Broncos' Cutler has 4,000-yard stare

[Magnificent Seven]

Passing milestone in his sights - and it's only 14th game

Jay Cutler thought 4,000 passing yards was a realistic possibility in only his third season as an NFL quarterback - just not this fast.

"I thought we'd have a chance going into the last game of getting 4,000," the Broncos quarterback said Wednesday. "But being able to maybe get it in Week 14 is kind of crazy."

With three games left, Cutler already has eight more completions and 22 more attempts than he had last season.

Yet it's his yardage that has really skyrocketed.

With 321 yards Sunday at Carolina, in his team's 14th game, he'll become only the third Broncos quarterback to hit the 4,000-yard threshold. He needs to average only 137 yards in the final three games to become the 38th quarterback in NFL history to hit the milestone.

At the same time, his current pace of 4,528 yards not only would obliterate the team's yardage record of 4,089 set by Jake Plummer in 2004 - John Elway is the only other Broncos quarterback to hit 4,000, with his 4,030-yard showing in 1993 - but makes him one of the fastest in NFL history to hit such yardage levels.

New Orleans' Drew Brees (4,100) and Arizona's Kurt Warner (4,020) are on an even faster pace than Cutler this season.

Should all three reach at least 4,500 yards, that would make 17 such performances all time. Only Dan Marino and Drew Bledsoe will have reached the 4,500 level faster than Cutler, and each did it in his second season.

"This will be typical for him in the future, I believe," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "We can do things with Jay that we obviously couldn't do before. And the better he gets, the more we can do, with the screens and the play-action passes and drop-back passes."

Cutler already has thrown for at least 300 yards six times this season, helping him lead the AFC with 3,679 yards. He started all 16 games in 2007 and threw for 3,497 yards, well short of the 4,000 threshold.

"It's not easy at all, not by any means," he said. "Everything has to go right and in your direction. And one or two bad games, you're not going to get there. It's a 16-game stretch and you have to hit in all 16 games."

Cutler has benefited this year from an offensive line that has remained intact from Day One and allowed only eight sacks, which is negative yardage applied to a quarterback's passing stats. Receivers also have been largely healthy as a group, aiding his consistency.

And Cutler has been sharp, completing 62.4 percent of his passes for a team that has become more pass-oriented.

"I think he's ahead of the curve in just about every area possible," said CBS analyst Steve Beuerlein, whose time as a Broncos quarterback spanned the period between Elway and Cutler. "The only area that I see he needs to really focus on is his consistency."

Cutler's big yardage numbers have come because of - and in spite of - the Broncos running game, which ranks only 16th in the NFL. It has meant not only more pass attempts but a more singular focus on him from opposing defenses.

His pace is all the more remarkable given the fact the over-the- top, deep throw has been the least consistent aspect of the Broncos' air attack this season. Yardage has come in more sustained chunks.

The Broncos already have 48 pass plays of 20-plus yards - six more than last year's total - but only seven completions in excess of 40 yards.

"With our group of guys, they're big catch-and-run guys and get a lot of yards after the catch. They break a lot of tackles," Cutler said in explaining how the yards have piled up so quickly. "It starts with Brandon (Marshall) and trickles down to Tony (Scheffler), Eddie (Royal) and those guys. We're able to get those 5-, 6-yarders real quick and let them take it another 8 to 10 yards up. And the yards start adding up at that point."

There has been a rise in 4,000-plus passing seasons in the NFL in recent years.

It largely can be attributed to pass-coverage rules that don't allow for contact with receivers beyond the 5-yard chuck zone.

Joe Namath was the first to put up 4,000 yards, doing so in 1967 - in a 14-game season, no less. It then took 12 years for Dan Fouts to achieve that level.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/10/cutler-close-to-joining-4000-club/

[TXBRONC]

At the rate Jay is going he will shatter the old team record.

[Italianmobstr7]

At the rate Jay is going he will shatter the old team record.

That's because Jay is awesome. He might already be a top 5 QB in the league. But if he's not yet, he will be next year. I agree that he really needs to work on his consistency and sometimes his decision making, but other than that he's got all the tools to be a GREAT NFL qb.

[gobroncsnv]

We really haven't seen him hit a receiver on a long ball in stride this year. We'll see long passes, where the receiver is wide open, but there's always having to wait on the ball to come down, come back and get it, what have you. That's something he could work on as well.
But, while you want to have the long ball as a threat on every play, the part I like is the fact that he IS making most of the yardage on a sustained, methodical, unstoppable passing attack. Ball control offenses usually don't make their money by throwing, yet we do it, good weather or bad. Our numbers in the Jets game, given the conditions, astounded me as much as the fact that we won the game. I had fears that we'd "pansy-up" once winter started showing, but we can play in adverse conditions, both windy and wet. We'll see what a snow game brings us.
Of course, having really good receivers is really useful for these numbers, as well. Other than settle in with a good running back, I hope we do nothing on the offense this off-season.

[TXBRONC]

We really haven't seen him hit a receiver on a long ball in stride this year. We'll see long passes, where the receiver is wide open, but there's always having to wait on the ball to come down, come back and get it, what have you. That's something he could work on as well.
But, while you want to have the long ball as a threat on every play, the part I like is the fact that he IS making most of the yardage on a sustained, methodical, unstoppable passing attack. Ball control offenses usually don't make their money by throwing, yet we do it, good weather or bad. Our numbers in the Jets game, given the conditions, astounded me as much as the fact that we won the game. I had fears that we'd "pansy-up" once winter started showing, but we can play in adverse conditions, both windy and wet. We'll see what a snow game brings us.
Of course, having really good receivers is really useful for these numbers, as well. Other than settle in with a good running back, I hope we do nothing on the offense this off-season.

I can think of two instances right off the top of my head were Jay did hit a receiver in stride. Marshall's first game back Jay hit him in stride on 40 plus yard touchdown pass. The Miami game, while touchdown was called back Jay again hit Marshall in stride.