Bears Blitz

Published by Jake Perper on October 5, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Here are the Week 5 Chicago Bears power rankings from various sites around the web:

ESPN: No. 18 (Last week: No. 18)

Analysis, “Mike Martz is running “ground and pound,” and the Jets are throwing the ball. Imagine.”

NFL: No. 13 (Last week: No. 16)

Analysis, “Matt Forte hung a 205-spot in the rushing column, but the real story was that offensive coordinator Mike Martz got the memo and gift-wrapped his back 25 carries against the Panthers. In fact, the Bears’ run-pass ratio was 31 to 17. Someone should’ve taken Martz’s temperature after the game to make sure he was feeling okay. That’s not like him.”

Yahoo Sports: No. 14 (Last week: No. 14)

Analysis, “Did Mike Martz counter-intuitively decide to ram the ball down the Panthers’ throats last Sunday—or did Lovie Smith ram that game plan down his throat?”

Sports Illustrated: No. 17 (Last week: No. 17)

Analysis, “The Bears at least woke up and conceded that playing Roy Williams ahead of Johnny Knox made no sense to anyone outside of the Martz family. Chicago also got wise and decided to exhaust Matt Forte in the pursuit of victory, rather than, say, Jay Cutler. It’s ironic, but that’s forward thinking for the Bears, to forgo so much forward passing.”

Fox Sports: No. 15 (Last week: No. 18)

Analysis, “Jay Cutler didn’t throw a pass until two minutes into the second quarter, and Matt Forte had 200 yards on the ground. Cutler should have been better with play action given the way they were running, but the protection just wasn’t there. It doesn’t get an easier this week against a solid Lions defense.”

CBS Sports: No. 18 (Last week: No. 20)

Analysis, “They got Matt Forte going, which they needed to do. Now comes a big test against the undefeated Lions on the road Monday night.”

Pro Football Talk: No. 13 (Last week: No. 15)

Analysis, “If Matt Forte runs for 205 yards with his contract supposedly serving as a distraction, the Bears should keep him that distracted every week.”

Walter Football: No. 17 (Last week: No. 15)

WEEI.com: No. 15 (Last week: No. 16)

Analysis, “We saw a change of offensive philosophy from Mike Martz’s offense on Sunday.Jay Cutler’s 17 pass attempts were dramatically lower than any other game he’s played this year. In Week 4, the Bears relied on Matt Forte and it paid off in a tremendous way. Forte averaged 8.2 yards per carry. Limiting the amount of times Cutler can get sacked or throw an interception while pounding the ball with Forte seems like the recipe for success offensively for the Bears.”

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