Gridiron Experts

Oh Mike Martz, how I love thee.

Instead of playing some kind of old school, grind-em-out system of running football, complete with 17-14 game scores, Mike Martz plays to take flight, running the ball only when the defense is stuck in dime packages for a good 4-5 plays.

He is the father of the “Greatest Show on Turf”, as well as Jon Kitna’s two 4,000+ yard seasons.

The fact that Mike Martz was ever let go is a joke. Even his doubters will find it hard to question his effectiveness. He turned no name Kurt Warner into a star, duped people into thinking Marc Bulger was a solid QB, and made Jon Kitna look like the messiah. His teams after his dismissal are a joke too. He left the Rams in 2005, right before their collapse and then the 7-9 Lions in 2007, right before their following 0 win season. His only real knock was his tenure with the 49ers, where he was stuck with a broken team and a coach that got fired mid-season. Also, having J.T. O’Sullivan as your starting QB isn’t exactly the best way to get through a season.

Mike Martz’s scheme, much like the scheme of Mike Leach (of former Texas Tech fame) on the college level, didn’t need stud receivers or an amazing running back. He had …Continue reading Mike Martz: The Magic Maker

Matt Forte’s 2010 Fantasy Potential

Matt Forte was supposed to propel teams into fantasy championship contention last year.  However, he ultimately disappointed all of his owners with a season that was far under par than the previous year.  The addition of Jay Cutler and his powerful arm was also seen as a ways to help open up the running lanes for Forte.  This however was not the case as Forte was unable to really find any running room and was frequently bottled up by opposing defenses.  After the season is was discovered that Forte had been playing hurt for most of the year.  This may have contributed to his poor performance, but Forte has two new obstacles to overcome this year.  Those two obstacles are also two of the Chicago Bears newest additions to its offensive unit, Mike Martz and Chester Taylor.

It has been speculated that Martz will want to throw the ball more with his down the field offense.  Why shouldn’t he?   After all he does have the strong armed Cutler under center and from the looks of the last few games from last season he also has some big play ability wide receivers.  Hence the Bears will prefer to keep the ball in the air rather than on the ground.  This speculation over what the new offensive coordinator may do with his play calling would no doubt affect Forte’s value.  However, the biggest factor in how Forte performs next season is in how Martz intends to use Taylor.  Rumor has it that Martz prefers Taylor over Forte and that is one of the reasons Chester was brought in.  Also, Taylor is seen as a better pass catching threat out of the backfield which is significant as Martz’s offense calls for a lot of screens to the running back.

Last season Forte accounted for 258 out of the 327 rushing attempts by the Bears running backs.  This translates into Forte accounting for around 79% of all rushing attempts.  He also caught 57 out of the possible 62 passes thrown to running backs.  Additional stats on Forte are 929 rushing yards plus 471 more yards on the receiving end.  In turn, Chester Taylor accounted for 22% of the carries in Minnesota last year.  …Continue reading Matt Forte’s 2010 Fantasy Potential

NFL Players Give Us Their Favorite Swear Words- Maxim.com

NFL Players are known as some of the nastiest dudes on the planet, and based on some of the lengths of the bleeps in this video, you can see why. Maxim recently had the chance to hang out with some of these….click on th Picture

Seattle’s deal for Whitehurst most intriguing QB move of free agency- SI.com

Intriguing as the roll of the dice Seattle took by boldly trading for San Diego’s Whitehurst in a deal that has boom/bust potential written all over it. Whitehurst was the little-known and even lesser thought of No. 3 quarterback in San Diego, behind starter……click on the Picture

Reid: Team evaluating trade offers- ESPN.com

Andy Reid has said Donovan McNabb is his starting quarterback heading into the 2010 season. But the trade rumors around the team’s quarterback situation have persisted. And now Reid says offers are being made for all three of the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterbacks….click on th Picture

Bears-Cowboys Thanksgiving game gaining steam- Profootballtalk.com

With FOX televising the game, the opponent definitely will be one of the Cowboys’ six NFC opponents: the Redskins, Eagles, Cowboys, Lions, Bears, and Saints. As Williams points out, the Cowboys haven’t hosted an NFC East opponent on Thanksgiving since 2002. The Lions are otherwise unavailable that day, and Saints-Cowboys is…..click on the Picture

Florida wideout excited to play with a “real quarterback”- Yahoo Sports

Tim Tebow’s departure for the NFL hasn’t left everyone in Gainesville in mourning. Thompson isn’t losing any sleep over the loss of Tebow. AP. While most of Gator Nation is still trying….click on the Picture

Brian Urlacher Out For the Season

Brian Urlacher will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair his dislocated right wrist. The Bears Linebacker and leader was injured in the Sunday night game between Green Bay and the Bears. Urlacher was injured in the first quarter while making a tackle on Packers running back Ryan Grant. This is terrible news for Bears fans, as there wasn’t much to get excited about in last nights prime time game. With Urlacher out, Hunter Hillenmeyer could see more time after replacing him this Sunday, where Chicago faces the rested Steelers.

The Cutler to Bears trade is easily the talk of the off-season. While many people are unsure who is the clear cut winner in the trade, Bears fans could care less, as they now have a franchise QB and are excited about the upcoming season. We here at Gridiron Experts wanted to play devils advocate and put Adam Tracey of the Windy City Gridiron to the test. The Windy City Gridiron is one of the top Chicago Bears Blogs on the net and has been covering the Bears for years.

Intreview With Windy City Gridiron-Mike Rodriguez

1. The Bears gave up a lot to acquire Jay Cutler, and coming from a team that had big receiving targets such as Brandon Marshall, Tony Scheffler, and Eddie Royal, what are your expectations in his first season?

It is hard not to expect a lot from him.  Having big time receivers does help, but that doesn’t take away the fact that Jay Cutler is probably a top 5 talented QB.  He just needs to get a bit more time under his belt.  The one thing that is holding him back from being in the elite class of QBs is he still throws the ball up for grabs.  He needs to decrease the interceptions, take some sacks and get rid of the ball.  I think a fair expectation is a playoff birth and the NFC North title.  Being a Chicago fan I don’t have experience predicting numbers this high, but if he can get in the 22-25 TD that would be fair.  Orton netted 18 last year.  The biggest asset he brings is his arm.  We don’t have to modify the offense to work with his abilities.  Cutler can make any throw from anywhere.   We finally have a guy who can hit Hester in stride.  You don’t have to depend on pass interference if the receiver is hit in stride.  Hester should have had 10 TDs last year, but he always had to wait for the ball.

I still expect the Bears to look at a few moves for a receiver.  Maybe not a big name like Holt or Harrison, but I think they will bring a few guys through Free Agency and the draft.

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2. Is there any concern that Cutler’s attitude may cause problems with the offensive style, going from a pass happy offense to a more balanced attack? Or do you think the Bears will adjust the play calling?

What most people never recognize is that the Bears take more shots down field than a lot of teams.  They know that is where Hester’s strengths lay.  A few years ago with Bernard Berrian they led the league in attempts over 20 yards.  The Bears are firstly a run team, but I expect at least equal balance to start.  They will force a team to pick what side they want to stop.  Then we just ride the other.  Forte protects Cutler from double teams down field and Cutler protects Forte from too many 8 man fronts.  There is a mutual benefit in this one.  The Bears are going to lean on whichever is working. Every great QB will tell you the benefit of a great run game.

3. With a strong running game and excellent defense are the Bears now contenders with Cutler under center?

Hard to say currently.  They are contenders for the NFC North and they can win a play off game.  How legit they are really depends on the defense.  Cutler allows the defense to not have to be the best in the league every year and we don’t have to depend on the turnovers.  He let’s us get into a shootout if it goes there, but the defense is still the key.  If the defense can stay healthy and Marinelli can find the pass rush and the Bears can get any

type of production out of their safeties we could be.  I would think the year after next would be a more realistic goal for being a contender.  We need to go this year and see what all the changes we have made has gotten us then tweak what we need to tweak.  There is a saying about a puncher’s chance.  We still can create turnovers and get good run backs, now we have a puncher at QB, so who knows?

4. Who is the one player that we don’t know about on the Bears roster, but we should? In other words, who is your sleeper?That is a difficult question.  We don’t have too many guys hiding in the background waiting for their shot.  Last year I might have said Caleb Hanie, but that is a moot point now.  I’ll answer with two guys who could be big for the Bears this year.  Firstly, Kevin Jones.  Forte ran the ball way too much last year and it wore on him late in the season.  The shelf life of a NFL running back is too short to run your guy 400+ times a year.  Last year Jones was coming back from an injury and he was left off the roster due to too many injuries on the special teams.  Since Adrian Peterson can play both they went with him late.  This year Jones should be fully ready to go.  The other is Earl Bennett.  For all the troubles we had at receiver we didn’t see this guy.  Booker is gone.  Davis and Lloyd aren’t exactly team favorites, so I think Bennett is poised to burst on the scene.  Having his college QB throwing to him should give him a step ahead of other young WRs.  They are already comfortable with each other.

The Chicago Bears rolled up their sleeves on Thursday, pulling off a quick trade for Jay Cutler after it was announced he was on the trading block. With up to 6 other teams interested in Cutler, the Bears had to make a strong offer to get their quarterback of the future. Even with rumors surfacing that it would cost a team 2 first round picks to acquire Jay Cutler, many teams still seemed interested. Chicago sealed the deal by adding an extra 3rd rounder in this years NFL draft.


The Bears had to give up quarterback Kyle Orton and first round picks in 2009 (18th overall) and 2010, along with a third-round pick (84th overall) in 2009. To complete the trade, the Broncos had to give back a fifth-round pick (140th overall) in 2009. That pick was acquired by the Broncos from the Seattle Seahawks in a trade for wide receiver Keary Colbert.


Jay Cutler is a great QB and the Bears have needed a quarterback for years, but 2 first round picks is a hefty price to pay. Players like Brian Dawkins who signed on for a playoff run in free agency may feel ripped off, as Kyle Orton is definitely a downgrade at the quarterback position.