Bears Blitz

Published by Stuart Hatton on February 18, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears’ choice to replace the fired Ron Turner as offensive coordinator for the 2010 season with Mike Martz, a man with a long coaching pedigree, was a questionable decision when looking at the style of offense he operates.

A Martz-offense is characterized by deep quarterback drops, long receiver routes to stretch the field and necessary pass protection. He had success with this style with the St. Louis Rams in the early 2000’s when he ran the “Greatest Show on Turf,” and he even turned Jon Kitna into a 4,000-yard passer in Detroit.

This doesn’t fit the Bears’ style of play and personnel though.

Instead of changing his schemes in 2010, Martz called plays his own way. He showed a total lack of regard for adapting to the Bears’ player personnel and game situations.

He may have run successful offenses in the past, but this year was certainly not one of them. His reckless abandon for running the Bears’ offense this year has built a case for him to be out of a job in 2011, assuming anyone in football has a job in 2011. The following reasons detail his futility and his need for removal:

 

A Lack of Balance between Running and Passing

For the most part in 2010, Martz called and executed a pass-happy game plan. Let’s look at the numbers.

In Week 6 against Seattle, the Bears ran the ball with their running backs 12 times for a total of 42 yards. Conversely, Jay Cutler threw the ball 39 times and had a QB rating of 69.4. The Bears lost 23-20.

Again, in Week 7 against Washington, the Bears ran 13 times for 61 yards, while Jay passed 40 times, threw four picks and had a rating of 54.3. The Bears lost 17-14. Those are two losses against teams with losing records in the regular season.

Now take a look at two key victories for the Bears.

Week 12 against the Eagles, the Bears ran 20 times and passed 21. Forte piled up 117 yards on the ground, and Cutler had four TD passes and a QB rating of 146.2.

Then, in Week 16 against the Jets, the Bears kept it on the ground 23 times and passed 25 times. Forte had another big game with 113 yards, and Cutler did just as well with three TD passes and a QB rating of 104.2.

Those are two balanced game plans in two wins against two playoff teams. Why didn’t the Bears’ offense have this kind of balance all year long? Some teams can be successful without a balanced attack—the Packers won the Super Bowl that way. Clearly the Bears needed that balance to be most efficient. Why couldn’t Martz stick with a sensible, reasonable and evened attack all season long?

 

Todd Collins as the No. 2 QB?

Todd Collins was the No. 2 QB on the depth chart. Collins is a 40-year-old quarterback who hasn’t played in more than five games in a season since 1997.

1997!

He appeared for the Bears in two regular season games, went 10 for 27 passing and threw five interceptions. He had half as many picks as he did completions. It was clear that when he was playing for the Bears early in the season against Carolina with Cutler out due to a concussion, that he couldn’t be successful in the league anymore. He was immobile, and his arm was weak. But somehow, for the rest of the season, he stayed as the No. 2 QB.

As if the Carolina game wasn’t enough to prove he was incapable of running an offense, Martz sent him out as Cutler’s replacement against Green Bay in the NFC Championship game, where he went 0-for-4 with all of his throws landing in the dirt. The story on Collins as No. 2, we were told, was that he was better with the playbook in the classroom than the younger, stronger and more mobile Caleb Hanie.

What could Martz have possibly seen in practice, with Collins taking reps with the first team offense, and in his game appearances that led him to believe Collins could even complete a pass? Hanie replaced Collins after two possessions in the NFC Championship game, and you know the rest of the story. He led the Bears to a near comeback.

What could have happened if Hanie actually took first team reps during practice at any point during the season? What difference does it make if Collins is better in the classroom if my grandma could throw further and harder than he can?

 

Matt Forte and Earl Bennett at the Wrong Times

Martz had to get cute.

The Bears were wrapping up a comfortable victory in the playoffs against Seattle, and Martz called a halfback pass. Forte threw an interception, and it set up the Seahawks with excellent field position. The game ended much closer than it should have been.

They practically tried to give the game away and gave the Seahawks a good opportunity to get back into it. A halfback pass? The Bears hadn’t even attempted a pass from anyone other than a quarterback all season. Why was that in the Bears’ playbook, and why did having a sizeable lead in the playoffs make him think it was a good idea to call it?

Then, on the Bears’ final drive in the championship game against Green Bay, Martz had a timeout called right before the snap in a third-and-short situation. The Bears still snapped the ball, and it was a run to Forte, who would have easily gotten the first down deep in Packers’ territory had the play not been negated by the timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, the Bears ran an end-around to the short side of the field with Earl Bennett. Bennett lost two yards on the play. On third down, out of a timeout, in Packers’ territory, needing a touchdown to tie in the NFC Championship and that’s what he calls?

Why run with Bennett and not a speedster like Devin Hester or Johnny Knox? The Bears had one more timeout and neglected to use it before fourth down. On the ensuing play, Hanie threw a pick to end the game, and Martz continued his streak of questionable playoff play-calling.

 

Greg Olson and Chester Taylor as Wasted Commodities.

I’m a big numbers guy and believe numbers don’t lie.

Greg Olson is not a blocking tight end. He is a very athletic pass-catching tight end who poses big matchup problems for defenses.

In 2010, he had 41 receptions for 404 yards. In 2009, under Ron Turner’s offense, he pulled down 60 receptions for 612 yards.

Pass-catching tight ends are not often used in a Martz-offense, but one would think an experienced coordinator would find a way to incorporate a tight end whose skill set is mainly pass-catching. Instead, Martz didn’t adapt to what type of player Olson is, and he became an under-used asset.

Speaking of under-used assets, what about Chester Taylor?

Taylor spent the four previous seasons in Minnesota behind Adrian Peterson and did a solid job making their run game a two-headed monster. In four seasons in Minnesota, he averaged just under 700 rush yards and 340 receiving yards per season with an average of five total TD’s per season.

In 2010 with the Bears, he had 267 rush yards, 139 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Shouldn’t an experienced coordinator be able to work an offense where he can provide good opportunities for a former 1,000-yard rusher?

Martz couldn’t figure out a way to make him a productive back and keep other teams on their toes by forcing them to plan for Taylor. He was supposed to be an excellent free-agent signing and a good relief back for Forte. He became a relative non-factor because Martz couldn’t figure out how to get him in the game and use him appropriately.

 

Accountability

I only need one word to describe Martz’s offensive futility this season. Whether it was his decision or a decision from the team, he was consistently not made available to speak to media during the season.

Offensive questions abounded as the weeks went on, and Martz was highly criticized for his play-calling during the year, but hardly anyone was ever able to speak with him.

Even after the season ended with the loss to the Packers, the two biggest questions were why wasn’t Caleb Hanie the No. 2 QB, and why did he call the end-around to Bennett.

Did he answer them? No.

Did he make an appearance to even field those questions? No.

What that shows is a lack of accountability. He knew he was making mistakes, and he didn’t take responsibility for them or even try and defend his decision making. Enough said.

Mike Martz’s lack of ability to adapt a game plan to fit what makes the Bears successful, his inability to properly organize his depth chart,—especially when it mattered most—poor play-calling/decision-making in crunch time, lack of tailoring an offense to play to his skill position players’ strengths and finally, his incapacity to take responsibility for general ineffectiveness, have put the writing on the wall.

Martz has got to go, needs to be canned, kick him to the curb and let the door hit him on the way out. I’ve seen enough.  

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