Bears Offensive Line Issues

Bear's offensive line coach Mike Tice

There isn't any doubt the Chicago Bear's offense has struggled the past two seasons with offensive inconsistencies.  As a pattern, the offensive woes fall squarely on the shoulders of the five gentlemen upfront, known as the offensive line.  If you have ever had a chance to watch the Bear's in action it's difficult not to believe that the offensive line does a fine job in impersonating a spaghetti sieve each Sunday.  But if you take the opportunity to look further beyond the boys upfront you catch a glimpse of the dirty kitchen.

Much of the offense in Chicago is built on quick passes, empty backfield sets, screens and an anemic run game. Considering, Chicago has one of the most underrated players in the NFL toting the football in Matt Forte, it's befuddling that the run game isn't highlighted more.  Much of the passing offense is built in a similar fashion to Mike Martz's "greatest show on turf" days with the Rams. The problem with this formula being implemented in Chicago is the fact that, Isaac Bruce, Tory Holt, Marshall Faulk, Orlando Pace, Az Hakim, Ricky Proehl and Kurt Warner aren't sitting in the Bear's meeting rooms.  I have no issue with Devin Hester, Roy Williams or Johnny Knox. But if I were to add up the skill set of all three as wideouts, it wouldn't equal one Isaac Bruce. Much of what Mike Martz is asking of his wideouts isn't outside of their ability but the production that is needed in order to make this offense work, is way outside their pay grade.  All wideouts in the NFL are adept to running every route within the route tree without much of an issue, albeit some are more verse at particular ones versus others.  What's needed to make the "greatest show on turf" style of offense go, wideouts that are gifted at feeling the game.  Isaac Bruce and Tory Holt weren't just two of the most physically gifted, they were two of the smartest.  This isn't to say the Bear's wideouts aren't football geniuses, I'm saying Devin Hester is a relative newbie since stepping into the role full-time in 2007, Johnny Knox is in his third season and Roy Williams is....Roy Williams.  Once you throw in a talented rookie in Dane Sazenbacher you're left with a very mediocre wideout corp that's being asked to be special.

Jay Cutler is an extremely talented quarterback.  He may not present the level of quarterback decorum that a Peyton Manning or Drew Brees presents, where you know they are going to have to be carried off the field before they throw in the towel on their team.  But whatever he presents within the lockeroom, his teammates believe in and respect him.  I had the opportunity to cover the NFC Championship game last season when the infamous knee injury took place.  Many pundits and former players including myself had some not so nice things to say about how he handled the situation.  But after seeing firsthand how his teammates such as future Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher stood up for him, I knew all I needed to know about Jay Culter's presence in the Bear's locker room.  

No, Jay Cutler isn't Kurt Warner but Kurt Warner is no Jay Cutler.  Meaning, there are attributes to Warner's game that Jay Cutler just doesn't have, like a killer instinct.  But there are gifts that Cutler bring to the table that Warner failed to receive a long time ago when the sperm met the egg, such as every single physical attribute that a quarterback coach in the NFL searches high and low for in potential draft picks.  Jay Cutler is as gifted as they come which means he is able to physically execute this Bear's offense without a doubt.  The problem with Cutler within the offense is similar to the issue at wideout.  The quarterback has to completely trust the coordinator, be the smartest, toughest and most respected guy on the football field. Two out of four isn't enough.  At times, it appears that Cutler isn't  buying into what Martz is selling.  How can a quarterback trust a coordinator when at times he's being sacked in the double digit range on any given Sunday.  It's difficult to want to put in the time to truly understand an offensive concept when you don't believe it is physically in your best interest to be within it.  When studying tape on the Bears, at times I'm not 100% sure if Cutler understands the protections.  There are many times when a rusher will be left intentionally unblocked in order to free up an offensive player.  At this point it's a numbers game, and if the offense has more people running routes than the defense has in coverage, like Charlie Sheen the offense is...winning! But Cutler has to know when and where the free rusher is coming from.  As I said, if Cutler doesn't believe in the system, how much time is he going to take to really digest the system?

With all of this being said, there isn't any excuse for the Bear's offensive line to stink so badly.  The irony of this is found in the reality that the Bear's offensive line is coached by one of the better offensive line coaches in the NFL, Mike Tice. Well why are they not good, because you can't turn chicken shit into chicken salad.  Bear's general manager Jerry Angelo might be one of the worst talent evaluators when it comes to the offensive line.  Chris Williams was drafted with the 14th overall selection, why?  What team drafts a tackle in the 7th round out of West Texas A&M that ends up as a starter without having any other viable options on the roster?  I'm sorry, Frank Omilaye is not a starting tackle on any other roster but the Bears. Potential Hall of Famer Olin Kreutz was sent out of town for whatever reason but Julius Peppers was paid a kings ransom to fortify an already formidable Bear's defense.  I'm not saying Peppers wasn't worth the money, I'm saying there were other pressing needs that could have been addressed. 

I had an opportunity to meet Jerry Angelo as I was going through the draft process.  He had reviewed my film from Ohio State and concluded that I would be better off, "focusing on my degree" than pursuing a career in the NFL.  I took his sage advice, finished my degree and went on to earn two Pro Bowl berths at center and guard in the National Football League. Every general manager misses on draft picks but some are more prone to missing on particular positions than others.  In the Bears case, their decision maker is not adept at handing the business of offensive linemen and it shows.

The Bears aren't a bad football team but they can be so much better.  With an aging defense and a beat up quarterback the window of opportunity for a Super Bowl is getting as tight as the holes Jay Cutler is asked to throw into.  Everybody wants to solely blame the guys upfront but the Bear's kitchen needs a little elbow grease to get it up to code.