Have no fear, Jay Cutler.

Charles Barkley is here to save you from the critics!

Barkley went after the players who attacked Cutler on The Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago.

“I was mad at the players, to be honest with you,” Barkley said Tuesday. I think it was inappropriate and wrong to question a guy’s heart. Now reporters, they’re going to do what they want to. They’re entitled to their opinion. But as players, I don’t think it’s appropriate to question another guy’s heart. That crosses the line, because you don’t know. If you go back and start looking at all the stuff that’s been said, and clearly one of the more vocal critics was Maurice Jones-Drew, and then you find out he missed the last two games with a bad knee. Read more

When Brian Phillips is not killing it for Slate, he’s working on The Run of Play. Simply put, it’s the best collection of soccer writing anywhere. Exquisitely penned prose from Phillips and friends.

The one about Ronaldo was brilliant, the story about Xavi even better. And those are just in the last week.

The best part? They call it soccer, not football.