Watching the Bears-Titans last night, this is the game plan Chicago fans should want to see from Mike Martz this season. There is balance to it. Give QB Jay Cutler manageable game situations and lead with RB Matt Forte. And as I talked about on Thursday, these game plans are scripted for the first time in the preseason.
Here is what I saw from the Bears first-team offense down in Nashville… Forte's value increases when the Bears have balance to their offensive game plan.
- The Bears won up front in the run game. When you take a step back and look at their scheme, this is ideal for Forte (17-74-1TD). Chicago will run the basic Lead Open, Lead Strong, but they want to move their O-Line. Pull the guards and lead with the Power O, Counter OF, inside trap in the red zone, etc. That sets up for Forte (a back that is patient with the ball) to hit the hole or bounce outside. The Bears RB played with a burst in Tennessee.
- Third down conversions. Preseason or not, you have to make the plays in crucial game situations. On the Bears first scoring drive, Cutler was 3-for-3 on third downs and made the throws to move the sticks. A good sign? No question, because that leads to points.
- Short to intermediate passing game. Everyone wants to see Cutler (13-21-170-1TD) sling the ball down the field, but what we saw last night was the dig, comeback, slant, spot, underneath crosser, etc. These aren’t route schemes designed to test the top of the defense. But they do allow you to move the sticks. And the one WR that will make plays in this type of game plan: Earl Bennett (6-89). Can run the entire route tree, but will always show up inside of the numbers.
- Roy Williams (2-33) was a part of the game plan. Made the opening catch of the night on the comeback off the boot action from Cutler. However, the one route he has to make a living on in this offense is the deep dig (square-in). Was targeted twice on the dig (with one resulting in an INT). Roy looked better, but from my perspective, he's still not where he needs to be as a No.1 WR in this offense.
I’m sure we will see more 7-step drops and multiple breaking routes (think double-moves) from Martz’s offense in the regular season opener vs. the Falcons. But if the third preseason game taught us anything, this offense can drive the ball when they use a game plan that leads with the run and the intermediate passing game.
Just a heads up...If you are looking for some High School football check out my Alama mater, Glenbard West, playing rival Wheaton Warrenville South at 12 EST on ESPN2.
Geez all I can say about this is what I underlined in the last sentence. Everybody has been saying that for year so is Martz finally beginning to get it? The only way that downfield game of his will ever work is to get them respecting the run and the intermediate passing game. The offense looked really good to begin (leaving out RWill) the game but then went flat. As Cutler said, they left a lot of points out there last night.
First time I've actually seen Martz's play calling make sense......at least for a while. That must have been the plays that were scripted.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
Kahlil Bell pushes away Tennessee's Gerald McRath during the second half. (Don McPeak / US Presswire photo)
By Fred Mitchell, Tribune reporter 11:01 p.m. CDT, August 27, 2011
Fundamentally, the Bears displayed crisper execution in their third exhibition Saturday night.
The Titans prevailed 14-13 in Nashville, but the Bears' first-team offense showed progress.
Maligned wide receiver Roy Williams caught his first two passes with the Bears, Matt Forte finished with 74 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown and Jay Cutler completed 13 of 22 passes for 170 yards. The Bears offensive line once again did a good job of protecting the quarterback.
"Well, we got better again," Cutler said. "We left some points out there … you hate to see that. But our offensive line played better, the receivers played better and Matt ran the ball. So, we're getting there. We're not quite ready for the opener but we're getting there."
The Bears accumulated more than 400 total yards of offense (416) for the second straight game, yet came up short on scoreboard as they fell to 1-2.
"It's about points and we need to get more points," coach Lovie Smith said.
Earl Bennett, who was a college teammate of Cutler's at Vanderbilt in Nashville, caught a game-high six passes for 89 yards.
Caleb Hanie (9 of 18 for 107 yards and one interception) took over for Cutler midway through the third period.
With 1:22 left in the third quarter, Hanie tossed an interception that rookie Tommie Campbell returned 90 yards for a touchdown and a 14-10 Tennessee lead. The pass was intended for rookie receiver Dane Sanzenbacher.
The Bears had an opportunity to take possession late in the fourth quarter when Patrick Trahan blocked Chad Cunningham's punt. But the ball sailed into the air off Trahan and landed in the grasp of Cunningham, who ran 19 yards for a first down.
The Bears' first-team defense stifled the Titans most of the first half.
"We were out there for a long time," veteran Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "We finally got a little bit of conditioning in there, it seemed like, with that long drive. Not what we wanted, but we made some plays. We'd like to get some takeaways and some sacks, but I think those will come when we start game-planning. We're getting better."
The Bears limited Tennessee to 220 total yards -- just 81 on the ground.
"After (Monday night's 41-13 loss to the Giants) we didn't feel like we played as hard as we should have and I think we played harder today," Urlacher said. "That should never be an issue with our defense. We should always be able to play hard. That's the thing we can control and I think we did that better today. I think for the most part we played pretty hard."
There is concern regarding the knee injury suffered by veteran tight end Desmond Clark, who had to be carted off the field. Running back Marion Barber also suffered a calf injury in the first half and sat out the rest of the game.
Yup, use the run to set up the pass as opposed to Martz's "get off the bus throwing" philosophy. The balance last night looked good, but my fear is that in a regular season situation, Martz will revert to his pass happy ways (hope I'm wrong). Color me skeptical...
Yeah over 400 total yards two games in a row and all you can come away with is a lousy 26 points? Forget that first 80 yards guys. Start doing it in the last 20! Even Lovie has got to be on their case for that. To me that the thing they have to concentrate on most. Don't march down the field and come away empty handed.
Highlights to me were the way Cutler looked in charge and the velocity on his passes. He can drill that ball into some really tight spots. Bennett looked excellent out there and deserves to play as much as RWill deserves to sit. Looks like one more year of bitching about a non-functional piece of FA crap.
The other high spot was Kahlil Bell showing up well in relief of Forte again. At least that assures us of being able to get rid of last years non-functional piece of crap. I'm worryin' about Barber now especially with Unga gone and maybe gone for good. We need that power that he brings.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Forte's value increases when the Bears have balance to their offensive game plan.
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Kahlil Bell pushes away Tennessee's Gerald McRath during the second half. (Don McPeak / US Presswire photo)
