Since arriving in Chicago, Jay Cutler's been fighting the stigma that he's more of a stat-monger than a winner. The only way to change the feelings of the general public is to go out and win tough games. Anyone can look good during a blowout of an inferior opponent.
For the second consecutive week, Cutler has won close games in come-from-behind fashion. Last week, he led the Bears on a 72-yard, game-tying touchdown drive and then a 41-yard game-winning field goal drive against the Steelers. Sunday afternoon, Cutler brought the Bears back from an early 13-0 deficit to lead 17-13. The Bears lost the lead, but that was of no consequence, as Cutler again led them on a game-winning drive.
Offensive tackle Andre Smith became the 31st 2009 first-round draft pick to sign, coming to terms with Cincinnati. Find all the signed picks' contract details below:
Assuming Jackson joins Kansas City's training camp immediately (and stays healthy), he's a near-lock to be the Chiefs' starting left end in Week 1.
The situation is not as rosy for the Bengals' top choice, offensive tackle Andre Smith. The No. 6 pick in 2009, Smith is reportedly miles away from signing with Cincinnati.
It's July, the slowest month of the year for the NFL, and it's driving you nuts. You need a fix. A hit. Anything NFL to pull you through the dog days. FanHouse is here to help with an in-depth look at each division that should have you plenty prepared for training camp. We're calling it Summer Scramble, and this afternoon we look at some Burning Questions in the NFC West and offer a ridiculously early prediction.
Send your NFL questions (along with your name and location) to NFLFanHouse@gmail.com. Each Thursday, we'll answer the best -- or, if nothing else, most entertaining -- in our NFL Mailbag.
Excluding Brett Favre, which remaining free agent can play the biggest role in 2009?
The easy answer (INCLUDING Brett Favre!!) is Plaxico Burress. He's a high-ceiling, high-impact wide receiver. You saw the way the Giants' offense missed him at the end of 2008, and we've seen a handful of teams express interest in him -- even though nobody knows if he's going to play in 2009. If he is allowed to play, he's your answer. But it looks increasingly likely that he'll be suspended for at least part of the season, if not all. So in the non-Burress division, I have three veterans who could make an interesting impact in the right situation:
Here's the deal: Upper Deck got a bunch of NFL rookies together and offered up a free autographed Michael Jordan jersey to the guy with the best touchdown celebration.
Random, sure. But also worth the four minutes you would otherwise spend staring at an Excel spreadsheet while thinking about taking a smoke break.
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
Compared to last April, the 2009 Chiefs draft was unremarkable. A year ago, the team landed five players who contributed immediately, and a handful of others will get opportunities this season.
But unlike 2008, Kansas City finally has a franchise quarterback. New general manager Scott Pioli sent a second-round pick to New England for Matt Cassel (and linebacker Mike Vrabel). Cassel, who went nine years between starts, led the Patriots to an 11-5 record last season and parlayed that into a handsome payday (eventually) and a starting gig.
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
By dealing up into the last part of the first round for Clay Matthews, Ted Thompson may have forever changed his image in Green Bay. He went from being consistently ripped for his trade-downs and seemingly passive nature during the draft to being branded a genius. Of course, if either of his first-round selections fail, he'll be back to being an idiot again.
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
"You go into this thing understanding that you're not going to fix everything that you may want to fix."
That's Broncos coach Josh McDaniels speaking, likely about the team's failure to improve their awful run defense. He's speaking the truth. There were too many issues facing Denver for them to solve them all over the course of seven rounds.
McDaniels' wisdom does nothing to explain why the team chose to trade away its 2010 first-round pick so they could draft cornerback Alphonso Smith in the second round, however. That seems more like creating a problem where none existed, something that could easily come back to haunt the Broncos in a year's time.
Another NFL draft has come and gone, and it's possible that you spent much of your weekend glued to a television set laughing at the Raiders and screaming for your team to find the next Tom Brady at the bottom of the sixth-round. If you're like me, you live in an area of the country where your only option for draft day coverage is ESPN's wire-to-wire mayhem.
If you happened to miss the draft, or watched it on the NFL Network, here's what you missed.
Since arriving in Chicago, Jay Cutler's been fighting the stigma that he's more of a stat-monger than a winner. The only way to change the feelings of the general public is to go out and win tough games. Anyone can look good during a blowout of an inferior opponent. 
The biggest domino amongst the remaining group of unsigned 2009 first-round picks has toppled. No. 3 overall pick 
Send your NFL questions (along with your name and location) to 
Here's the deal: Upper Deck got a bunch of NFL rookies together and offered up a free autographed Michael Jordan jersey to the guy with the best touchdown celebration. 
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 
