Believe in what you know.
Most anyone who has watched the Bears offensive line this season knows they can't pass protect.
Lovie Smith admits the Bears need more balance on offense. Thirty-nine pass plays to 14 rushing attempts in Sundays loss to the Seahawks isn't the kind of balance he was looking for.
"We probably should have run the ball more particularly in the second half," Bears Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz admitted Wednesday.
Of the 14 run plays, two were quarterback scrambles by Jay Cutler. There was one in each half. That means Martz called for the Bears to rush the ball 12 times; only four in the second half.
A week after Offensive Line Coach Mike Tice was lamenting his unit's struggles in pass protection, many wonder why Martz still called for 39 passes. Is he trying to get Jay Cutler killed?
"I can't worry about that," he said when asked if Cutler's health would ever dictate his play calling.
So how, then, is his relationship with Tice, who knows his personnel better than anyone?
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"Fantastic," Tice said after Wednesdays practice at Halas Hall.
So, should Martz scale back on the passing plays he calls, even if the game plan logically calls for the Bears to go airborne against a team that's not very good in pass protection on defense? Cutler isn't so sure.
"I don't know, flip a coin I guess," Cutler said Wednesday. "They're [the offensive line] either going to have to pass pro or they're going to have to run block. If we're going to get blitzed as much as we're getting blitzed, its going to be hard for them to pick up guys on the move and find gaps. It's difficult. It's really difficult for an offensive line."
Tice realized his young guns on the right side of the line, RT J'Marcus Webb and RG Edwin Williams, might struggle in the spotlight so he had a message for them:
"Believe you know because you do."
Tice wrote that message on the young linemen's test last Saturday anticipating their lack of confidence. And sure enough, it was a lack of confidence that caused the communication breakdowns.
"They just got to play and the only way they're going to gain confidence is play, look at the film and see the good things they do and grow from that," said Tice.
Growth and believing.
Tice does. Martz does.
Does Cutler believe in his offensive line?
"We're not hiding from it. We're not trying to mask that we have problems or go out there and trick people," Cutler said, admitting he hasn't let his frustrations get the best of him yet because the Bears are still 4-2. "We're going to get it fixed."
Before its too late.
