Mike Martz Revving Up Jay Cutler for Bears' New Fast-Break Offense

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- 1985 was the year that the Chicago Bears did the Super Bowl Shuffle, earning the first and only Super Bowl win to date for their long-suffering fans.

Here it is, 25-years later, and while those same fans would love to see history repeat itself in 2010, odds are likely that this season's edition of the Bears will more likely do the 2010 Super Bowl muffle than shuffle.

Bears head coach Lovie Smith enters his seventh season in charge, and just like his 31 counterparts in the NFL, is optimistic that his team can go all the way if fate and good fortune are on the Bears' side. It's the same thing he's said the previous six years.

But realistically, 2010 could be the year of the Super Bowl ruffle for Smith. He's 54-46 overall (including 2-2 in the playoffs) at Chicago's helm, and even took the Bears back to the Super Bowl in 2006 – albeit losing to the Indianapolis Colts.

Yet the overall numbers don't lie: the Bears have missed the playoffs in each of the three subsequent years since that loss to Indy, and finished with mediocre records of 7-9 (2007), 9-7 (2008) and 7-9 again last season – not exactly a ringing endorsement for Smith's long-term job security.

Overall, they've missed the postseason four times in Smith's six-year tenure. One more playoff miss this year and Smith may not be around to get yet another chance at the post-season.

And while so much attention this preseason has been spent on the Bears' defense, new defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli and the return of imposing middle linebacker Brian Urlacher after missing last season due to injury, the key to the Bears' success this season will rest more so with the offense.

Most notably, the performance of quarterback Jay Cutler, now in his second season with Chicago, and the addition of new offensive coordinator Mike Martz.

Martz was offensive coordinator in 1999 when the St. Louis Rams won the Super Bowl, beating Tennessee, and was promoted to head coach following that season, leading the team back to the Big Game two years later, ultimately losing to New England. Ironically, Smith was Martz's defensive coordinator from 2001 to 2003 before taking the Bears' head coaching job.

While with the Rams, Martz was an advocate of the big play offense that essentially cut loose the quarterback – in that case, Kurt Warner – to do what he did best, like passing for over 4,000 yards and 35 to 40 TDs in each of those Super Bowl seasons. The end results spoke for themselves in an offense that became known as the "Greatest Show on Turf."

Trying to mold Cutler into a Warner-like role is Martz's top priority this season. While Cutler is playing in his third different offensive scheme in as many years (with Denver in 2008, with the Bears' West Coast style-offense under former offensive coordinator Ron Turner in 2009, and now with Martz this season), he's seemingly picked up Martz's fast-break and timing-based scheme with relative ease.

"At this point, I've got it pretty much down," Cutler said. "I mean, there's some new plays each and every day, but once you get the formation and the protections and just where we're trying to go with the ball with each coverage, you're pretty much good after that.

"Mike does a good job getting quarterbacks prepared. You can look at his track record. No matter who the quarterback is or what team it is, they're going to be successful. It's been a lot of hours, just going over and over with Mike and making sure we're completely comfortable because there are a lot of plays, there's a lot of verbiage, there's a lot for a quarterback to know. But once you grasp the basic concepts, you can kind of decode what he's trying to get to you."

The other key is to nail down timing and the different nuances of receivers like Johnny Knox, who despite both being Bears losses has shined in the first two preseason games, as well as Devin Hester, Rashied Davis, Earl Bennett and tight end Greg Olson in Martz's fast-paced scheme.

"There's no two guys that are going to run the same route, I don't care where you're at," Cutler said. "Everyone has different steps, everyone has different strides, they're going to get off the ball different, they're going to get off the press differently, some guys have tighter cuts than others. It's just repetition. That's what we've been doing all summer, just learning how each guy is going to handle different situations."

Interestingly, while Martz criticized Cutler at times last season while working as an analyst for the NFL Network, less than a year later he's quite happy with his young charge.

"He makes a good decision and makes a good throw," Martz said of how Cutler can be the best player he can be. "I know that sounds silly, and I'm not being a smart aleck, but that's just it. You have to get back and be decisive and quick with the ball and make accurate throws. It sounds so easy to do, but it's so hard to do. And that's what we look for."

Before Martz took the Bears job, he spent time in Nashville during the offseason with Cutler, with each man feeling the other out and determining if they could work together.

Granted, Martz was concerned that while Cutler threw an outstanding 27 touchdown passes last season, he also threw a league-high 26 interceptions – which was twice as many picks as the entire Bears' defense accounted for all year.

"We've just tried to move on from last year... He's really done well in our new offense, he's getting more and more confident in it each day, and the receivers are making plays."
--Lovie Smith on Jay Cutler When Martz accepted the Bears' job offer, he and Cutler talked about last season's failures just once – a subject never to be brought up again. Instead of dwelling on the past, Martz and Cutler are looking solely ahead.

"Last year has no bearing on anything today," Martz said. "We don't talk about it, don't think about it. ... I know I get asked (about Cutler's performance last year) a lot, but there are so many circumstances that go into that, that I feel like I know what Jay is and who he is, to where I'm not concerned about that really at all. If you ever watch our red zone stuff out here, he's just been lights out. I'm very pleased with his ability and I don't worry about that at all."

Smith agrees.

"We've just tried to move on from last year," the Bears' head coach said. "The part we want to remember from last year was the number of touchdowns he threw, which was quite a few. He's really done well in our new offense, he's getting more and more confident in it each day, and the receivers are making plays.

"Anything you want a great quarterback to do, (Cutler) can do. He's got good size in the pocket, good vision, strong arm, he's mobile. So, all the things you're looking for in a quarterback, Jay has. I think that's documented."

But back to those '85 Bears.

When that team marched to the Super Bowl, they had extensive back-up at most positions, including at quarterback. When Jim McMahon went down, Steve Fuller was more than a capable backup, winning four and losing one (the Bears' only loss that season, to Miami) when McMahon was sidelined with various injuries. Rookie Mike Tomczak was also available, but used sparingly.

But Cutler is not as fortunate. He doesn't have a Fuller-like relief man. His two backups, second-year QB Caleb Hanie (completed just 3-of-7 passes for 11 yards as a rookie last season) and rookie Dan LeFevour (right) don't exactly strike overwhelming confidence in the hearts of Bear fans. And, one is already out: Haney suffered a shoulder injury in the preseason opening loss at San Diego, forcing the Bears to bring in journeyman Matt Gutierrez to keep Haney's seat warm while he's recovering.

Yet, Gutierrez is not much of an improvement over Hanie or LeFevour: he's never started an NFL game and has thrown just two passes in his professional career.

Which begs the question: what happens to the Bears if Cutler unfortunately goes down with an injury?

It's pretty simple, unless they bring McMahon out of mothballs: season over, end of story.

While Cutler's talent is immense, he'll only be as good as the protection he gets from his offensive line, one that still has a number of questions, particularly at both tackles. Chris Williams is improving significantly on the left side, helped by going against five-time Pro Bowler and two-time first team All-Pro defensive end Julius Peppers extensively in practice, but Frank Omiyale has had his struggles thus far in training camp.

"Oh sure, absolutely (Williams has improved), and not just in the passing game," Martz said. "Some of the things he's done in the running game, they've just kind of taken you back. He's had an impressive camp, we're very pleased with him, and Julius has made him a better player, there's no question about that."

As for Omiyale, Martz added, "He's not where he needs to be, but he's so talented and he's got the ability to be an exceptional right tackle, he really does. He needs, just like all young players and the guys at depth in that position, just the little nuances and the mental part of playing this game. He'll be fine ... he just has to fight his way through it. ... But, he's certainly the right guy to be there in our mind. We're very pleased with him. He's just going to continue to get better."

While Olin Kreutz is a mainstay at center, there's also been the move of second-year man Lance Louis to right guard and backup center Roberto Garza to left guard, but the Bears don't seem as concerned about how those changes will affect the line.

"Those guys are getting better and better with each day," Cutler said. "Putting Lance in there at right and moving Gars to left, Frank and Chris are getting better and better. It's just a matter of time before they're ready to go."

On the one hand, Martz concedes that the Bears, who lost 32-17 to Oakland Saturday night to go 0-2 on the preseason, still have a great deal of work ahead of them.

"We've got a long ways to go yet," Martz said. "It's too early to say we're successful about anything yet. We've got a long ways to develop."

But on the flip side, the offensive mastermind hasn't lost his sense of humor, even with the dismal exhibition campaign performance thus far, noting with a laugh:

"I don't know what our offense is. It changes every week. We just keep moving in different directions. So, if somebody can tell me what we do, I'll be happy to hear it."

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