Chicago Bears: 7 Adjustments Mike Martz and Bears Must Continue to Make

Mike Martz and his brand of complicated, high flying offense simply isn't suited for the current Chicago Bears personnel.

But that is old news.

Now, what we saw on Sunday night in the 39-10 win over the Vikings was great. But that was the Vikings—what will Martz and company do against better teams?

Sure, Martz made some adjustments to his play calling, but if he wants to stop Jay Cutler from dropping the F-bomb on him in London, he will need to keep making those adjustments.

The next best thing to getting rid of Martz would be for him to continue running the kind of game we watched on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, aside from the offense, there are other adjustments the Bears need to make against the Tampa Bay Bucs and their good, young QB Josh Freeman in London.

Recognizing that, let's dive right into those adjustments.

No More 7-Step Drops

The next time Martz calls for a 7-step drop, Jay Cutler should just punch his offensive coordinator as opposed to dropping the F-word. Maybe he'll get the message.

Martz prefers the longer drops because his complicated routes take awhile to develop. But with the offensive line the Bears have, it behooves Cutler to take short drops and get rid of the ball quickly.

Much like we saw on Sunday night.  

And while we're at it, how about more shotgun formation? Anything to keep Cutler out of harms way.

Now, admittedly, the line has been giving Cutler more time, especially against that Vikings front four. But I still don't trust that unit, so let's stick to shotgun and the 3-step drop.

Chip and Fake: It's All About the Protection

Martz prefers those three and even four wide receiver sets. Well, that just won't keep Cutler upright.

We saw some of what I call semi-max protect Sunday night, and we saw how effective that was. Keeping in the extra tight end to chip the defensive end did wonders for left tackle J'Marcus Webb.

Lance Louis also benefited, as the redirection helped his blocking angles.

The play action fake worked well, too.

On the play action pass to Devin Hester, Matt Spaeth was able to block Jared Allen, in large part because the fake by Cutler caused Allen to react and allowed Spaeth to move Allen inside.

This weekend, they face a Bucs team with a solid, young front four. So it will be imperative that the line gets as much help as it can.

Specifically, what does this entail? Well, on pass plays, the offense always has at least five men blocking: the left tackle, left guard, center, right guard and the right tackle.

But the offense can have a maximum of nine blockers on any given play. You obviously have to have a QB and at least one receiver.

True max protect seldom ever happens, however, because with only one receiver requiring one defender, there could be 10 players to rush the QB (vs. the nine blocking).

But Cutler can throw hot, so at least the one man uncovered is within his line of vision. The other thing they can do is sight adjustment, where the receiver runs into the empty space vacated by a blitzing player instead of running his normal route. 

This requires more of a West Coast attack, throwing short, quick passes.

Run the Damn Ball

Look, you have Matt Forte, so why not utilize him? Sure, he's already a huge part of the Bears offense, but when the Bears fall behind early, Martz gets away from the balanced offense and gets pass crazy.

They ran it to perfection Sunday night, and really, there is little reason to abandon the run.

Now, when you try to run eight or nine times and you go absolutely nowhere, or you fall behind big, then that's a different story.

But don't totally forget about the run just because the Bucs get an early lead or give up on it if Forte has some short gains or even negative yardage plays.

Too many times we have seen Martz revert to what he loves, and that is throwing the football a lot.

This is where Lovie Smith must remember that he is the head coach and that Martz works for him. If Lovie wants to run the ball, he should just tell Martz what to call or take the headphones away from him.

The early commitment to the run will also slow down the pass rush. But the thing that worries me is that Martz doesn't seem to be willing to do this consistently.

Let Cutler Use His Athleticism

Cutler can run and throws well when doing so. Heck, he's certainly had a lot of practice the last couple years.

But I'm not talking about him running for his life. No, I'm suggesting play calling that allows Cutler to bootleg occasionally, and to roll out and use that athletic ability that he does possess. 

I'm not suggesting that the Bears be foolish with Cutler's body. After the beating he has already taken in this offense, the last thing he needs is to get his head taken off while running the ball.

But showing the bootleg occasionally keeps the defense honest and gives Cutler an option when he's in trouble.

The Biggest Adjustment? Adjusting to the Time Change

Regardless of the on-field adjustments in play calling or personnel the Bears make this week, it is no joke when I say they had better get used to the time difference in London.

While Tampa Bay went across the pond early, so their bodies can recover form the jet lag, the Bears have chosen to wait to go there until Thursday night.

They won't get to London until Friday morning and will have less than 60 hours to get used to the time change.

Meanwhile, the Bucs have learned from a previous mistake. They made the trip back in 2009, and also waited to go there until later in the week, and they got beaten soundly by the Pats 35-7.

Part of their excuse was jet lag—and it is a real thing, even for young athletes.

No matter which decision is the correct one, the team that feels the best will be at a distinct advantage.

I have to think that the Bucs decision to go early puts them at an advantage. I understand Lovie's desire not to change the normal routine, but you have to be realistic.

Get Chris Harris Suited Up

With the trade deadline passing, Chris Harris remains a Bear. While many think he will be released soon, I still happen to think he can contribute.

Yes, he played a bad game against Detroit, but he was rusty and possibly still favoring an injury that kept him out of three consecutive games.

Meanwhile, much has been made of rookie Chris Conte's performance in his starting debut on Sunday, but really all he did was play conservatively and not make many mistakes, except for a missed tackle on Adrian Peterson.

Kudos to the kid, but against a QB like Josh Freeman, he will have his hands full. So I suggest the Bears have Harris at the ready in case Conte gets in trouble.

Conte will need to tackle well in the open field and keep plays in front of him. There is no doubt he will start again, but how much he plays depends on his performance against a better QB in Freeman.

Better keep Harris ready. After all, he is the most intelligent and experienced safety on the roster.

Get Stephen Paea into the Game Early and Often

I know he won't start, but I say the Bears should continue to see what rookie DT Paea has to offer.

Look, I don't want to overreact to one game, but Paea looked good. He made mistakes but was able to overcome them by sheer strength and determination.

Meanwhile, Henry Melton has been really disappointing.

After looking good in the preseason and against Atlanta, he has contributed just one tackle in his past three outings and is averaging one tackle per game.

Melton wasn’t credited with any tackles against the Vikings, but he did register one quarterback hit.

So the three-technique needs help and Paea played well at both the nose and the three on Sunday. He was always around the ball and deserves more time.

The Bears have been awful vs. the run, except for their performance on Sunday, so having Paea around the ball is a welcome sign.