NEWSLETTER
At the peak of his powers, Mike Martz was running one of the most innovative offenses in NFL history.
But he was not at the peak of his powers when he came to Chicago years later. Nevertheless, the Lovie Smith Chicago Bears opened their arms to Martz, as they looked in every possible direction for an offensive coordinator to unlock Jay Cutler’s full potential. And while Martz was the play caller for a Bears team that went to the NFC Championship Game with Cutler as the triggerman, Martz did more to wreck the future than anything else.
So, yeah, I saw his comments about the Bears, the state of the offense, Justin Fields’ future, and more in this piece at The 33rd Team. It was not at all flattering.
Here’s a taste:
Fields is a guy that makes a lot of mistakes and is not particularly accurate at times. He’s not a quick read-and-react guy, and he’s on a horrendous team. But I don’t know if I’ve seen an offense that bad in talent since the 0-16 Detroit Lions (in 2008). They just don’t have anybody there. … It’s a bad football team right now.
And, when you put a guy behind a bad offensive line and you have no talent at wide receiver and you tell him to just go make big plays, he’s going to learn bad habits. You start doing stupid stuff just trying to survive.
I also have questions about whether he can really react fast. I think he’s a talented guy as a passer, but you don’t know how to evaluate him because he just doesn’t have anything around him.
Maybe Martz has a point about Fields’ hot-and-cold accuracy and processing. But it’s not as if Fields can’t work on those things as he develops as just a second-year player. No, he isn’t on a good team right now. And, sure, the current makeup of the team could create a tough hurdle for any young quarterback to overcome. But it’s not like roster construction stops in 2022.
But this is the part that really grinds my gears: “If he got to someplace like San Francisco, maybe it would work out for him, but I don’t see it working out at all in Chicago.”
Well, good thing the Bears hired an offensive coordinator whose line of thinking seems to line up with the kind of offense they run in San Francisco!
This was a frustrating offseason, in part, because the Bears didn’t go all-in at fixing the offense and building around Fields. But the all-too-common assumption that this is supposed to be the finished product is even more frustrating. Some football people genuinely believe the Bears cannot and will not continue making moves with building around Fields in mind. Which, c’mon.
If this was the third, fourth, or fifth year of Fields’ rookie deal, I could understand the sentiment. But to plant that flag now feels both foolish and short-sighted. It’s like complaining that the cake isn’t done while you’re looking over my shoulder as I gather the ingredients. Of course it isn’t done, silly. I’m still working here.
And, frankly, the last person I wanted to hear any of this from is Martz.
Who wants to hear from a former NFL coordinator who has done nothing since living good off Hall of Famers like Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, and Dick Vermeil? Or someone who put together an offense that almost broke Cutler (literally and figuratively). Or a talent evaluator who couldn’t fit a perennial Pro Bowl tight end like Greg Olsen into his offense because his brain wasn’t willing and/or able to see how to properly use that player? Not me. That’s for sure.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for different perspectives and angles. Bring on the constructive criticism. But preferably, let it come from someone who isn’t a dinosaur in the game. Particularly one who didn’t know what he was doing the first time around in Chicago.
