Chicago Bears: 7 Reasons It's Time to End the Mike Martz Experiment in Chicago

I realize that Lovie Smith firing his old buddy and former head coach Mike Martz is about as likely as I am to get a date with Brooklyn Decker.

Still, I'm fairly certain this experiment will end after this season, when Martz's contract is up, unless he gets tired of being told to run the ball and simply walks away.

Perhaps Lovie could walk up to his old pal and figure out a way to gracefully part company without making it look like a firing.

But no matter how they do it, or when, it is something that simply must be done.

The Bears offensive coordinator has got to go, and I'll give you the reasons why.

His System Is Not a Match for the Bears Personnel

Complicated pass route schemes that require precise route running and throwing to a "spot" with the current crop of Bears wide receivers? It's not a match, sorry.

While Jerry Angelo is ultimately to blame, the simple fact is that the receivers in Chicago are just not very good.

Devin Hester and Johnny Knox, while fast, are not true wideouts. Hester can't get open and Knox doesn't fight for the ball.

Plus, Hester himself says that the guys are still learning such a complicated system.

Roy Williams had success with Martz back in 2006, and yet he looks like a bad receiver who hasn't clicked with Cutler.

Look, when your best receiver is your running back or an undrafted rookie, you know you're in trouble.

Then there is the offensive line.

The reason a bad O-line is even more of a problem in a Martz system is that he likes his QB to take five and seven-step drops and stand in the pocket waiting for the routes to develop.

And if the line doesn't pass protect? Well, we've seen what can happen.

The Bears had a good tight end in Greg Olsen, who was wasted because Martz thinks TEs should only block.

Meanwhile, their best weapon is Matt Forte. And while he is good at catching balls out of the backfield, the last time I checked, he is a running back and Martz does not like to run the ball.

Again, blame Jerry all you want, but he isn't going to fire himself. He needs to step in and end this mismatch.

The Greatest Show on Turf Isn't the Same on a Bad Grass Field

Part of the success of the Rams teams starting in 2000, when Martz led an offense coined as "the greatest show on turf," was that fast track.

In Soldier Field, however, not only is it a natural grass field and not turf, it is an especially bad grass field.

You see, the Martz offense is predicated on WRs getting off the ball quickly so they have time to run those complicated routes,

Meanwhile, with the horrible field conditions slowing down the wideouts, Cutler stands there and is a human tackling dummy.

Even Brian Urlacher has complained about the field slowing the defense down, so you know what it does for the offense as well.

"We're a fast team," he said. "If you put us on Field Turf for eight home games a year? We're going to be real fast. Put [Julius] Peppers on turf? [Devin] Hester with those cuts?"

And that just doesn't make for a solid match with a Martz offense.  It's not the main reason the Bears offense has struggled, but it doesn't help.

He's Going to Get Jay Cutler Killed

Jay Cutler was sacked 52 times during the regular season in 2010 and had to miss a game after being sacked nine times by the Giants in the first half alone.

So far this year, he has been sacked 12 times, the most in the NFL.

At the rate he's going, even Cutler himself doesn't know if he can last.

Getting his QBs sacked a lot is a frequent flaw in his offenses.

In 2008, when he was fired as offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers by then-head coach Mike Singletary, Martz's quarterbacks were sacked 55 times.

Even Kurt Warner suffered the wrath of Martz.

Sure, Warner was a two-time NFL MVP and had three amazing years under Martz. But Martz just left Warner hung him out to dry and allowed the opposition to use Warner as a tackling dummy.

The 2002 season effectively ended Warner’s tenure as a Ram, and the beating he took due to Martz’s horrendous play calling put his career in jeopardy.

Even Cutler himself admits he is getting gun-shy and happy feet in the pocket due to flashbacks from previous beatings (embellishment by me).

“Whenever you’re getting a lot of pressure and you’re getting flushed and you’re getting hit a lot, that clock in your head is going to be tinkered a little bit,” Cutler said.

Fire Martz while Cutler still has a head.

His System Does Not Take Advantage of Cutler's Strengths

Yes, Cutler has a strong arm and is more than capable of throwing that home run ball that Martz loved in his days with St. Louis, but there is more to Cutler than that arm.

Yet the Martz system stubbornly refuses to take advantage of Cutler's mobility.

As I wrote earlier, Martz likes the long drops and prefers to have his QB stand in the pocket. But we all saw the improvement last year when, after the bye week, they started to let Cutler roll out.

Cutler can run, but Martz won't let him. And that takes away one of Cutler's strengths.

That is stupid.

Furthermore, Martz hates the shotgun format. That would be helpful to Jay because it would give him a chance to survey the field and see if he is about to get hit but Martz seldom calls it.

Martz also doesn't allow Cutler to call an audible.

Perhaps, if he could, there would be times when Cutler could line up and call a different play based on what he sees from the opposing defense.

Instead, his only option is to call a timeout.

Again, that is stupid.  

Martz May Not Be the Offensive Genuis He Is Thought to Be

Is Martz a bright mind when it comes to diagnosing offensive plays and running a scheme? He may be, but it's starting to look awfully more like it was the personnel in St. Louis and not the system.

He led the Rams to the 2002 Super Bowl after being the offensive coordinator of the St. Louis team that won the 2000 title with the "Greatest Show on Turf."

And while that group had phenomenal success, look at the cast he had to work with.

It featured Kurt Warner at quarterback, Marshall Faulk at running back and Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt in a high-scoring offense that averaged almost 33 points a game in 1999 and 31 points two years later.

Perhaps the success was as much about the personnel as it was due to Martz's system.

Now, I'm not saying that his offense can't work. Troy Aikman ran a version of it in Dallas, and he had a ton of success. But he had a good offensive line and great wideouts.

But another thing to consider is that maybe it just doesn't work any more. Remember that the last time Martz had success was in St. Louis.

Since then, Martz has been the offensive coordinator of the Lions in 2006-2007 and then was fired after one season with the 49ers in 2008. 

The Bears Are Not Actually Running His System Anyway

Sure, sometimes Martz gets pass-happy and the run-to-pass ratio gets out of whack, as it happened earlier this season and prior to the bye week in 2010.

But for the most part, Martz has been forced to take what this offense gives him.

The lack of pass protection and a strong set of wide receivers limits his ability to run the real Martz system.

It's supposedly a very complicated and very large playbook, but with this team, I don't really see what I thought I would see when Martz was named the coordinator.

The sophisticated passing schemes just haven't worked well.

Yes, the seven-step drops and his reluctance to have the QB roll out and scramble are there, as is his disdain for the tight end-as-receiver position.

But mostly, it has been a shell of his full system, at least the one he ran in St. Louis.

Given that, what's the point? Getting your QB killed and yet not gaining all the perceived benefits of the Martz system just isn't worth it.

The Window of Opportunity Is Closing

It's not as if the Bears are a young team. They are built to win now, even with the poor job that Angelo has done.

Their core defensive players, Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Julius Peppers, are all 30 or better.

Even Devin Hester, who is young, won't be returning punts forever.

Despite all the problems they had last year, this is a team that still made it to the NFC Championship game.

In other words, they need to win now. But with the Martz system not playing to the personnel, that is less likely to happen.

And even if Lovie forces Martz to run the ball, the question I would have is, what is the benefit of having Martz at all?

Don't look at last week as an example of Martz being willing to adjust. It's easier to run the ball when you have an early lead and the running game is having success.

But we all saw last week how Martz had to abandon the run even after Lovie said the offense would be more balanced.

The Bears need to win now, and while that still may not happen no matter who the offensive coordinator is, they need to maximize their chances while they can.