Factoid
I posted some numbers yesterday, illustrating how I was skeptical of the marriage between Jay Cutler and new offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Cutler should pass for a lot of yards, but Martz has a strong history of asking his quarterback to hang onto the ball too long, resulting in tons of sacks, interceptions and fumbles.
Martz also shouldn’t be good for Matt Forte. Somewhere along the line, Martz just fell in love with the passing game. He won’t call enough runs.
Look at the figures below, in which the 32 NFL teams (for 2002-2008) are compared to Mike Martz’s offenses during that span. During that time period, Martz was the head coach of the Rams and the offensive coordinator at Detroit and San Francisco.
With Martz calling the plays, there will be no bounce-back season for Matt Forte.
RUSHING YARDS PER GAME, 2002-2008
Yards
147 Atlanta
141 Denver
133 Minnesota
133 San Diego
131 Jacksonville
128 NY Giants
127 Kansas City
126 Pittsburgh
124 Baltimore
122 Washington
122 Seattle
120 Tennessee
116 Philadelphia
115 San Francisco
115 Carolina
115 New England
114 Green Bay
114 Dallas
113 Miami
111 NY Jets
109 Cincinnati
107 Buffalo
106 New Orleans
106 Oakland
105 Houston
105 Tampa Bay
105 Chicago
103 Indianapolis
101 Cleveland
99 St. Louis
90 Arizona
90 Mike Martz's offenses
88 Detroit
—Ian Allan
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Posted by Dave (MOJO) Smith | Feb. 02 at 04:27 PM
Martz also passed a lot to his back (mostly Marshall Faulk). Forte is a good receiver, so wouldn't he catch a lot of balls?
Posted by IAN ALLAN | Feb. 02 at 05:01 PM
Agreed. Forte should catch plenty of passes. Frank Gore caught 43 passes in his one season with Martz. Kevin Jones caught 61 passes in one of the seasons that Martz was running the offense in Detroit.
Posted by MARTIN DONNELLY | Feb. 03 at 08:07 AM
...and with the Bears' offensive line, he could be the #1 target!