Are you buying the Bears and Vikings in the NFC North?
At 3-1 through entering today’s games, do you trust the Bears and Vikings as viable challengers to the Packers?
Before you become too giddy about their prospects of overtaking the Packers (2-2 thanks to the replacement refereeing robbery two weeks ago), the quarterbacks on the Bears and Vikings at least should make you take some pause.
Despite how proficient and prolific he looked in the Bears’ route of the Cowboys on Monday night, Chicago’s Jay Cutler is inconsistent and represents a constant threat to obliterate team chemistry with his occasional fits of petulance.
It was just a couple weeks ago when Cutler was berating and bumping his left tackle J’Marcus Webb in an exchange caught on camera.
Even in Monday night’s 34-18 win over the Cowboys, Cutler got into a tiff with Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice, angrily walking away from Tice during a sideline conversation after a failed third down.
If you don’t think any more of those incidents will arise for Cutler this season, then you believe the Cubs will win the World Series in 2013.
The other maddening element to Cutler is one week he can look like good Brett Favre (like he did against Dallas, throwing for 275 yards and two TDs) and the next week he can look like bad Brett Favre, forcing balls into coverage leading to unnecessary turnovers.
The Bears success on offense will depend on how much good, well-behaved Cutler they get vs. bad, inconsistent, crybaby Cutler.
The Vikings, with second-year starter Christian Ponder, have other potential issues. Ponder, appearing to make significant strides in his second season with better accuracy, has been remarkably efficient, as his 68.3-percent completion rate and zero interceptions indicate.
But as impressive as those numbers are, Ponder ranks 25th in passing yards (824) and is 25th in yards per attempt (6.70). That is an indication Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier and his staff are not asking him to win games.
Nevertheless, Ponder has been a game manager.
But at some point, if the Vikings are going to win the division, they will need Ponder to win games with his arm in a more opened-up passing attack. He may be up to it or he may not be.
What Ponder does have on his side are some explosive skill-position players around him. Running back Adrian Peterson, who ranks 10th with 332 rushing yards, is drawing eight-man fronts from opposing defenses, and that has opened up the passing game for Ponder.
Percy Harvin, who is ranks third in the league with 30 receptions, has made Ponder look good by tacking on a lot of yards after the catch. Despite his size (5-foot-9, 184 pounds), the elusive Harvin has turned into a constant big-play threat when the Vikings get him the ball in the open field.
The question will be whether the Vikings protect Ponder well enough and whether Ponder can handle carrying his team with his arm — if he has to.
Though it has looked good through four games for both, there appear to be too many variables and question marks at quarterback for the Bears and Vikings to overcome the Packers and the established Aaron Rodgers by season’s end.
Both teams are a decent, buy but hardly a certain purchase.