The Chicago Bears search for an offensive coordinator is becoming the talk of the NFL, or at the very least it's giving those who are paying attention a chuckle. The latest is that the Bears have been granted permission to talk to Vikings quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers. Rogers of course is known for his development of Tavaris Jackson, Sage Rosenfels and turning Brett Favre into a Hall of Famer. Wait...what?

Anywho, when the news broke that another candidate, Hue Jackson (best known for his work as Wolverine...wait...), had decided to take the job of OC in Oakland, I could hear the collective sighs of Bears fans and the collective laughter of Packer fans. Is it so bad in Chicago that people would rather work with Al Davis and Bubb Rubb in Oakland?

I am beginning to wonder why the Bears don't just cut their losses and hire Mike Martz, something that comes with mixed reactions amongst Bears fans. This  I am aware of. I am also beginning to wonder if all of this candidate "searching" is merely posturing (hence my quotations), and if Lovie and Co. already have intentions of bringing in Martz after a failed list of other "candidates". Time will tell as they say.

It's clear that Martz has had a tough time connecting with some of the teams he has coached for, and  from all that I read he can be tough to work with, but at this point he is the only name I can see that has any actual experience to perform the job in question.

When Martz came to the Rams in 1999, he turned one of the league's worst offenses, ranked near the bottom in total yards, passing yards and rushing yards, into an offensive machine with the likes of Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. See my handy chart to guide you through Martz's tenure with the Rams (in red are the season's Martz was with St. Louis from 1999-2005).

In 2005 the Detroit Lions were 27th in the league in total yards, 26th in passing and 26th in rushing. In 2006 Mike Martz was hired to run offense. With new quarterback Jon Kitna, who was 34 at the time, the Lions improved to 9th overall in passing, and Kitna had his first 4,000 yard season.

In 2007 the Lions looked to be playoff contenders half-way through the season with a record of 6-2, all the while riding one of the league's best passing attacks. Unfortunately for Martz and Co. they would win only one more game the rest of the way, missing the playoffs entirely, and players began to complain of Martz's pass-happy and unbalanced offense. The Lions fired him in the offseason.

In 2008 the offense immediately reverted back to its old ways, with Kitna still under center, finishing 30th overall in offense, 24th in passing and 30th in rushing. In 2008 the Lions became the first team to finish a season 0-16.

In 2007 the 49ers finished 5-11 with arguabely the worst offense in the NFL, ranked 32nd overall, 32nd in passing and 27th in rushing. In 2008 Martz was brought in to be the OC and the improvement in the passing game was immediate. The 49ers jumped to 23rd overall in offense, 13th in passing and 27th in rushing. Martz was let go when Samurai Mike became the head coach and brought in a different vision for the Niners. In 2009 they finished ranked 27th in total yards, 22nd in passing yards and 27th in rushing yards.

The Bears have made it clear that they are not looking for a one-dimensional offense, which would seem to eliminate Martz as candidate, but is it wise to ignore the trend of the current NFL? Of the top 15 passing teams in the NFL, only Seattle had a record of below .500. Four of the top fifteen ruhsing teams were below .500. Of the top ten teams in passing yards per game, only two missed the playoffs while five of the top ten rushing teams missed the post-season.

The Bears ranked 23rd overall, 17th in passing and 29th in rushing offense. How much worse can it get? Don't answer that.

Comments (2)

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So what's the hold up ... let's get him and get the show on the road. Besides, what's the likelihood that Martz or Smith will be here after next year anyway? I've heard alot of complaints that his teams have no rushing attack and do not utilize the tight ends. Fact is, we have no rushing game now so what's the big deal? As far as tight ends go, Greg Olsen is a terrible blocker, runs average routes and his yards after catch is terrible so I don't see his under utilization as any big deal anyway. He may not be the long term answer for the Bears but he sure is the answer for next year.

BearBoy , January 29, 2010

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I'm not sure that I want Martz to be the guy, but this team could have saved themselves a lot of embarrassment by going with Martz in the first place. Actually, they could have saved even more embarrassment if they had a plan before they fired Turner.

They seriously overestimated the attraction of being a coach for the Chicago Bears, and now they are stuck interviewing people who have little to no experience calling plays.

I hear that Martz was at Halas Hall today interviewing, and at this point it might be wise to bring him on.

I didn't think things could get worse than that abomination of a press conference, but here we are.

Rex P. Jaybels , January 29, 2010 | url

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