Chicago Bears: Fire Mike Martz. Save the Season. Save Jay Cutler.
Published by Jack Marchetti on October 13, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Mike Martz should’ve never been hired as Bears’ offensive coordinator, but as a high school teacher once taught me: Failures are made of should’ves.
I give you the 2011 Chicago Bears.
After thriving under Mike Shanahan in Denver, Jay Cutler didn’t so much flounder as revert to average under Ron Turner during his first season as Bears’ starting quarterback.
Reports indicated that Cutler and Turner never really saw eye to eye and Turner was scapegoated after the 2009 season. Then the Bears faced a bit of a conundrum.
No one wanted to join them. Either on offense or defense. And by no one, I mean no one worthwhile. Which led to the regressive, regretful and awful decision to hire Mike Martz as offensive coordinator in 2010.
I never thought I’d think it and/or write it, but the Bears advancing to the NFC title game last season was one of the worst things that could’ve happened to Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears’ franchise.
Granted if they won, went to the Super Bowl and somehow won—all is forgiven, all is well. Much like the 2008 Chicago Cubs—those God-awful contracts that stare Theo Epstein in the face now—no problem if they would’ve won the World Series, but they didn’t and neither did the Bears.
So what did a moniker of fluke success bring you, the Bears fan? One more year of Mike Martz, and more years for Lovie Smith.
What we’ve seen through the first five games of the season is the confluence of poor drafting, poor personnel decisions and God-awful coaching.
It takes a stupid and stubborn man to bring in a coordinator who coaches to his ideology and not the strength of his best player. It takes an even dumber man to institute said ideology.
Lovie and Martz, are a match made in offensive purgatory.
Lovie has to realize that it’s not working. The offense is too complicated for the weak-minded wideouts, and the offense is too dangerous for a star quarterback you’ve guaranteed millions to over the next several years and mortgaged the future for.
While Lovie has been characterized as a player’s coach, he’s also quite cunning and ruthless. If you aren’t with the program, you are often let go—no remorse, no regrets.
If Lovie wishes to remain the head coach of an NFL franchise, he should read the writing on the wall and quickly and deliberately shut the door on this almost two-year failed experiment. He should hand the reigns of signal calling to his star quarterback; a Vanderbilt grad who could probably call a better and safer game than the mad scientist Martz.
While it’s probably too late to save the 2011 team, it will at least begin the Mike Martz cleanse sooner rather than later.
So in honor of Pulp Fiction being released on Blu Ray this past week: Lovie, please, with sugar on top, fire Mike Martz.
Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com
