Bears Blitz

Published by Gary Davenport on January 21, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

After a 2014 season in the Windy City that could be characterized as a cross between a catastrophe and a dumpster fire (perhaps a dumptastrophe?), there are big changes afoot for the Chicago Bears.

Head coach Marc Trestman is gone, replaced by John Fox. Ditto for general manager Phil Emery, whom the Bears showed the door in favor of Ryan Pace.

Well, Pace and Fox have started fleshing out the coaching staff, and in adding a familiar face Fox has assembled a group that should have Bears fans optimistic about the future.

As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported Wednesday, former Denver Broncos coordinator Adam Gase has joined Fox in making the trek from Colorado to Illinois:

The 36-year-old Gase, who spent the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator in Denver, was considered a hot commodity in coaching circles not too long ago. However, after the Broncos parted ways with Fox, Gase was suddenly a man without a job, and despite a number of interviews for both head coaching and coordinator vacancies, Gase (some would say surprisingly) had received no offers.

It was no doubt an anxious couple of weeks in the Gase household, but for the Bears it could wind up a blessing in disguise.

Granted, many will credit the Broncos’ offensive success the past two years to a loaded roster on that side of the ball. I hear their quarterback is supposed to be good or something.

However, former NFL head coach (and architect of The Greatest Show on Turf) Mike Martz told Robert Klemko of The MMQB that Gase doesn’t get the credit he deserves as an offensive mind:

They’ve (the Broncos) got good players, and he knows what to do with them. He (Gase) puts guys in position to have success. It would be easy to do the same stuff over and over, but each week he’s going to create.

And it’s not like Gase’s cupboard is bare in Chicago:

In Alshon Jeffery, Brandon Marshall and tight end Martellus Bennett, the Bears have one of the few trios in the league as good (if not better) than Denver’s group of Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and Julius Thomas.

In Matt Forte, Gase will have an elite running back at his disposal adept in all phases of the game, from running between the tackles to catching the ball out of the backfield to pass protection.

And if the last month of Denver’s season was any indication, Forte and the Bears will rank a fair bit higher than 30th in the NFL in rushing attempts in 2015.

(Cue Bears fans nodding—maybe some scattered applause.)

Of course, the $64,000 question in Chicago on offense centers around this guy:

(Cue Bears fans screaming, swearing and throwing things.)

I’m not going to sit here and say that hiring Gase will suddenly fix all that ails Jay Cutler. There are even those who believe the Bears will part ways with Cutler, contract implications be damned.

It is worth pointing out, though, that Neil Hornsby of Pro Football Focus wrote for ESPN that many of Cutler’s struggles in 2014 had as much to do with how Trestman used him as it did the quarterback himself:

I believe this drop-off had more to do with how he was used than his performance. For starters, he didn’t make significantly more bad decisions than he typically does. His 4.4 percent rate of very poor passes thrown (at PFF we track and grade every play from every player) in 2014 was only slightly worse than his 3.9 percent rate in 2013. That’s not a good number, but that usually goes into the risk-reward factor of Cutler’s game. In 2014, there was no reward. …

Put simply, his coaches didn’t protect him by throwing less, the way the Dallas Cowboys did with Tony Romo. Instead, the Bears’ offense called for him to throw less dangerously. Despite having perimeter weapons to die for in Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, Cutler threw just 15 post routes all year — only Teddy Bridgewater threw fewer. Part of the issue (which we’ll discuss below) was also the defense. Chicago was constantly losing early in games and had to abandon their offensive game plan, which may have protected Cutler more and leaned on the rushing attacking.

Once again, if the last month of Denver’s season was any indication, the Gase hire bodes well for Chicago. In Denver last year, Gase made the best of what he was given. Early in the season, with Peyton Manning at 100 percent, the Broncos attacked teams vertically as much as any team in the NFL.

However, when Manning faltered late in the year, Gase didn’t keep dialing up long pass after long pass. The Broncos turned to running back C.J. Anderson and morphed from “grip it and rip it” to “ground-and-pound.”

Many offensive coordinators are touted for their innovative philosophies. But sometimes the best philosophy an OC can have is a simple one.

Be flexible.

It’s a hire that continues the Bears’ positive momentum on the coaching side.

A year after Chicago all but quit on Trestman, Fox brings a no-nonsense approach and a steadying hand to a locker room that badly needs it. Say what you will about Fox’s game-management skills, but he’s one of six head coaches in NFL history to lead two different teams to the Super Bowl.

In Vic Fangio the Bears added a veteran defensive coordinator who has well over a decade of experience at that level in the NFL. In his four years at the helm of the San Francisco 49ers defense, Fangio’s units ranked in the top 10 in both points and yardage allowed all four years.

(Cue Bears fans imagining a top-10 defense in Chicago and then fainting.)

Now, in Gase, the Bears have added a bright young offensive mind, as well as a coach whom Fox already has a rapport and comfort level with.

Mind you, this doesn’t mean that all these hires are slam dunks, nor that fans should start making playoff plans for January 2016. There remains a lot of work to be done in order to get the Bears back into contention in the NFC North.

That’s especially true on defense, where Fangio’s arrival likely signals a scheme switch that will require a pretty extensive personnel overhaul.

Still, even before Chicago hired Gase, at least one former Bears great was stoked about the pickups being made by his old team:

And it’s hard to imagine that adding another proven commodity to that list in Gase has done anything to quell Brian Urlacher’s enthusiasm.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPManor.

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