In spite of Martz, Bears run over Bucs
On the surface, it would seem so very simple.
That's because on any surface, it is.
Be it the awful turf of Wembley Stadium in London or the mud of Chicago's Soldier Field, the Bears' formula for winning remains artless and eminently effective.
Hand it off, get the lead, and force a team that can't run into second-and-long and third-and-impossible.
Then, sit back and let the opposition self-destruct.
It took the Bears seven games to figure it out a year ago and five games this season.
That stands as progress on the learning curve of Lovie Smith and Mike Martz, who have watched their franchise quarterback get pounded incessantly early in the schedule for two straight seasons before making an adjustment.
But they got off the double-decker bus running in London on Sunday and could have strolled to an easy victory over the Buccaneers.
They made it difficult in the fourth quarter because, ultimately, Martz can't help himself. Up 21-5, a Jay Cutler pick with 13:48 remaining, when all the Bears had to do was hand it off, led to a Tampa score, and another TD pulled them to within a field goal.
And then the Bears had to hold on for dear life when Buccaneers QB Josh Freeman had the game in his hands down 6 with less than two minutes to play, but his fourth interception of the game, a nice grab by D.J. Moore, finally sealed the deal.
It's a key win for the Bears (4-3) over a team in Tampa (4-3) that they'll likely have to battle if the Bears remain in the wild-card race to the end, and now they hold the advantage over the Buccaneers.
The Lions (5-2) also lost for the second straight week, suddenly making relevant the Nov. 13 match with Detroit in Chicago, a week after the Bears face the Eagles on Monday night.
Coming off a 2-3 record, the Bears knew they had three winnable games in a row with Minnesota, Tampa and — after the bye week — Philadelphia. They've won the first two and at 4-3 are back in the playoff race.
As frustrating as it is that it took the Bears five games to remember the formula, one must consider giving Smith and Martz credit for finally doing what they can do, which is primarily give the ball to Matt Forte.
The balance Sunday was superb, with 33 runs to 32 pass attempts, and since Forte ran for 2 yards on 9 carries against Green Bay in Week 3, the Bears have won three of four and Forte has averaged 22 carries and 138 yards in the last four games after finishing Sunday with 145 yards on 25 rush attempts.
Forte took over the game early Sunday, as the Bears outrushed Tampa 138-33 in the first half, and the Bears took a 14-5 lead into halftime.
After that, it should have been predictably easy. The Bears' defense took advantage of a Tampa offense ravaged by injuries, possessing no running back, no running attack and very average receivers.
All the Bears had to do was punt and hold, avoid turnovers and cruise home with a very quiet and satisfying victory in London.
Of course, Martz can't get out of his own way, so after a Brian Urlacher pick, Martz had Cutler throwing an interception in the fourth quarter that gave Tampa a short field, a touchdown and a prayer.
There was one stretch in the second half when Martz had Cutler dropping back 16 out of 24 plays, including 7 straight in the fourth quarter.
That is Martz, and that's probably never going to change.
However, when it was ultimately done and said, the Bears outgained Tampa 177-30 on the ground and 395-280 in total yards, and it was a dominating win in just about every way except the scoreboard (24-18), which was only a result of Martz's overcoaching in the second half.
Of course, it's not the Bears' way to admit they might have been wrong about how they approached their offense in the first quarter of the season, or even in the fourth quarter Sunday, especially in light of a two-game winning streak.
So if Smith's arrogance seems without cause and apology during a normal NFL week, and aggravates you in the process, imagine now Smith and the Bears with 2 straight wins and two weeks between games.
They will be back to talking playoffs and Super Bowls, and the reality is they're in a good spot to compete for a postseason berth.
As for whether they remain there, well, that's almost entirely up to Martz.
brozner@dailyherald.com
#376;Hear Barry Rozner on WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.