| 05 August 2010
There seems to be concern in the media that the Bears offense isn’t up to speed yet, that by Jay Cutler showing his frustration that there may be trouble brewing in Bourbannais. There have been a number of concerns in Cutler being on the same page with the young receivers and the media seems to have taken notice.
However Mike Martz addressed the media’s concerns and Martz wasn’t blowing smoke up anyone’s ass with the comments he made regarding the offense.
Martz essentially stated that it’s normal for the defense to be ahead of the offense at this point in camp, and he’s completely right. Whether Ron Turner was still the offensive coordinator or it was someone completely different all together, defenses are always ahead of offenses throughout the majority of training camp. This simple observation is the case throughout all levels of football but is magnified by the fact that the Bears’ offense is learning a comp lately new system that is extremely complex in nature.
The defense on the other hand doesn’t have to learn a new system and is completely comfortable where it stands because it’s been operating the same system since 2004. They know what they are doing and what they are doing is always easier because for them it’s essentially see football, GET football. The difference in offensive playbook complexity as compared to the defense should be obvious for anyone who follows football.
Digging a little deeper though and there is reason for concern, specifically in Frank Omiyale who is already on pace to lose his starting spot based on his mistakes and his overall play. At least he should be because he has been disastrous to this point, especially with his problem with false starts. From there Omiyale has had trouble blocking just about anyone with on glimpses of ability to win one on one battles. Couple that with Mike Tice’s statement that Kevin Shaffer graded out as the second best offensive linemen on the team in 2009 and you can see the direction this should be heading. Whether or not it does in fact happen remains to be seen. A decision likely won’t come soon though because Tice will see how things go during the pre-season games before making a decision.
Elsewhere on the O-Line it appears that Lance Louis didn’t get lost in the shuffle at the left guard spot, rather he’s been moved over to right guard and is pushing incumbent Roberto Garza for his starting spot. As it stands right now the competition on the offensive line exists at left guard, right guard and right tackle. Three of the five spots are open for competition.
Matt Bowen who covered the NFL Playbook series for the National Football Post recently noted in his column just how much Devin Hester has improved from last year to this. Bowen came away extremely impressed with Hester’s route running ability and the fact that he ran the complete route tree with precision.
As I stated in an earlier column the credit likely belongs to Hester and Isaac Bruce for working with Hester in the off-season. Hester worked very hard with Bruce this off-season and the results are showing on the field according to Bowen. Bowen also knows what he’s talking about being a former NFL defensive back and having gone up against the best receivers in the game himself. Hester is not only doing all the big things, he’s doing all the little things right too. He’s selling the defensive back with his eyes, with solid fakes and isn’t wasting any steps when getting separation in and out of his breaks. Hester it could be argued is the star of camp to this point with how he’s performed.
Focusing on the running game it appears Matt Forte is beginning to pull away from Chester Taylor. Forte is a stud who is running with a strong pad level through the hole and has impressed from the beginning of camp. Not a surprise given he’s not fighting through an injury like he was after an OTA problem in 2009. A healthy Forte with a solid offensive line in front of him means Forte could be extremely productive in 2010. Forte is a competitor by nature so he is feeding off of the battle between himself and Taylor. Hopefully what we’ve seen in practice carries over to the games and there is plenty of balance to Cutler and the passing game.
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