Jay Cutler, Matt Forte Could Give Chicago Bears a New-Look Offense

Three years ago, it was Devin Hester. The next, it was Greg Olsen. Last season, it was Matt Forte.

This year, it’s Jay Cutler.

Year by year, the offensive landscape is changing for the Chicago Bears. Slowly but surely, they’re stocking their roster with dynamic playmakers who can contribute to multiple facets of the game and change the way that defenses choose to combat the Monsters of the Midway.

With the addition of Jay Cutler, the 2009 offense will undoubtedly have many similarities to its predecessor. However, the stage is set for the team’s new quarterback to change the way that they move the ball.

The biggest changes to the playbook this offseason won’t merely come in the form of Jay Cutler passing the football. It will come in the form of an increased flexibility.

Certainly nothing is set in stone, and nobody is doubting that the Bears will deviate from their bread-and-butter sets; those being double tight end variations, singleback with three receivers, and I-formation for power running.

In fact, right from the get-go, Cutler makes the two tight-end sets more effective. Given Chicago’s personnel, those are the sets that they need to take full advantage of because they offer the most ambiguity.  

With two tight ends on the field, the Bears have the flexibility execute either smashmouth running plays or or a variety of passing routes, as well as the ability to audible between the two based on what Cutler reads at the line.

And, yes, Cutler’s arm will offer the Bears an opportunity to stretch the field in ways that haven’t been seen since Rex Grossman hooked up with Bernard Berrian over and over again in 2006.

However, Jay Cutler’s style and reputation gives the Bears the ability to alter their offensive playbook in ways that are not necessarily native to their DNA.

While the Bears are not perceived as a passing team, what Cutler’s presence boils down to is the potential for the integration of more pass-specific formations and sets, which could benefit the run just as much as the pass.

In fact, some of the changes have already begun.

For instance, use of the shotgun formation was almost non-existent during the Rex Grossman years of 2006 and 2007, but surged in 2008 under Kyle Orton. While Orton used his college experience in the shotgun to benefit the passing game, it was not uncommon to see Matt Forte take a hand-off out of the shotgun, rushing the ball on a dive or draw.

Running draw plays offers the same benefit to to running game as playaction offers to the passing game: it forces the defense to play more conservatively and leaves them vulnerable when they choose to gamble by committing to either the run or to the pass.

Even when Orton wasn’t working out of the shotgun last season, the run game saw some life from pass-specific formations. Matt Forte’s first NFL touchdown during Week 1 last year at Indianapolis came as the Bears lined with up four wide receivers.  

The Colts brought six defensive backs onto the field to play the pass. But when Chicago’s offensive line effectively neutralized Indi’s defensive line and lone linebacker, Forte broke into the secondary and put six points on the board.

Could more spread-offense formations pop up in 2009? Absolutely. The receiving targets are somewhat of an enigma as this point, but Devin Hester is expected to pose a deep threat, while Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen can be counted on as solid receiving targets.  

So can Matt Forte, who was moved in motion before the play on several occasions last season, leaving Orton with an empty backfield and plenty of passing targets to work with.

So, what does this all mean?

It means that Bears have assembled a set of offensive personnel flexible enough to bluff whenever they chose to, regardless of which hand they wish to play. They can be less one-dimensional. They can be less predictable. They can keep defenses guessing.

The offense changed last season, and they changed for the better. Jay Cutler will change it even more.  

If the Bears can manage to put a few more points on the board this season, the odds of a playoff birth will swing significantly in their favor.

Bears Looking for Blocking Specialist

When tight end John Gilmore signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after spending six seasons in a Bears uniform, few fans in Chicago so much as said a word about it.

Now, one year removed from his departure, the Bears are beginning to realize what they lost.

Gilmore wasn’t flashy. He scored only three touchdowns during his time in Chicago, and hauled in a mere 21 passes. His contributions weren’t the type that could be measured by statistics. But he was always there, whether it was double tight end sets, heavy red zone formations, or kick returns.

Given the success of the spread offense in the college game, tight ends are rapidly changing from undersized offensive linemen to oversized wide receivers.  As a result, John Gilmore is part of a dying breed. Finding a tight end nowadays who is a skilled in-line blocker is almost as difficult as finding a competent lead-blocking fullback.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem as if the Bears are in need of a tight end. Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen both play prominent roles in Chicago’s offense; enough so that Lovie Smith has said he considers them both starters, which, given the team’s new tendency to run double tight end sets, is true.

Clark and Olsen provide such great depth at the position that many fans were initially angry when the Bears selected Michigan State’s Kellen Davis in the fifth round of the 2008 Draft.

As the aging Desmond Clark’s career winds down, Davis may be a suitable replacement. Davis, however, has not been able provide the same type of blocking speciality that John Gilmore brought to the field.

In fact, as offensive tackle Chris Williams recovered from his back surgery last season, the Bears began to coax him into active play as their third tight end in short-yardage situations as an alternative to Kellen Davis.

Adding an extra offensive lineman to a set provides a big body, but lacks the speed and agility that a tight end could provide, especially in the kick return game.

One potential option to fill the void still left by Gilmore’s departure is Lance Louis, a seventh-round rookie from San Diego State. Louis has experience playing both tight end and guard, and is a huge body at 6’3″ and 300 pounds.

The Bears are also reportedly looking at Michael Gaines, who was recently released by the Lions. Before the Detroit used a first-round pick on tight end Brandon Pettigrew, they had intended on using Gaines as a blocker, both at the line of scrimmage and out of the backfield.

Given the trouble the Bears had moving the ball in short-yardage situations last season, a blocking specialist is something they are sorely in need of. With the offensive line having received a major facelift in free agency, they should fare better right from the get-go.

But Matt Forte is not a power rusher. Neither is Kevin Jones. The Bears need a solid push up front, whether they’re trying to punch the ball into the end zone or pick up a first down.

As the Bears learned last November under the lights of the Metrodome, mere inches can mean the difference between watching the playoffs from a sofa or watching the playoffs from a three-point stance.

 

Life After Mike Brown: Bears Still Searching For Solution at Free Safety

Having addressed needs on the offensive line through free agency and holes at wide receiver through the draft, the Chicago Bears as still weighing their options at free safety.

Fans often drift into an almost dream-like state when thinking back to Mike Brown’s big moments in a Bears uniform.  But those days are just a distant memory.  In Brown, the Bears had–and lost–a leader, a playmaker, and a big-hitter.  As great of a safety as he may have been, it became clear that he probably would never revert to the durable playmaker he once was.

When it comes to replacing Brown, the first person that comes to mind is his former understudy, Danieal Manning.  Manning is young, has plenty of experience at free safety, is athletic and has more than enough speed to play the position.  But his instincts have come into question numerous times, and the Bears seem content with playing him at nickel corner.  Still, he has yet to be ruled out as an option, and is listed as a free safety on the team’s official website.

Safety Josh Bullocks, formerly of the New Orleans Saints, is the man currently penciled in as the starter, and has starting experience.  He signed with Chicago on March 11th, in a move that sent angry shockwaves through fan circles that were already displeased with the team’s lack of activity in the free agent market.

The Bears have continued to stock their secondary during the offseason with free agent Glenn Earl and used a sixth-round draft pick on Oregon State’s Al Afalava.  Both are prototypical strong safeties, which the Bears already have in starter Kevin Payne and LSU product Craig Steltz.

Besides acquiring Bullocks, this offseason’s free agent market offered few solid, viable options.  On Draft Weekend, potential targets Sherrod Martin and Rashad Johnson were both off the board by the time the Bears went on the clock.

Moving a cornerback to the safety position has been a hot topic lately, especially with the notoriety that Antrel Rolle received as part of the NFC Championship Arizona Cardinals.  The media firestorm that supported moving Charles Tillman to safety, an idea Head Coach Lovie Smith has denounced on several occasions, finally has lost most of its steam.

Still, converting a corner is not entirely out of the equation.  Zachary Bowman was used as the second-team free safety during the team’s veteran minicamp in March, but little news has yet to come to light regarding whether or not his move was permanent.

Corey Graham has surfaced as a potential free safety candidate.  Graham, however, could also come out of camp as a starting corner.  The team’s faith in Nathan Vasher has been a burning issue throughout the offseason, and the roles of Trumaine McBride and rookie draftee D.J. Moore remain to be seen, all of which could factor into where Graham ultimately lines up.

If the Bears are content and confident with Charles Tillman and Corey Graham as their starting cornerbacks, there’s no reason why the Bears shouldn’t experiment with plugging in Nathan Vasher at free safety at some point during training camp.  From a financial standpoint, he needs to be a key defensive contributor.

Regardless of how the Bears fill the position, the secondary needs a fast, solid free safety to help shut down receivers deep downfield.  Teams last season could move the ball on the Bears through the air with frightening ease, and Calvin Johnson, Greg Jennings, and Bernard Berrian will all be looking to torch Chicago for points again this season.

Perhaps the true test will come on November 8th, when Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals will bring their aerial assault to Soldier Field.  It could potentially be a game that proves if the Bears can truly defend the deep ball, or if they’re just relying on smoke and mirrors.

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