We are going to be hitting on all cylinders!!!!!

[Wesson44]

 

By: Larry Mayer | Last Updated: 2/1/2010 12:12 AM LAKE FOREST, Ill. – New Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz loves the passing game, but he isn’t married to it.

 

Known for his penchant to throw the ball in stints with the Rams, Lions and 49ers, Martz wants to operate an offense in Chicago that is capable of excelling both on the ground and in the air.

 

 

 

Lovie Smith chats with Mike Martz following a 2005 preseason game between the Bears and Rams.

“You do whatever it takes to win,” Martz said during a conference call with the media. “Some weeks you’re going to run it pretty good. The next week you’re going to throw pretty good. But it’s about winning. Whatever you can do the best, that’s what you do.”

 

Coach Lovie Smith was asked whether his philosophy that the Bears are a team that “gets off the bus running” will change with Martz taking over the offense.

 

“When I say ‘get off the bus running the football,’ I mean that is a mindset,” Smith said. “The run will always be a part of what we’re going to do.

 

"In Chicago, we play in the elements. That won’t change. But there’s nothing wrong with being able to run the football well and having balance to be able to pass the football. That’s what I’m excited about.”

 

Asked if the Bears will still be a team that gets off the bus running, Martz said: “It depends on who you’re playing. The physical part of it I think is really what Lovie is addressing. That’s first and foremost.

 

“Everything starts in the offensive line. Everything. They allow you to keep your defense off the field, to protect the quarterback, to do what you want to do on offense. When that’s established—which we’ll get done—then I think more than anything else, you get off the bus and really you are getting in a position to hit them right in the mouth.”

 

Martz is known primarily for coordinating an explosive Rams offense that was dubbed “The Greatest Show on Turf.” Led by quarterback Kurt Warner, running back Marshall Faulk, and wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, St. Louis boasted a potent passing attack.

 

But the Rams could also run the ball. In Martz’s first three seasons in St. Louis—as offensive coordinator in 1999 and head coach in 2000 and 2001—Faulk rushed for 1,381, 1,359 and 1,382 yards—the three highest totals of his illustrious 13-year NFL career—and 37 touchdowns.

 

Asked about the perception that he loves the pass and despises the run, Martz said: “I am very pragmatic in the approach. I think you have to analyze your personnel, the circumstances and the situation, like [playing in] Soldier Field, and look at what you have and the conditions and then go from there.

 

“Really it’s just about winning games and doing whatever it takes to take advantage of your strengths.”

 

Despite Smith’s run-first mentality, the Bears threw 563 passes and had 373 rushing attempts in 2009, ranking 23rd in the NFL in total yards, 29th rushing and 17th passing.

 

“It’ll be a change, we know that,” general manager Jerry Angelo said about Martz’s arrival. “Philosophy, we’ll just wait and see what Mike does. Obviously, we know what Mike’s reputation is. He likes to throw the football. He’s very aggressive in play-calling. He runs an attacking offense.

 

“We wanted to make change. We wanted to be something different than what we were, and we just felt after we went through the process that Mike really presented what we considered the best plan for us.”

 

Smith dismissed the notion that Martz’s offense is too difficult to digest by the season opener.

 

“We will be ready to go, to play football, to have our offense in place by the first game,” Smith said. “It’s not so complicated where we can’t do that. I think that’s a misconception for people to think that.”

 

Martz agreed, vowing “we will be hitting on all cylinders on opening day, I can promise you that.”