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Last year, the arrival of Jay Cutler was supposed to change everything in the Windy City.
Bears fans had been waiting for a franchise quarterback for decades, and the 25-year-old Cutler, who was coming off a 4,500-yard season in Denver, was supposed to be that guy. He was supposed to bring the Bears — formerly all defence and power — that aerial attack that would put them over the top.
That didn’t happen. Cutler struggled, leading the league (by a mile) with 26 interceptions.
And since it’s hard (and expensive) to blame your young, “blue-chip” quarterback for your offensive struggles, the Bears decided a scheme change was in order. And in came Mike Martz in the offseason, set to take Cutler and the passing game to a new level.
Martz was an integral part of The Greatest Show on Turf in St. Louis in the late 1990s and early 2000s. And although he wasn’t able to completely fix what ailed the Lions and 49ers in his most recent offensive coordinator jobs, he did help Jon Kitna throw for 4,000-plus yards in 2007 and helped the San Fran offence move from the basement to No. 23 in the league in 2008.
So maybe Martz is exactly what the doctor ordered in Chicago. If so, the medicine doesn’t take immediate effect: Chicago’s offence has been awful throughout the preseason and Cutler appears to be at least mildly frustrated.
2009 in a nutshell: The aging defence struggles and the offence makes too many mistakes. They don’t come close to competing with Minnesota and Green Bay in the NFC North.
Why 2010 could be different, in a nutshell: The arrival of Martz; the arrival of Julius Peppers; the arrival of top pick Major Wright, as well as Chris Harris, both safeties who should help a defensive backfield that wasn’t good last year.
Three random thoughts/observations/projections
1. But in St. Louis, Martz had Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce (and a pretty good pass-catching back in Marshall Faulk) to work with. In Chicago, the receiving corps isn’t quite as decorated, with Johnny Knox and Devin Hester trying to hold off Earl Bennett and Devin Aromashodu for playing time. But Martz has said that he’s thrilled with this young group of receivers and Knox in particular has been stellar in August, leading many to believe that this will be his breakout season.
2. The Bears also struggled last year because Cutler didn’t have a lot of time. He took 35 sacks as the offensive line was continually overpowered. Things don’t look a lot better in 2010. Unproven left tackle Chris Williams has been assaulted in the preseason, while right tackle Frank Omiyale is still a work in progress. Veteran centre Olin Kreutz is a big name, but he’s 33 now and is recovering from offseason ankle surgery. Making matters worse, Martz’ scheme leads to a lot of sacks.
3. Despite the sacks and the interceptions on offence, the once-mighty defence is what killed the Bears last season. It’s almost hard to believe considering how sick they were only a few years ago, but the Bears ranked 17th overall and 23rd against the run in 2009. Brian Urlacher isn’t the player he used to be (and is injured again right now), while Lance Briggs continues to be plagued by an ankle injury himself. The good news is that big offseason signing Julius Peppers will help the pass rush dramatically (Peppers has been good in the preseason) and the team is getting a healthy Pisa Tinoisamoa back (although he’ll have to re-earn a starting job).
2010 prediction: They’re better than the 7-9 record they posted last year, but the Lions and Packers are better and the Vikings are still quite stacked. Another third-place finish is coming.
