Forte: helping balance the offense

Some critics will gloss over their embarrassing  preseason predictions and act like they were on board all along.  Not me.  Looking back, I said “I just don’t see how the Bears can win their division.”  I guess a Minnesota meltdown and an injury-plagued year in Green Bay helped, but give Chicago credit – they won the games they had to play.  I didn’t post my exact predictions, but I’m not afraid to say that I thought with Detroit getting better, 5 wins would be a success.  Kudos to the Bears for proving me and everyone wrong.  So far.

Where does the credit go to the recent success?  Is Cutler the winning factor?  I don’t think so.  Looking at the differences between last year and this year, Jay Cutler has obviously played better, but he’s hardly been all All-Pro.  The 14 INTs are acceptable given Martz’s offense, and the 23 TDs are good enough with the defense winning most games anyway, but those NINE fumbles are troublesome.  Granted, many of them are the result of an absolute crushing blow from the blindside, but the greats like Manning and Brady can feel that pressure, step back into the pocket and release the ball before getting drilled.  Basically, Cutler is aware of the poor offensive line and sacrificing himself in the process: a noble but foolish thing to do for a team with no real backup QB.

Anyway, I can’t argue that Cutler hasn’t been solid most of the season to date, but the biggest turning point in the season was Martz’s willingness to suddenly show some tender loving care toward the health of his quarterback and attack the run with more consistency.  After a couple embarrassing early season losses and a drubbing by the Giants, handoffs became more plentiful, Cutler stayed upright, the offense became more balanced (keeping the defense off-balance), and wins started piling up.  Hopefully the strategy will continue through the playoffs.

A little help from the Minnesotans

Having been fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on your perspective) enough to get a live view of the game last Sunday, it was obvious from the opening kickoff that only one team was prepared for the snow, wind, and cold.  That team starts with a “P” and with an “atriots.”  Cutler looked disinterested, the defense looked incapable of stopping the little 5-yard dumps to Wes Welker even though the entire stadium knew what was coming, and the Bears in general looked outmatched.

Everyone has a bad week, though, and the advantage of having a good record is that you can sustain a blow like that once in a while.  With a win over Minnesota and a Green Bay loss (a likely scenario with the Pack in New England), the Bears will win the division and be playoff bound.

Time to get excited then?  Well… if you think the Patriots game was a fluke and Chicago can somehow beat Atlanta on the road or New Orleans and then knock off the AFC in the Super Bowl, then sure, go crazy kids.  Me?  I will be reserved and hope that the gods of parity shine on the Bears.  Without some divine help, the Bears will be no closer to Dallas come February 6, 2011.

As for this week, it has finally been decided that Chicago will be playing in cold, miserable weather.  Again.  Using the University of Minnesota’s stadium, the Vikings and Bears will begin the frigid matchup on schedule as planned.  Having seen one blizzard-like disaster of a game this December, I’ll take a pass on this one and enjoy it from the couch.

(image from http://www.startribune.com/local/112067404.html)