Black And Blue & Passing Too

The arrival of Mike Martz is more than a move to revive one of last year's most disappointing offenses in Chicago (not that too much was expected of a talented but still young quarterback, a group of fledgling receivers, and a sophomore running back supported by a mediocre offensive line). It was an an omen. A harbinger of the end of the run-first mentality of the NFC North that has led to its nickname: the "Black and Blue Division".

Following last season, it seems apparent that the Bears are no longer going to resist one of the league's new trends. Despite head coach Lovie Smith's insistence that they would stick to the running game, Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler threw the ball 555 times last season. Admittedly, that's not as many as Mr. Cutler threw last year in Denver (616), but 90 more than Bronco and former Bear Kyle Orton threw in his final year in the Midway. For the sake of comparisons (and to show a reason for Cutler's seemingly frantic number of pass attempts in 2008), Mr. Orton attempted 541 passes for Denver last season.

The Bears had little success running the ball last year due to a sophomore slump by Matt Forte, who came off one of the best rookie years in the history of the Chicago Bears and the NFL in which he personally accounted for one third of his teams all-purpose yardage from the line of scrimmage. An ailing defense further aggravated the situation and forced Cutler to throw in situations that he had no business throwing in. This, combined with inexperienced receivers and inconsistent line play, led to Mr. Cutler being sacked 35 times and throwing 26 interceptions last year (he led the NFL in the latter category). Not a good recipe for success, despite the flourishing of passing offenses in the last few years.

The Bears are hardly the only member of the NFC North to have scrapped the running game in some form or another. Green Bay hasn't had a dominant runner in years, since before Mike Holmgren instituted the West Coast offense and established the Brett Favre era. It wasn't until the breakthrough of Ryan Grant that the 2007 Packers even had a bona fide rushing threat. And even with Grant's emergence, they have still relied on Favre (and now his replacement Aaron Rodgers, who has somehow engineered one the league's best offenses despite a terrible offensive line) to put up points and win games.

The Vikings are the latest beneficiaries of Mr. Favre's prowess; Brad Childress' system in Minnesota is essentially the same offense that Favre ran in Green Bay. And even though Minnesota has one dominant back in Adrian Peterson and another quality rusher in Chester Taylor, #4 still attempted 531 passes (only four less than he threw for the running back-less 2007 Packers). In the end, it was Favre's arm that won games for Green Bay, not Peterson or Taylor's legs. The only reason they got away with it is because every defense in the league is still afraid of the the threat of Adrian Peterson.

But perhaps the lamest team in the division has been the Detroit Lions, whose only excuse for their high passing numbers has been their otherwise awful performance. Mike Martz may be renowned as a passing fanatic, but Marshall Faulk is remembered as much for his rushing ability as he is for his ability to catch the football. When Martz's teams have been good, he has allowed a greater degree of rushing into the gameplan. But in the two years that Jon Kitna was in Detroit, he averaged 579 passes a season. Things haven't improved with Kitna's departure; in the ten games new Lions signal-caller Matthew Stafford played last year, he threw 377 passes. Had he played all sixteen games and continued throwing at that rate, he would have had just over 600 passes on the season.

As sad as it sounds, the NFC North is bucking a trend; while many teams have developed their passing games into precise and lethal machines, poor play has made the Black and Blue division flounder, caught transitioning too late to the new era of pass-first professional football.

All stats are courtesy of www.nfl.com.

Super Bowl, Super Upset

So the Saints won the Super Bowl; I can get that out of the way early. The celebration is probably still going on right now, four days later. Congratulations to New Orleans, which now has its first Lombardi Trophy and departs from the sad fraternity of clubs who have yet to win a championship. The four teams still in that Hall of Shame are Cleveland and Detroit (the league's perennial whipping boys) as well as Jacksonville and Houston, two of the newest expansion teams around. It has only been recently that those two teams could even make a run at the division, and it has been tough sledding given the regular season dominance of the Indianapolis Colts.

It is rather fitting that the Saints won when many of the pundits and fans (myself included) picked them to do down in defeat. But as much as they would like to reflect on this magical year, the new season (and a new decade of football) starts now. New Orleans will have to be wary; the target is on their back now, and given that they are not used to such victories the threat of a Super Bowl hangover will loom large. And despite the fact that the 'hangover effect' tends to harm the losers of the Super Bowl more than the winners (such as the Chicago Bears in 2007 and this year's off-and-on Arizona Cardinals), I think the Colts are the one team in the league best equipped to deal with a loss. They have already said they are going to use this year's loss as motivation, and I believe they will take the league by storm next year.

Play of the Game: Tracy Porter's interception, which was returned for a touchdown and came just as the Colts were marching downfield what what could have been an equalizing score. Instead, it basically put the game out of reach for Indy.

Player of the Game: Drew Brees. A real shocker, I know. But the fact remains that he tied Tom Brady's record for the most completions in a Super Bowl game (with 32) and led the Saints to their first-ever Super Bowl. It would be an insult to name anyone else.

Martz Arrives in the Midway

The Chicago Bears have decided to shake things up by hiring offensive guru Mike Martz—who engineered one of the greatest offenses in NFL history—as their new offensive coordinator last week. Comments on the Bears website have been mixed to say the least, with some claiming that Martz’s hire will compound the Bears’ current offensive woes. Given the team’s desperate need for receiving talent, they may be right.
I prayed during last year’s offseason that the Bears would not only trade for Jay Cutler but also give a second round pick to the Denver Broncos for receiver Brandon Marshall who, despite the promise Johnny Knox and Devin Aromashadu have shown this season, would be an instant upgrade over the other Bears wideouts based on talent alone (without even mentioning his previous experience with Cutler). Unfortunately, that trade didn’t go through, and now everything is peachy in Denver between Marshall and Josh McDaniels.

I honestly hope that Martz can help the Bears get better, but it’s hard to see this as anything more that a contradiction of philosophies. As if Bears fans needed more proof that Lovie Smith is throwing in the towel for the running game despite his insistent calls for sticking with the run, Chicago hires a coach infamous for his offensive philosophy which, in a nutshell, resembles “pass first, pass later, then pass some more”. Admittedly, Martz’s system performed superbly in St. Louis (where they have been 18-51 since his departure from the head coaching position), where it was hailed as the “Greatest Show on Turf”. But the current Chicago Bears do not compare favorably to a Rams squad that featured a franchise tackle in Orlando Pace (who is on the Bears roster but a shadow of his former self), two fantastic receivers in Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, and a Hall of Fame tailback in Marshall Faulk, proving that the system is not a panacea for the Bears. Significant funds must be invested in the offense before the real results can be shown.

In the meantime, I fear the Bears may end up looking like the Detroit Lions of 2006-07, who were among the league leaders in passing yardage but had little to show for their productivity. I have no doubt that Cutler is a superior player to Jon Kitna, but he has already led the league in interceptions once. May Bears fans pray that he doesn’t do it again.

Super Bowl Will Come Down to the Wire: Who Will Win & Why

Last week, I was frightened that the New York Jets would topple Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts and shatter my hopes for Mr. Manning's second Super Bowl appearance. Gang Green went into the halftime break leading Indy 17-13 after two huge plays by Mark Sanchez propelled them to quick scores. But Manning asserted himself once again as the master of second-half adjustments, stealing the breath from the Jets just as the second half started. Rex Ryan's defense, which looked promising in the first half after having put Peyton on his back several times in the first two quarters, was powerless to stop the Colts pass attack. High class cover man Darrelle Revis, who covered receiver Reggie Wayne for most of the contest, could do nothing to help his teammates, who proceeded to get picked apart by the illustrious and meticulous Mr. Manning.

Once the Colts had gained the lead, the game was as good as won. No one is better than Peyton at extending drives by getting just enough inches to move the chains and running the clock down to only a few seconds before getting off the play he wants. Not only that, but Indy's defense, which prides itself on fast players that excel at rushing the passer and swarming to the ball, is meant to play with the lead.

It is because of Peyton's second-half magic and the speed of the Colts defense that Indy will claim their second Lombardi Trophy of the decade on Sunday. Colts defensive end Robert Mathis has said that fellow pass rusher Dwight Freeney plans to play despite a Grade 3 sprain in his right ankle; even at less than 100%, Mr. Freeney is such a force on the defensive line that his mere presence will draw the Saints game plan away from Mr. Mathis, who can thrive against a single blocker and will surely get to New Orleans signal-caller Drew Brees early and often. All the Colts defense has to do is buy enough time for Manning to get into rythym, for while he sometimes starts slowly he always finds his receivers in the second half.

As good as New Orleans is (and they are fantastic, having convincingly beaten a stalwart team in Brett Favre's Minnesota Vikings), they are playing in their first Super Bowl ever. It cannot be stressed enough how much pressure is being put on this team right now, despite the fact that they may well be the worse of the two teams competing in Miami. There is nothing left to help the Saints anymore. They are not at home (and are thus bereft of the full support of the "Who Dat" nation), they are playing outside (a stark contrast to the Superdome that they call home), and they are playing against the most consistent and playoff-hardened team of the decade. Their march stops on Sunday. Colts win, 30-24.