NFL Playoffs: Why Mike Martz Holds Key to NFC Playoffs
Published by Ryan Hood on January 6, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
In an NFC playoff bracket with quarterbacks Drew Brees, Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan and Michael Vick, offense will be the determining factor in who will represent the NFC in Jerry Jones’ Cowboy-less Super Bowl in February.
These five signal-callers are amongst the best the NFL has to offer. Sorry Charlie Whitehurst, but neither you, nor your team belong in this discussion, or the playoffs for that matter. These quarterbacks are as talented as any group the NFC has had in years, yet the NFC will be decided by someone, who, barring some sort of divine intervention, will attempt zero passes and take zero snaps this postseason.
Who holds this perpetual key? Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Yes, Mike Martz.
Throughout the course of this season, Bears fans have fallen into the same love-hate relationship with Martz as fans of the 49ers, Lions and Rams experienced earlier in the 2000s.
The Bears surprised most people this year by posting an 11-5 record and earning a first-round bye. The likes of Cutler, Devin Hester and Julius Peppers have all had enormous impacts on the 2010-11 Chicago Bears.
Nobody has had a larger impact than Martz.
Martz arrived in Chicago known for calling seven-step drops with multiple breaking routes for the wideouts. That was Martz’s scheme. A high-risk high reward game plan.
However, everyone and their mother knew Jay Cutler would be crippled by the end of the year if that anemic offensive line had to regularly protect seven-step drops.
Martz came to this conclusion as well and adjusted his game plan accordingly. He dialed up quick releases for Cutler, minimizing the time the offensive line has to ruin the play, and minimizing the complexity of the route for the likes of Earl Bennett, Hester and Johnny Knox.
Aside from the simplified passing game, Martz utilized the running game unlike how he had ever done so in the past. Matt Forte saw plenty of carries, and became only the second back in Bears history to amass 1,000 rush yards and 500 receiving yards in the same season.
When Martz stuck to this balanced attack, the Bears won. Hothead Cutler was much more efficient than the erratic hothead of last season. Forte had a career year. In a Week 16 game against the Jets, which featured three deep TD passes by Cutler, Forte became the first back in more than 20 games to eclipse the century mark on the ground against the Jets.
The old adage is that coaches can only have so much of an impact, that at the end of the day the players need to execute. This is not necessarily the case for these Bears.
When Martz employs his run game while minimizing Cutler’s deep drops, the Bears win. When Martz resorts back to his old ways of gun slinging while acting as if the run game has not yet been invented, the Bears lose.
Chicago’s defense is not where it was during their Super Bowl run of 2006, but it is good enough to give them a fighting chance against any potential NFC playoff opponent. It won’t save them in a snowy game against New England, but if the Bears and Patriots reconvene in Dallas, and it is snowing inside despite their retractable roof, I will be convinced the Chicago Cubs will win next year’s World Series.
Let us not forget about Chicago’s special teams. It’s fair to say Hester is a bit of a home-run threat returning kicks. Robbie Gould is one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history.
These units will keep Chicago in games, but Martz’s decision-making will decide those games.
Aside from the snowy disaster that was the Patriots game, each of the Bears’ other four losses can be directly contributed to Martz’s questionable play calling.
Bears quarterbacks were sacked an ungodly 10 times during a defeat to the Giants. They ran the ball a measly 16 times that night.
Chicago ran the ball 14 times over the course of 53 offensive plays in a mind-boggling defeat to the Seahawks.
In another head-scratching loss, the Bears attempted 40 passes compared to just 16 rushes.
Last week’s game against Green Bay was the same story: 39 passes compared to 20 rushes. That’s just terrible when you take into account Matt Forte averaged over six yards a carry last Sunday.
Forte rushed for 1,069 yards this season. Just 194 of these came during the team’s five defeats. See a pattern yet?
Martz feeds Forte, Bears win. Simple. There are no dominant teams in the NFC this year. There are dominant players, but there is no clear-cut favorite. Any team not named the Seattle Seahawks has a realistic chance of representing the NFC in Dallas.
As long as Mike Martz calls balanced games this postseason, the nation will be watching the Bears on Super Sunday.
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