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 experienced last season.

But no, despite the Bears winning six consecutive games after the bye week in 2010, when Martz was told to quit doing the seven step drops, it took a few weeks this year for him to get the message.

After starting 2-3, and almost having Cutler killed, it wasn't until after the Lions game that the Bears started running an offense that was more conducive to their talent level.

Since then, the team has won four straight. But why did it take so long?

We won't be able to answer that question, but we will attempt to review the top changes that have occurred since Martz was told to stop being Mad Mike.

No More Seven Step Drops

The reason that Martz likes the seven step drop is that his wide receiver routes are complicated and take a long time to develop.

In fact, his QBs have always historically been sacked a lot.

But if it ends up paying off in a big gain, it may be worth it, unless, of course, you kill your QB in the process.

But with Chicago and its lack of solid receivers, it was only resulting in damage to Cutler and not much more.

So Martz stopped doing this, and lo and behold, the passes got off quicker and the Bears offense started to jell.

With a bad offensive line, this was just what the doctor ordered. And now Cutler doesn't need that doctor so much!

Utilize Cutler's Mobility

This is something that the Bears still don't do enough of, but at least Martz started allowing Cutler to use his great strength, which is his ability to move inside and out of the pocket.

Cutler is very athletic, but Martz prefers his QBs to stand in the pocket and let the play develop.

Well, the line can't block that long and it just didn't make sense not to take advantage of one of Cutler's top assets, his mobility, so Martz finally relented.

Since then, Jay has avoided a lot of the early sacks. Still, I'd love to see more designed roll-outs with the pocket moving with him.

Baby steps...baby steps.

A More Balanced Offense

Calling more running plays was the ticket to a Bears turnaround again this season, just like it was last year.

Especially when you have a running back like Matt Forte, who is having an MVP season, it just doesn't make sense not to run the ball more.

Sure, an early lead makes it far easier to run the ball, but still, this seems like a concerted effort on the part of Martz to run a more balanced offense.

And it has paid off.

Max Protection

No, not true max protect, but a version of that which allows leaving the tight ends in to block, has really helped the offensive line, especially LT J'Marcus Webb.

Since Martz started leaving in tight ends to block, and using less three and four wide receiver sets, the offensive line has performed better.

Improved Play Calling at the Goal Line

Martz has had a tendency to get crazy in the red zone. Running the ball, with the occasional pass, gets the Bears down the field until they get into prime scoring territory.

Then, Martz would do something stupid like call three straight pass plays on the five-yard line, or some other wacky play calling.

It's as if he is expected to live up to his offensive genius label and wants to show the rest of the NFL how creative he can be.

Yet after too many of these unnecessarily complicated play calls, the Bears finally got back to what works best and that is running the ball with Forte or Marion Barber.

Along with he occasional screen pass, the Bears just need to continue doing what works best with his personnel grouping.

Look, he doesn't have the Rams offense, so there is no "Greatest Show on Turf." Once Martz figured that out, the Bears started winning.