The men in the middle of the Bears

By SEAN JENSEN sjensen@suntimes.com .hideTime { DISPLAY: none}Jan 14, 2011 01:19AM

Much has been made of what Bears quarterback Jay Cutler doesn’t have.
Some of those deficiencies are indisputable, like his postseason experience in college or in the NFL. Others are debatable, like his personality.

But he’s got an ace in the hole — or, more precisely, in the box.
Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz will guide Cutler in his NFL playoff debut Sunday from the press box at Soldier Field, 11 years to the day that unheralded quarterback Kurt Warner defeated the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC divisional playoffs en route to the Super Bowl.

“Coach Martz,” Bears center Olin Kreutz said, “is one of the best in the world at what he does.”


Like Cutler, Warner posted one of the worst games of his season in the 1999 finale. But unlike Cutler, Warner posted the league’s top passer rating (109.2), tossed the most touchdowns (41) and completed the highest percentage of passes (65.1). So Martz didn’t hesitate to empower Warner against the Vikings, watching his quarterback complete 27 of 33 passes for 391 yards, five touchdowns and one interception in a 49-37 victory.

The ever-aggressive Martz may have to be mindful of his approach with Cutler, who ranked 16th in passer rating (86.3), tied for 13th in touchdowns (23) and was 19th in completion percentage (60.4).

“You can see sometimes where Jay is trying to force things and really use his talent more than just seeing the field and reacting — that’s what you have to manage,” said Warner, now an analyst for the NFL Network. “If Jay’s feeling good and playing well and seeing the field, you can take those chances and be aggressive. If that’s happening, he’s as talented as anyone out there.
“But if you don’t think he’s seeing it and doesn’t look comfortable, then you have to pull it back a little bit.”

Warner credited Martz for shaping his success during the 1999 postseason, helping him focus and helping him feel confident in the game plan.

“You knew he was going to put you in positions to win,” Warner said. “The question is, could you execute? Could you get it to the right guy?”
Results definitely mixed

Since Warner’s storybook 1999 season, 42 other NFL quarterbacks have made their first playoff start, according to STATS LLC. Including Warner, they have 17 victories and 26 losses, with three of them parlaying that initial win all the way to a Super Bowl ring: Warner, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots (2001 season) and Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers (2004).

Only a quarter of all those 43 quarterbacks have posted a passer rating above 100 in their first playoff game while 18 have posted a passer rating below 60 — most recently the Kansas City Chiefs’ Matt Cassel, who completed just 9 of 18 passes for 70 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.

Cutler downplayed and dismissed questions about his first postseason appearance since he was at Heritage High School in Lincoln City, Ind., a point Warner also reinforced.
“I don’t remember anything,” Warner said. “The one thing, kind of down the stretch, Mike and the staff did a good job of pulling away some of the media because they knew how crazy it was going to get.

“So then I could focus more on football. And even though I’d never been to the NFL playoffs, I understood what that was all about. You just get more locked in.”
Warner was thrust into the starting lineup when veteran starter Trent Green suffered a season-ending knee injury during a preseason game. But Warner performed brilliantly, throwing 14 touchdown passes in his first four games and leading the Rams to a 6-0 start.

His story resonated beyond the sports pages and landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline, “Who is this guy?”

Cutler, a former first-round pick, has the pedigree, but he has avoided the media spotlight as much as possible. He fulfills the NFL mandate by conducting a news conference each Wednesday and shortly after games, though he has exceeded the minimum number of conference calls with reporters from the opposing team’s media market.

Asked about any advice he had for Cutler, Martz said, “The biggest issue is the focus because of all the distractions.”
Instead, Martz wants his players tuned into practice and the game plan.
Former Rams running back Marshall Faulk said Martz leaves “no stone left unturned.”
“He will cover the bases,” Faulk said. “[The Bears] won’t get tricked.”

Throughout the course of the season, Martz tinkers with different plays and packages. So when the postseason arrives, his offense has at its disposal an array of options.
“It’s more of a review,” said Bears tight end Brandon Manumaleuna, who played for Martz in St. Louis. “We might not carry stuff every week, but we know it, and we can put it in at any time.

“He might call plays we had in Week 3, so it’s not adding more plays — it might be bringing old stuff back that might be good for that game.”
Something for everyone

Martz said he’s careful not to install too much, though.
“You don’t want them to have to worry and be indecisive,” he said. “So we’re very sensitive to that.”
Faulk and Warner said they always looked forward to Martz’s game plan because they trusted his ability to break down opposing defenses.
“Everybody doesn’t coach like that,” Faulk said. “Coaches don’t like to put their neck out there.”

Added Cutler, “It’s been fun just to watch him, to just see how he prepares, sees differences and the way he’s been able to attack [defenses].”
Martz comes up with contingencies for everything, and he developed plays for every active player.

“We try to include everybody in the game plan so that when you present that, everybody who’s going to be up for that game knows that there’s something in there for them, potentially, in the game,” Martz said. “It’s fun that way. It keeps them in it, and it gives everybody a chance.”

But Warner said Martz wasn’t so regimented that he couldn’t make an adjustment on the fly. During their championship run, they dialed up plays they had never even practiced.
“We’d draw up stuff on the sideline, and they’d go for touchdowns,,” Warner said, though he couldn’t remember a specific play. “To me, that was always fun because you were attacking what the other team did and [using] a lot of things they had never seen before.”

This ‘O’ is more controlled
But Warner said the Bears’ offense under Martz looks “more controlled” than the one he starred in.
“It’s not just throwing caution to the wind, like we did,” Warner said. “We were high-risk, high-reward all the time. But I think he understands that they have a good defense. He’s more committed to the running game and not having to attack down the field as much as we did.

“But that’s to his credit — to understand what’s around him.”
With the exception of a lopsided 36-7 loss to the New England Patriots, Cutler had been cruising late in the season. In the team’s final four victories, he completed 62 of 96 passes (64.5 percent) for 890 yards with 11 touchdowns and only two interceptions. But he was intercepted twice and sacked six times against the Green Bay Packers in a 10-3 loss Jan. 2.

Warner said Cutler clearly has improved during the course of the season. But he was alarmed by plays like the interception against the Packers in the third quarter. Facing third-and-19 from the Packers’ 24, Cutler forced a pass to receiver Johnny Knox that was intercepted by safety Charlie Peprah.

“The biggest thing for them, when Jay tries to make things happen, is in the red zone,” Warner said. “You can’t have turnovers. You have to score points when you have opportunities.”

Rest really helped
Halas Hall was overwhelmed with reporters Wednesday and Thursday. But the Bears, as much as possible, stuck to their routine.
Cutler might be entering his first NFL playoff game, but this was treated as just another week at work.

“I think it’s normal inside the building right now,” Cutler said. “The guys are business-as-usual. We’ve had good meetings so far. The guys are attentive.
“I think the week off really helped everybody kind of rejuvenate and get their legs back. It’s going to be a fun game on Sunday.”