It's up to Cutler to make Bears' new offense work

The Bears have made changes on both sides of the ball as they begin their mission of returning to the NFL playoffs with Sunday's season opener against the Detroit Lions.

While the Bears invested $90 million in signing defensive end Julius Peppers, the most important change from last year is the offensive system quarterback Jay Cutler will be operating.

The greatest impact on the Bears' success this year could be Cutler's effectiveness in Mike Martz's offense.

The dynamic between Martz and head coach Lovie Smith has been flip-flopped from their days with the St. Louis Rams, when Martz was the boss and Smith the defensive coordinator. Smith's confidence in Martz is unquestioned.

"Mike has a lot of experience," Smith said. "I've been on record talking about how I feel about him as an offensive mind. He has a lot of ideas, and he's extremely intelligent. He can pick up things real quick during the game."

There was little success in the preseason to instill confidence, though. But now that the playbook has been scaled back and fine-tuned to attack specific weaknesses in certain defenses, Cutler believes the offense will take off.

"We're putting in plays for exact defenses," Cutler said. "It's just a totally different ballgame right now. It's a lot more intense, a lot more detailed."

The results will be better, starting immediately, according to Cutler.

Asked when he expected the offense to begin clicking, he said, "First quarter."

"Of Game 1?" he was asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"I'm just confident in what we're doing," Cutler added. "We did some really good stuff on film that we're building on, and with Mike calling the plays and really installing it and making sure every detail is taken care of, we're going to be good."

Last year the Bears' offense was not good enough. It was 23rd in total yards per game, and Cutler was intercepted a league-high 26 times.

But if history is any indication, Cutler will thrive under Martz, who is a quarterback's offensive coordinator.

Critics will cast doubt by pointing to the 10 sacks Cutler suffered in the preseason. The Bears quarterback doesn't believe he will be subject to that kind of abuse when the games count, but he will have to share the responsibility for keeping himself upright.

"That's why we have Mike Tice here," Cutler said of the team's offensive line coach. "Mike Martz is very sensitive to the issue of quarterbacks getting hit.

"We've talked about it many times. A lot of our stuff is timing, and the ball is supposed to be out (on time). If everyone is doing their job and Mike is getting us good plays, then the ball should be gone."

Martz's offense won't be confused with the one that Cutler operated in last year under Ron Turner, but the quarterback says Martz's playcalling isn't that different from what he experienced in Denver.

"It's similar, a high-energy guy," Cutler said. "(Martz) is very confident in his calls. He is very confident in what we're going to see defensively, and he's able to change rapidly. He doesn't really get stuck on stuff. He can see ahead a couple plays of what is going to happen. It makes it fun."

There aren't any audibles in Martz's offense, but Cutler says that isn't a problem for him. And it doesn't mean he won't have options if he comes to the line of scrimmage and sees a defense geared to stuff the play that has been called.

"My last year in Denver we didn't audible much," he said. "We didn't do a lot of that stuff. A lot of the stuff is built in (to Martz's system).

"There is always going to be an answer with guys like (Martz). The way they design plays, there is going to be an answer for every coverage, every blitz. If there isn't an answer, it's not going to be a play (anymore)."