Mike Martz Approval Rating: Round Four

was pretty sweet alright. when harbaugh used to run it back in the day it would always seem to go horribly wrong. great to see the bears do it right, albeit almost 2 decades later.

There were precisely two running plays that I could classify as being “creative”, and one of them wasn’t credited as a running play.

The first was the Bennett counter where he started off split wide, then motioned into a HB position behind Forte. Cutler faked the handoff to Forte, who ran to the right side, drawing the defense. Bennett then takes a handoff and goes off-tackle to the left side, where there’s basically nobody for about 7 yards after the LOS. Result: 5 yard pickup, biggest gain off a designed run in the game.

The second was the Forte shovel pass for the 2PC.

Every other run that I saw was some variation of a gut run.

That’s great if you have Peyton Hillis as your RB. Or if you have the Houston offensive line.

But we have neither.

I don’t think I saw a single screen pass all day. The NFL game tracker counted two. Only that one designed counter. That’s it. That was all from the creative genius of Mad Mike Martz.

Were Forte and Taylor ever in the game at the same time? Or with somebody lined up as a fullback-type position? I never saw it.

Am I the only person here wishing to see something resembling a Wishbone formation from the Bears? Something that puts both Taylor and Forte in the game at the same time with a lead blocker? Obviously, I’m not advocating the Triple Option offense. But a couple of gadget plays involving three players in the backfield would be interesting to watch IMO.

Still not convinced yet…..those guys had the #32 run defense..let’s see if he can gameplan well 2 weeks in a row first.

who just needs to reeled in sometimes. I say keep Martz, Tice, and Rod for continuity sakes and fire Angelo,Lovie, Drake, and the DB coach. Bring in Gruden or Heimerdinger (HC) and Bill Parcels (GM).

Why are so many suddenly back on the Martz wagon? The offense still looks out of sync. The best plays almost all seem to be broken ones. Also every time the Bears do not get in on a long TD, I feel they won,t get in the endzone. I like the idea of the 3 tight ends around the goalline that they used earlier this year. All the WR’s are small and make tough targets insde the 5 yd line ( the play to Bennet was great but is more of an exception down close than somthing to be counted on happening) I am hoping that Cutler is only looking like a more athletic Rex Grossman because of the pressure and Martz,s O, rather than that is just who he is. Even so the Bears had to mke the move with no real QB for decades. If Martz and Smith are gone next year, hopefully Cutler is not scarred forever.

With this O-line and WR group, it is extremely hard to make an educated rating on how Martz has done. Yes, he loves to pass the ball. However, the pass and run blocking is atrocious. Hopefully with some continuity, the O-line will improve. Like I said before, Mike just needs to be reeled in sometimes.