cutler’s rating in the game in blue. Then the opposition’s allowed passer rating is in green. Subtract Cutler’s rating to the opposition’s allowed rating to get the difference and the total difference is a season long total.

KEY:
OPP RTG – The opponent’s defense allowed passer rating
CUTLER’S RTG – Cutler’s passer rating
ADJ RATING – “Cutler’s RTG” subtracted by “OPP RTG”
ADJ CUM DIFF – A season total of the ADJ RATING
AVG ADJ DIFF – “Average Adjusted Difference.” Season long average of ADJ RATING
“CUC” – “Cutting Up Cutler”

SEASON RECAP:
Jay Cutler performed worse than he should have this season. His best games came against: Indianapolis, Dallas, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Minnesota, Seattle, Detroit. Of those teams only Seattle allowed an opponent’s passer rating below 85 of that group. Cutler, like the Bears, did well against bad teams, but really struggled against the top tier teams. He didn’t get a ton of help from his receivers. You can see how different his normal passer rating was compared to his “adjusted” rating. But regardless, he probably should have had a better year that he had. He averaged to perform about 3.4 passer rating points fewer than his opponents averaged to allow.