Tice's Bears offense likely to resemble 2002-05 Vikings

**short faced bear** · 05-26-2012, 07:30 PM

Tice's Bears offense likely to resemble 2002-05 Vikings
Minnesota loved the long ball, made ample use of tight ends when Bears coordinator was head coach

Dan Pompei
On the NFL

4:09 p.m. CDT, May 26, 2012
If you want to know what Mike Tice's Bears offense will look like in the fall, it isn't a crystal ball you need.

It's a time machine. Set at 2003 or so.

From 2002 to 2005, Tice was head coach of the Vikings. He didn't coordinate the offense or call plays, but the Vikings offense was what Tice wanted it to be.

"Mike was very involved in the offense in Minnesota," said Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, who had the same position with the Vikings for the first three years of Tice's tenure. "He was an offensive head coach. I leaned on him heavily. He had lots of very good ideas."

Tice took the existing offense, which Brian Billick and Dennis Green had designed, and put his personal stamp on it. Evident were influences from Joe Gibbs, for whom Tice played for one year; Chuck Knox, for whom Tice played for eight years; and Linehan.

Other influences are likely to show up in the Bears offense — most notably Mike Martz and especially Jeremy Bates, the Bears' new quarterbacks coach who has been acting more like the vice president of offense than the secretary of the department of passing.

But the Bears offense is Tice's baby. And this baby is likely to turn out much like its older brother from Minnesota.

That is not a bad thing.

For most of his time as head coach, Tice had a strong-armed quarterback (Daunte Culpepper) throwing to a big receiver who caused matchup problems (Randy Moss). He will have the same in Chicago with Jay Cutler firing to Brandon Marshall.

In Matt Forte, the Bears have a better, more versatile running back than the Vikings ever had under Tice. But the Vikings had an offensive line held in higher regard.

That Vikings offense was dynamic. It finished in the top four of the league in yards three times in Tice's four years, including first in 2003.

How did the offense produce so much? It hit a lot of big plays.

Perhaps because Tice is a former line coach and was a blocking tight end himself, he has been stereotyped as a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust kind of guy. One of his stated emphases when he took over the Vikings was to run the ball more.

Tice liked his inside zone running game. But he liked his big-play passing game more.

Tice's Vikings teams averaged 7.63 yards per attempt. The Bears over the same period averaged 5.68. Even Martz's pass-happy Bears last year averaged only 7.07.

Tice's quarterbacks went for the long one frequently. They attempted 82 passes of 41 yards or more, an average of 20.5 per season. The Bears attempted only seven passes of 41 yards or more last year.

"The passing game was based on getting big plays," Linehan said.

And it's not as if the passing game was playing second fiddle to Mr. Handoff.

During Tice's tenure in purple, 65 percent of the Vikings' yards came through the air. During the same period, 60 percent of the Bears' yards came via the pass. Passing also accounted for 60 percent of the Bears' yards last year.

Mike Tice: New coordinator Mike Tice's offense with Chicago Bears likely to resemble that of Minnesota Vikings when Tice was head coach - chicagotribune.com

**soulman** · 05-26-2012, 10:05 PM

I'm going with my gut feelings that this offense is due for a real breakout. Even behind this line with Cutler at the helm we've had quite a few 30 point plus games these last three years compared to what we had before.

Now considering at least some moderate improvement in the line if for no other reason than Carimi is back and all of them have had another years experience and they'll have full preseason to settle in we should get better on that basis alone.

Now add in the rebuilding of the receiver core and the talent there, a QB who's a top ten passer, and coaches who know how to get the best out of this collection of players.

I know the Packer fans and Lion fans won't believe it. Not since they were both mentioned as top 5 offenses. I believe by the end of this year the Bears offense will be rated higher than we've seen it since 1985. There may be better offenses but we've got nothing to hang our heads about.

**Evernight** · 05-26-2012, 10:18 PM

Originally Posted by soulman

I'm going with my gut feelings that this offense is due for a real breakout. Even behind this line with Cutler at the helm we've had quite a few 30 point plus games these last three years compared to what we had before.

Now considering at least some moderate improvement in the line if for no other reason than Carimi is back and all of them have had another years experience and they'll have full preseason to settle in we should get better on that basis alone.

Now add in the rebuilding of the receiver core and the talent there, a QB who's a top ten passer, and coaches who know how to get the best out of this collection of players.

I know the Packer fans and Lion fans won't believe it. Not since they were both mentioned as top 5 offenses. I believe by the end of this year the Bears offense will be rated higher than we've seen it since 1985. There may be better offenses but we've got nothing to hang our heads about.

I reserve judgment until I see the actual product on the field. Any unit in the league can go from looking top 10 to #32 from a key injury or a stupid coach.

And that won't exactly be hard to accomplish, FWIW.

**JustAnotherBearsFan99** · 05-26-2012, 11:08 PM

Tice will match the offense to the talent we have. This is the exact opposite of Mike "jamb the square peg into the round hole" Martz. This alone will help.....just having a sane approach to the offense. Overall:

1. Tice is a major improvement over Ron Turner & Mike Martz.
2. Emery has really helped upgrade our personnel significantly over last year.
3. Having an off-season certainly helps this team (it hurt not having it last year).
4. We had an abnormal year of injuries last season. More than usual (key players). Having these key players healthy has to help this year & I feel like our depth is better at most postions.
5. Not only should the offense be better, but I expect a better defense too. I don't see the Packers/Lions or anyone putting up big points like last year.
6. Even the oline should be better than last year. I love the competition at LT too.

Last night I read the scouting reports on all of our offensive linemen (not just the starters). The professional scouts see a lot of good in most of our line. They also see Webb as having the raw talent to be an exceptional LT. I had forgotten he's only 23 years old until I read his scouting report. The reports didn't make it sound like our oline is lights-out great, but rather a pretty decent oline when healthy. That made me feel better about the new season.

**soulman** · 05-26-2012, 11:54 PM

Originally Posted by Evernight

I reserve judgment until I see the actual product on the field. Any unit in the league can go from looking top 10 to #32 from a key injury or a stupid coach.

And that won't exactly be hard to accomplish, FWIW.

I'm not an incurable "homer" by anyone's definition. I don't get over enthused. In fact with the Bears offenses of the past I've seldom gotten enthused at all. My thoughts were usually don't give the ball away, get Gould close enough for FG's and let the defense and ST win the game. But this year I am enthused.

It's gonna be a much different offense than it has been trust me. To much depth for any one injury to hurt much unless it was Cutler and with Campbell I believe we'd still make the playoffs. Any team would suffer if their #1 QB went down. The Packers offense without Rodgers wouldn't be the same either and Flynn's gone.

The coaching thing I don't get. Jeremy Bates is Cutler's QB coach and along with Marshall they did quite well in Denver and those were teams with practically no running game. It was almost all passing on the offensive side of the ball. I know. I watched them.

If it's Tice you're talking about I don't know where that comes from either. While he was coach of the Vikings he had a slight edge 5-4 against the Packers including a playoff win. Tice is a great line coach and he did alright offensively as a HC.

So:GAME ON

**soulman** · 05-27-2012, 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by Evernight

I reserve judgment until I see the actual product on the field. Any unit in the league can go from looking top 10 to #32 from a key injury or a stupid coach.

And that won't exactly be hard to accomplish, FWIW.

I'm not an incurable "homer" by anyone's definition. I don't get over enthused. In fact with the Bears offenses of the past I've seldom gotten enthused at all. My thoughts were usually don't give the ball away, get Gould close enough for FG's and let the defense and ST win the game. But this year I am enthused.

It's gonna be a much different offense than it has been trust me. Too much depth for any one injury to hurt much unless it was Cutler and with Campbell I believe we'd still make the playoffs. Any team would suffer if their #1 QB went down. The Packers offense without Rodgers wouldn't be the same either and Flynn's gone.

The coaching thing I don't get. Jeremy Bates is Cutler's QB coach and along with Marshall they did quite well in Denver and those were teams with practically no running game. It was almost all passing on the offensive side of the ball. I know. I watched them.

If it's Tice you're talking about I don't know where that comes from either. While he was coach of the Vikings he had a slight edge 5-4 against the Packers including a playoff win. Tice is a great line coach and he did alright offensively as a HC.

So:GAME ON

**Evernight** · 05-27-2012, 12:03 AM

Originally Posted by soulman

I'm not an incurable "homer" by anyone's definition. I don't get over enthused. In fact with the Bears offenses of the past I've seldom gotten enthused at all. My thoughts were usually don't give the ball away, get Gould close enough for FG's and let the defense and ST win the game. But this year I am enthused.

It's gonna be a much different offense than it has been trust me. To much depth for any one injury to hurt much unless it was Cutler and with Campbell I believe we'd still make the playoffs. Any team would suffer if their #1 QB went down. The Packers offense without Rodgers wouldn't be the same either and Flynn's gone.

The coaching thing I don't get. Jeremy Bates is Cutler's QB coach and along with Marshall they did quite well in Denver and those were teams with practically no running game. It was almost all passing on the offensive side of the ball. I know. I watched them.

If it's Tice you're talking about I don't know where that comes from either. While he was coach of the Vikings he had a slight edge 5-4 against the Packers including a playoff win. Tice is a great line coach and he did alright offensively as a HC.

So:GAME ON

I'm not sure what you read into my post, but I didn't point to anyone specifically. All I said was a key injury or a stupid coach can take a team from the top to the bottom in the blink of an eye.

And that fielding a better offensive unit than any you've had since 85 won't be hard to accomplish because........you've had about as good luck with offenses as we've had with punters.

**soulman** · 05-27-2012, 12:28 AM

Originally Posted by Evernight

I'm not sure what you read into my post, but I didn't point to anyone specifically. All I said was a key injury or a stupid coach can take a team from the top to the bottom in the blink of an eye.

And that fielding a better offensive unit than any you've had since 85 won't be hard to accomplish because........you've had about as good luck with offenses as we've had with punters.

I think it was the "And that won't exactly be hard to accomplish" that kind or implied the Bears may fall victim of stupid coaching. No more than any other team and if I misinterpreted that my bad. Sorry.

All you need to do is to look at the players that were added to the offense and acknowledge that with the right players around him Cutler is a pretty damn good QB. This year I think he may finally be able to show just how good he is. JMHO

**ZifanQ** · 05-27-2012, 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by soulman

I'm going with my gut feelings that this offense is due for a real breakout. Even behind this line with Cutler at the helm we've had quite a few 30 point plus games these last three years compared to what we had before.

Now considering at least some moderate improvement in the line if for no other reason than Carimi is back and all of them have had another years experience and they'll have full preseason to settle in we should get better on that basis alone.

Now add in the rebuilding of the receiver core and the talent there, a QB who's a top ten passer, and coaches who know how to get the best out of this collection of players.

I know the Packer fans and Lion fans won't believe it. Not since they were both mentioned as top 5 offenses. I believe by the end of this year the Bears offense will be rated higher than we've seen it since 1985. There may be better offenses but we've got nothing to hang our heads about.

Bears 85 V.2 comming to the SB!
I honestly doubt Lions will be able to finnish higher than us this year. MaddenCurse, and overall I feel our team is better(on paper) now it's just time to show it on the field.
Mike Martz could make even the Packers offense look like shit. I really have hope in Tice. Bear down!

**Evernight** · 05-28-2012, 10:25 PM

Originally Posted by soulman

I think it was the "And that won't exactly be hard to accomplish" that kind or implied the Bears may fall victim of stupid coaching. No more than any other team and if I misinterpreted that my bad. Sorry.

All you need to do is to look at the players that were added to the offense and acknowledge that with the right players around him Cutler is a pretty damn good QB. This year I think he may finally be able to show just how good he is. JMHO

No, that was in reference to the second item in bold.

I believe by the end of this year the Bears offense will be rated higher than we've seen it since 1985.

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