Bears' win may be too little, too late for Martz
MINNEAPOLIS — There's nothing like a meaningless win at the end of a lost season over a 3-13 team to stoke anticipation for next year.
But that's better than the alternative, especially when the alternative, in the Bears' case, was taking a six-game losing streak into the off-season.
Coach Lovie Smith's team avoided that fate with a too-little-too-late 17-13 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at the Metrodome.
That salvaged a .500 record from a season that brimmed with promise after a 7-3 start but was torpedoed by a rash of injuries to key offensive players.
Fittingly, even in victory, the Bears suffered another serious injury.
Linebacker Brian Urlacher, who was voted to his eighth Pro Bowl last week, left late in the fourth quarter when he landed awkwardly after an end-zone collision with teammate Major Wright and Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin.
Urlacher's leg bent back at a grotesque angle, but the Bears say he suffered only a sprained MCL in his left knee.
“He heals a little bit quicker than most people,” Smith said, “so he should be OK.”
That should be one less thing Smith has to worry about.
But there still are a number of decisions that must be made. Perhaps none is more important than whether to retain Mike Martz as offensive coordinator, give the playcalling duties to offensive line coach Mike Tice or bring in someone from outside the organization.
“We're going to enjoy this win and then start the evaluation process and see what we need to do to take that next step to get back where we belong,” Smith said. “It's not a whole lot of fun finishing up your season and knowing that, but we are a good football team, and we're going to try to keep as many of our coaches and players as possible together.
“We don't want to tear this team down and start over. This is a good football team, and we're going to win a lot of games with this core remaining the same.”
It remains to be seen if Martz is part of the plan after a game in which many of the problems that plagued the offense all season were in evidence.
Robbie Gould's 27-yard field goal with 10:19 remaining capped a pass-heavy, 14-play drive that completed the scoring.
But by that point, quarterback Josh McCown already had been sacked seven times (3½ by Jared Allen), going down in a heap seemingly every time he took a seven-step drop.
Despite the offensive line's inability to protect McCown, Martz continued to call plays that required a deep drop. Finally, on that last scoring drive, the O-line got help from the tight ends and running backs.
As a result, McCown was able to complete passes of 14 yards to Devin Hester, 14 and 17 yards to Roy Williams and 15 yards to Earl Bennett to get Gould in position.
But Bears quarterbacks were sacked 49 times during the season, 16 times more than the Bears' defense dropped opposing quarterbacks.
Still, players who spoke for the record after Sunday's game were in favor of keeping Martz, even though Smith did not give him a vote of confidence last week when asked about his future.
“You know things are going to change (but hopefully) not many,” center Roberto Garza said. “We feel we have a good offense, and that we can go out there and move the ball.
“Obviously we have to execute, and when we do that, we're a (darn) good offense. So if we can keep that continuity going, that would be great.
“We were 7-3 at one point because he was our offensive coordinator. He's a great coach and knows exactly how to motivate us. You like to have continuity, so you'd like to have him back, but it's out of our hands; we just have to deal with whatever happens.”
The defense, which had kept games close early in the five-game skid but had allowed 35 and 38 points in the previous two games, gave the Bears a 14-10 lead early in the second quarter.
Nine-year veteran cornerback Charles Tillman, who was selected to his first Pro Bowl five days earlier, snagged a deflected ball that caromed off the hands of Toby Gerhart and brought it back 22 yards for the score.
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