Bears Blitz

Published by Bob Warja on August 16, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

I have recently written that I expect a big season from Bears QB Jay Cutler. While that could still be true, I am concerned that the Mike Martz offense just won’t work in Chicago.

It’s not that the weather is too rough, though that certainly makes things more challenging.

It’s not even that the field conditions at Soldier Field are so terrible. Yes, the “greatest show on turf” wasn’t played on such a bad grass field. But even this isn’t my main argument.

Instead, it’s that the personnel of this Bears team and the philosophy of head coach Lovie Smith just won’t allow Martz to be successful installing the true version of his high-flying offense.

Like last season, they are certainly going to try. The Greg Olsen trade was one indication that the Bears are moving to more three and four receiver sets.

But again, like last season, if the offensive line doesn’t block, you can expect that another “come to Jesus” meeting will force the Bears to revert to a more balanced offense.

If you recall, during the 2010 bye week, the Bears made the commitment to start running the ball more, and to allow Cutler to roil out more and use his feet.

And that brings us to my next argument. The Martz offense just doesn’t jive with Cutler’s strengths as a quarterback. Sure, he has the strong arm to get the ball downfield, but the system doesn’t allow him to use his mobility to its full extent.

You see, the Martz offense prefers that the QB stay in the pocket, and hold the ball as long as possible to allow the routes to mature.

With this Bears line, not only will that get Cutler killed, but it takes away one of the things that he is best at, throwing on the run.

Why should the Bears not take advantage of such a gift? Not only is Cutler mobile, he seems to throw with greater accuracy when he’s on the run. I’m not talking about scrambling for his life, just the normal roll out play.

Again, I’m sure that Martz will try to make his system work. But I’m equally sure that the personnel on this team will not allow it to be successful.

Which brings us to the point about Lovie Smith.

Look, we all know about Smith’s reputation for coming off the bus running the ball. So, at the first sight of a repeat of the first half of last year, you can bet that he will force the offense to go back to running the ball more.

This doesn’t mean that Cutler can’t have a great season. The addition of Roy Williams gives the Bears QB a big target that can go up and get the football. And the team has another year of familiarity in working together.

Still, it comes down to blocking. The Bears grabbed Gabe Carimi in the draft, but lost Olin Kreutz. One step forward, one step back.

It’s way too soon to pass judgment, but the line appears to run block a lot better than pass protect. If the first preseason game is any indication, they rushed for 164 yards but the QBs got sacks nine times.

So, we may never get to see the Martz system in full bloom. But that’s fine, because it just may be a wilted flower in Chicago.

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