Tag: Bears rumors (Page 2 of 3)

Bears to hire Mike Martz as coordinator?

January 15, 2010 /

ESPN.com speculates that Mike Martz may have emerged as the favorite to become the Bears’ next offensive coordinator.

As NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported on Thursday, Perry Fewell is planning to accept an offer to become the next defensive coordinator for the Giants. That’s a big loss — from a public relations standpoint — for the Bears, and Lovie Smith particularly, under whom Fewell worked in the past. In order to save some face, the Bears might pull the trigger on Martz in order to “try to add some credibility to their offseason,” according to a tweet from Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.

NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert discussed why the Bears haven’t yet hired Martz, and why they should:

“This is far from an ideal scenario. But there’s little doubt Martz has a long history of implementing dynamic passing games. The Bears have devoted too many assets to Cutler to ignore that. Martz’s history, and his experience in quickly installing a scheme, might give the Bears their best chance at a quick fix.”

Martz generally favors quarterbacks that he can mold into his own, which doesn’t describe Cutler. I agree with Seifert in that this would be a quick fix scenario at best, and a move that appeases some Bear fans more than it solves the team’s offensive woes. That’s not to say that Martz won’t do a good job, but is he the right fit? That’s debatable.

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Is Charlie Weis a good fit for the Bears?

December 7, 2009 /

Charlie Weis needs a job and the Chicago Bears need someone capable of calling more than screen passes.

Seems like Weis and Da Bears would make a perfect fit.

According to a report by the Chicago Sun Times, Weis would be interested in becoming the Bears’ next offensive coordinator if/when the job becomes available this offseason. Ron Turner currently holds the position, but he’s expected to be let go for the way Chicago has struggled offensively this season.

Weis failed as a head coach at Notre Dame, but his offenses were successful. He also had plenty of success as the offensive coordinator for the Patriots, so if the Bears did decide that he was a good fit, at least they would be hiring someone with experience.

That said, who knows if Lovie Smith will be retained at the end of the season. If the Bears decide to go in another direction, it would be up to the new head coach as to whom his coordinators would be. And even if Smith doesn’t get fired, there’s no guarantee that he’d work well with Weis.

Bear fans may crucify me for saying this, but the fact of the matter is that Turner isn’t the only reason why the Bears have been completely inept offensively this season. The additions the team made to the offensive line this offseason haven’t panned out and it has cost Matt Forte what was supposed to be a promising second season. Cutler doesn’t have time to throw the ball and even when he does, he forces passes thinking he has to make plays through the air because the running game is non-existent. Turner will essentially serve as the scapegoat to a much bigger problem.

We’ll see if this story develops, but as of right now it’s just a small rumor that may or may not grow legs.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

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Urlacher says he wasn’t trashing Cutler

December 1, 2009 /

Injured linebacker Brian Urlacher said that the comments he made recently to Yahoo Sports regarding quarterback Jay Cutler were not meant to be derogatory in any way.

This is what Urlacher said (via the Chicago Tribune):

“Look, I love Jay, and I understand he’s a great player who can take us a long way, and I still have faith in him. But I hate the way our identity has changed. We used to establish the run and wear teams down and try not to make mistakes, and we’d rely on our defense to keep us in the game and make big plays to put us in position to win.

” Kyle Orton might not be the flashiest quarterback, but the guy is a winner, and that formula worked for us. I hate to say it, but that’s the truth.”

Urlacher clarified his comments during a phone interview with the Tribune.

“I’m not taking a shot at Jay. I’m not one bit taking a shot at Jay,” Urlacher said. “He throws it better, right? And we haven’t tried to run the ball as much. That’s true.

“But Kyle has won games. His formula works. So I’m not taking a shot at Jay or Kyle.”

There was a rumor earlier in the season that Urlacher wasn’t a fan of Cutler. Both players squashed the rumor, but it’s interesting to hear Urlacher complain about the Bears’ identify (not that he’s wrong) and then immediately mention Kyle Orton. Maybe someone should show Urlacher game film of how bad Chicago’s defense has been this season, because there’s no way the Bears can rely on their D to do anything.

The Bears are changing in front of our eyes. They can’t run the football, they can’t play defense and they can’t protect Cutler. It’s just a lost season – it happens.

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Rex Grossman’s dad rips Bears organization

November 17, 2009 /

Rex Grossman’s dad took the opportunity recently to rip the Chicago Bears organization for how they mishandle the quarterback position.

From the Chicago Tribune:

“It’s a self-perpetuating problem that is not Jay Cutler’s fault,” said Dan Grossman, who played quarterback at Indiana in the ’60s. “It’s not Rex Grossman’s fault. It’s not Kyle Orton’s fault. It’s not every other quarterback who has been through that system’s fault. It’s the fault of the organization for not understanding what a quarterback needs.

“What’s amazing to me is, here we go again with Jay Cutler. He came in and he was going to be the franchise quarterback and lead the Bears. I heard some people say they were going to the Super Bowl this year. And here we are, back in the situation where … because the team is not really built around a passing game, he has struggled. I don’t really blame it on Jay Cutler.

“Jay Cutler, first-round draft pick. Rex Grossman, first-round draft pick. I mean, you’re telling me these guys were terrible? They did bad scouting? No,” Dan Grossman said. “You can connect the dots pretty easily when you just look. I am just amazed at how infrequently people in the media look at it. Their evaluation is that it is always the player. That’s not right.

“I believe that the NFL is a passing league. It has been for the last 20 years. Chicago continues to use the phrase, at least Lovie Smith continues to use the phrase, ‘We get off the bus running.’ They need to abandon that concept. Running is obviously a very important part of the offense. But the best teams in this league are prolific passing teams.

Grossman’s daddy makes a good point that the best teams in the league are prolific passing teams. The Saints, Colts and Patriots are three teams highly regarded as the best in the NFL and all of them can throw the ball.

But what Grossman misses the fact that all three can also run the ball. It’s not the teams with prolific passing games that win: It’s teams that have a balanced offense. He’s right in that the Bears’ offense isn’t working right now and that it’s not Cutler’s fault. But the reason why it isn’t working is because they have zero balance. Cutler feels like he has to do everything himself because he has no running game to support him. That’s the problem.

Grossman doesn’t want to come off like a bitter parent, but that’s exactly what he sounds like. He does offer a nugget of truth in that the Bears seldom set their quarterbacks up for success (look at their receivers and offensive line), but that’s because they’re a cheap organization and they often rely on has beens like Orlando Pace and Muhsin Muhammad to address their needs. It’s not that they don’t want to help the quarterback; they just don’t want to spend any money.

Rex Grossman wasn’t the sole problem in Chicago, just as Cutler isn’t the sole problem now. That’s why they call it a football team – all phases have to produce on both sides of the ball in order to be successful.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

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Has the Bears’ identity changed with Cutler?

October 21, 2009 /

The identity of the Chicago Bears has almost changed overnight.

The offseason acquisition of quarterback Jay Cutler has suddenly transformed Da Bears into a team that relies on the pass to set up the run; for decades, it used to be the other way around. In fact, Chicago fans had been waiting for a strong-armed quarterback to aid their ground game, not hide its weaknesses.

Through five games this season, the Bears have attempted 172 passes to only 119 rushing attempts. They’re throwing nearly 60% of the time, which, for the Bears, is unheard of.

On Tuesday, Cutler and the Bears agreed to a two-year extension that will keep the quarterback in Chicago through 2013. Does the move signal the end of the Bears’ philosophy of being a run-first team? Given Cutler’s gun-ho mentality as a passer and Chicago’s sudden desire to throw the ball more, one would think that Chicago’s smash-mouth days are over.

But a closer look tells a different story. The Bears are currently 27th in rushing yards per game this season, averaging 89.8 YPG. They haven’t run the ball much this year because quite frankly, they can’t run the ball. The changes the Bears made to their offensive line in the offseason haven’t amounted to much as Orlando Pace, Frank Omiyale and the rest of Chicago’s O-line has failed to gel. And while people are quick to assume running back Matt Forte is suffering from the dreaded sophomore slump, the fact of the matter is that the line hasn’t been opening up holes for him like they did last year.

So are the Bears becoming more of a pass-first team with Jay Cutler? Yes, but that’s only because their O-line is under performing. If the line starts opening more holes for Forte (who seems to be tiptoeing into holes more this season because of the amount of licks he’s been taking), the Bears will undoubtedly become the balanced squad that they envisioned when they traded for Cutler.

Until then, don’t expect the Bears to stop putting it in the air. And as long as they’re throwing, offensive coordinator Ron Turner better start calling more vertical passes in order to take advantage of Cutler’s strengths.

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