Rick Morrissey at the Chicago Sun-Times points to what he sees as quarterback Josh McCown's deficiencies:
“But that doesn’t mean McCown is the better fit. It means he hasn’t tried to go beyond the limits of his abilities, which is smart. Someday, an opponent is going to realize he doesn’t have the strongest arm, that he works the middle often and that they might want to get up on Bears receivers a little more. I’m not sure that day is coming in St. Louis on Sunday or in Minneapolis the following week. But it will come, eventually.”
I'm not entirely satisfied with this. The arm strength is a given but McCown doesn't work the middle too often. He spreads the field. Furthermore realizing that a quarterback throws over the middle and stopping it are two different things.
And as for “getting up on the receivers” that's not going to happen. Unlike Injured starter Jay Cutler, McCown hits receivers coming out of their breaks. Furthermore, he has big receivers to throw to who can get off the line and burn a defensive back who covers too closely.
I'm not saying Morrissey's overall point that McCown isn't starter material is necessarily off base. But his reasoning is flawed.
I don’t know as much about football, but I’ve been very impressed by McCown’s performance. I think your assessment is a more accurate than what the newspaper wrote. But I’m curious why McCown is not starter material?
I honestly think its the arm strength and his age. No one wants to bank on a 33 or 34 year old quarterback as their future.
The Bears need a better look at Cutler so they’ll know what to do with his contract. That’s probably reason enough to keep starting him, I guess.