Bears Blitz

Published by Bob Warja on August 16, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

There is plenty of grumbling and gnashing of teeth over the Chicago Bears’ decision to limit QB Jay Cutler to only one series in the opening loss to San Diego on Saturday night.

Now, supporters of the decision suggest that critics take a chill pill, for after all, it’s only the first preseason game. Why risk injury to your starting QB, especially since he plays in a Mike Martz offense that is pass first and ask questions later?

But the flip side to the argument also has to do with Martz—specifically his complicated offense. For it to work, everyone needs to be in sync, and the only way to ensure that the entire offense is clicking and on the same page is to play some real football.

Practice can only do so much and to truly grasp this offense, players need time against actual opponents. Like the Chargers, for instance.

Now, no one is suggesting that Cutler should have played the entire game, or even half of the game. But other QBs around the league played more than Cutler, and they aren’t necessarily trying to learn a brand new offensive scheme. 

Regardless of which side of the debate you fall on, there is another explanation making the rounds that is even more interesting. It was suggested by WSCR radio’s Zach Zaidman this morning, and it is plausible.

That is, the Bears were afraid of retaliation by disgruntled former employees who just happened to be coaching on the other sidelines.

Yes, defensive coordinator Ron Rivera not only likes to blitz like crazy, but he cannot be happy with the way that Lovie Smith dumped him following a trip to the Super Bowl. They disagreed over defensive philosophy, specially the Tampa-2 (or should we now call it the “Chicago-2”?).  

Rivera also has others on his staff that may hold a grudge against Smith and the Bears. So it may have been a valid, though weak, excuse to take Cutler out based on fear of retaliation.

True to form, yes, San Diego’s defense was outstanding. They had six sacks, and were also stout against the run. The Bears had just 28 yards rushing on 13 carries in the first half.

And yes, Cutler is valuable to this team, especially now that his backup, Caleb Hanie, underwent an MRI on his throwing shoulder. But if we’re talking about Hanie as a starter, we’re in trouble.

Still, you simply cannot play the game scared.

It’s football, and even Cutler himself said he needed to go out and get hit. They are going to face other 3-4 attacking defenses, so being afraid can’t be in the Bears vocabulary if they want to be a good team.

Failure to game plan for cornerback and safety blitzes is no reason to prevent Cutler from playing at least one additional series.

Sure, Cutler performed well, at least, until that old protection problem reared its ugly head in the red zone once again.  It would have been nice to see what the Bears could have tried to counter that with Cutler in the game.

Meanwhile, Matt Forte missed a block that caused Cutler to get sacked. The Bears can’t be successful using a tight end (Greg Olsen) that can’t block and a back that whiffs on a corner blitz, especially when there are better alternatives in camp.

The offensive line may be improved, we don’t know yet, but in a Martz offense the tight end must block and it helps to have a guy like Chester Taylor who can help out as well.

But I digress.

The fear factor angle is a troubling one, for it may only serve to further drive a wedge between Cutler and his teammates.

After all, the defensive starters didn’t come out until the 7:17 mark of the second quarter. Are we saying that the health of Brian Urlacher and Julius Peppers isn’t as important as keeping Cutler upright?

If retaliation was the driver behind Cutler’s lack of playing time, Smith certainly wasn’t letting on. Still, you can expect to see Cutler take more than eight snaps against Oakland.

Unless they’re afraid of pirates, that is.

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