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.

Mike Martz, the guy the Bears reluctantly hired after failing to land their personal choices, claims to like what he sees in Jay Cutler, according to this Sun-Times article.  Duh.  What else is he going to say?!  As this site has always said, regardless of Cutler’s talent ceiling, the Bears are going to need to surround him with skilled players to succeed.  The draft is irrelevant, so Forte, Taylor, Knox, and the other receivers and tight ends are going to have to be enough for Cutler, assuming the offensive line can keep him upright long enough to through in Martz’s schemes.

The schedule just came out, and even if Cutler is still standing late in the season, those last four weeks are a doozy – Patriots, Vikings, Jets, Packers.  Gulp!  Parity is the name of the game in the NFL, though, so you just never know.

Chicago Bears 2010 schedule