It’s been a busy day for the Chicago Bears.

Just hours after the team announced that it had fired long time general manager Jerry Angelo, offensive coordinator Mike Martz announced his resignation. After his meeting with head coach Lovie Smith, Martz announced that he would not return to Chicago citing “philosophical differences over how the team could run its offense.” In a move not unrelated, quarterbacks coach Shane Day also chose to not return.

Right off the bat, commentators and fans alike wondered if Martz and the Chicago Bears could co-exist. Martz has always been a pass-oriented coach, while the Bears entire organization has always been committed to being a running team. Martz’s tenure was full of questions surrounding his play calling and pass/run balance. It seems that the discrepancy between Martz and the organization has finally caught up and they have chosen to go their separate ways.

While I’ve certainly had my questions about some of Martz’s decisions over the last two seasons, you wonder how this move will affect the development of the Bears offense. If I’m honest, prior to the injuries of Jay Cutler and Matt Forte, the offense looked decently threatening. For the first time in Martz’s time with Chicago, the offense starting looking like they were “getting it.” Combining with Jay Cutler’s clear improvement in the ball protection category, the offense looked like one that was good enough to carry the team far. It speaks to Jay Cutler’s quality that all of the Bears receivers virtually disappeared once he went down. Hopefully, the fact the players will all have to learn another offense won’t set back the progress they have made. Though, I have a feeling it will.

I would have liked to see Martz stick around. Had Cutler and company actually had a strong receiver to lead the corps and a consistent offensive line, I think they would have excelled. As it was, the final five games prior to Cutler’s injury saw the Bears score 39, 24, 30, 37, and 31 points. This was an offense that was getting the job done with virtually no consistent presence at receiver and an offensive line that varied greatly in quality from week to week. Whether that was Cutler, Forte, Martz, or a combination, the results were there. I hate to see Martz go right now. While I don’t have major problems with either, I think I would have rather seen Lovie Smith go before Martz.

It’s a business I guess.

Brian is a lifelong Chicago Bears fan, having lived in Illinois his entire life and having followed the NFL throughout.

Sources

Martz Resigns