5 Adjustments Mike Martz Made That Has the Chicago Bears Clicking » Whether it was Mike Martz and the Bears coming to an agreement of the minds, or Jay Cutler threatening Martz with his life, there has certainly been a change in the Bears offense.Now, you would have thought that this would have been obvious much earlier to Martz, especially after what they experienc... Predicting the Starting Offensive & Defensive Lineup for Chicago Bears in 2012 » There's still seven regular season games to go this season, not to mention the playoffs.  But that won't stop us from breaking out the old crystal ball and taking a crack at some 2012 predictions.Looking forward towards the Bears 2012 roster can be a bit tricky.  Currently, five of the 23 ... NBA Lockout: 5 Chicago Bulls Who Could Play for the Chicago Bears » The possibility of watching NBA basketball in 2011-2012 is very unlikely.The NBA players have rejected the owners last offer of a 50/50 split of BRI. The players are in the process of decertifying, and will be pressing charges against the league tomorrow morning.What does all this mean for fans... Chicago Bears: Stopping Antonio Gates Key to Beating San Diego » The Chicago Bears are flying high as they head into their Week 11 matchup with the San Diego Chargers. Riding a four-game winning streak, the Bears will try and extend the Chargers' four-game losing streak when the two teams meet Sunday at Soldier Field.Although the Chargers currently have a losing ... NFL Power Rankings Week 11: Bears Win 4 Straight » WhatIfSports.com utilizes its NFL simulation engine to present the most comprehensive and unbiased ranking of all 32 teams. We simulated thousands of NFL games and used the winning percentages from those games to evaluate every team. All 32 teams are ranked below with their average points for and...
Sunday, 05 February 2012

Photogallery

Photogallery: ASA Action Sports World Tour
ASA Action Sports World Tour PhotogalleryThe ASA Action Sports World Tour came to Chicago and brought an action-packed night to the Sears Centre.  ASA features the best pro skaters and BMX jumping in the world.  Illinois natives Koji Kraft and Zack Warden battled in the BMX triple jump semi-finals.

Photography by CS Staff Photographer Sean Evans
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Chicago Bears and Mike Martz: A Match Made in Heaven?
Written by Chicago Sporting    Friday, 15 January 2010 05:05    PDF Print E-mail

All right, let me start this article off by saying one thing: I dislike Mike Martz as a person, as a analyst and as a head coach.

That aside, he might is a good fit at the offensive coordinator position for the Chicago Bears.

(I must give credit to Jake Perper, who first introduced the idea several weeks ago after Martz expressed interest. For his opinion, check here .)

Now I realize ever since he was the Rams offensive coordinator during their Super Bowl run back in 1999, Martz hasn't exactly put together a sparkling resume.

He had a stint with lowly Lions as their offensive coordinator and then a single season as the OC in San Francisco before being let go and then became a TV analyst (which included blasting Jay Cutler a number of times).

But one thing Martz has been able to do is maximize good quarterbacks abilities. Let us take a look at his history:

First is Kurt Warner, who will forever be in my mind the greatest single Cinderella story of all time in any sport for one single player.

In the three seasons in which Martz was calling plays and Warner started more than half the season, (two seasons were cut short due to injuries) Warner threw 98 touchdown passes, 12,612 yards and had an average completion percentage of 67.1.

The Rams made the playoffs in all three years, made the Super Bowl twice and won the Super Bowl once.

Following Warner was Marc Bulger, who took over as the full-time starter in 2003 and 2004 (before Martz took a leave of absence in 2005). In those two seasons, Bulger had the best two-year stretch of his career, tossing 43 touchdowns for 7809 yards and a completion percentage of 64.7. The Rams went 20-12 in those two seasons.

In the following season, Martz took over as the offensive coordinator in Detroit. During the ensuing two season, Lions QB Jon Kitna threw for a total of 39 touchdowns for 8,276 yards (both seasons had Kitna above the 4,000 yard marker) and had a completion percentage of 62.9. This after nine seasons (five of those as starter) in which Kitna has never reached the 4,000 yard marker.

(I will make it clear that the Lions record was still pitiful those two years. 3-13 in the first year and 7-9 the second. While I want Martz, I will not try to convince you that he is perfect.)

After the Lions fired Martz, he spent a brief time in San Francisco that resulted in some mediocre statistics, with quarterbacks J.T. O'Sullivan and Shaun Hill combining for 21 touchdowns (plus 19 interceptions) for 3,724 yards and a combined completion percentage of 60.5. The team as a whole went 7-9.

Throughout this tumultuous 2009 season, the Chicago Bears have been able to reassure themselves that they have a quarterback with all the skills to be great, he just needs that coordinator who understands it.

Give him an offense like Martz's and the speed at wide receiver that Martz likes, and this offense could take off... both literally and figuratively.

Now the main argument, and the best one really, is that Martz does not utilize the running back nearly enough or as effectively as one would hope.

While I admit that Marshall Faulk's rushing numbers were not nearly what they could have been if he had been given the chance, his receiving numbers were incredible. From 1999-2003, Faulk recorded 376 receptions for 3,470 yards and 25 touchdowns. 

Plus, Faulk managed to rack up 5,893 rushing yards in that five-year period with 4.9 yards per carry. Now I realize that Faulk is a Hall of Fame player, so you can make the case that he should have or could have an even better career if Martz had run the ball more but those numbers are still nothing to sneeze at.

And to be frank, after a poor sophomore season, the best asset Matt Forte has at the moment is his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.

While I am not pushing for the Bears to abandon the run all-out, I am saying that we should not condemn Martz just for his lack of emphasis on the run.

Martz and Lovie Smith were coordinators together with the Rams and Martz has even admitted interest in the Bears coordinator position before it was even "officially" available.

I do not like Martz, but if he can come in and bring out the best in Cutler and our receivers and most importantly our offense, I am all for it.

Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com


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2008 Bears Draft Board

2009 NFL DraftTracker
RD PK (OVR) NAME POS
3 4 (68)  Jarron Gilbert  DT
3 35 (99)  Juaquin Iglesias  WR
4 5 (105)  Henry Melton  DE
4 19 (119)  D.J. Moore  CB
5 4 (140)  Jonny Knox  WR
5 18 (154)  Marcus Freeman  LB
6 17 (190)  Al Afalava  S
7 37 (246)  Lance Louis  TE
7 42 (251)  Derek Kinder  WR