If Bears run, Cutler won’t have to hide
It took five games.
Remember that. It took five games for Lovie Smith and Mike Martz to decide that their quarterback might not survive the season without an adjustment.
That was after weeks of Jay Cutler openly politicking for more protection and a quicker release, and still it wasn’t until the Bears sat at 2-3 that the head coach and offensive coordinator made a change.
Cutler took a ridiculous beating in 2010, averaging 7.82 hits and 3.35 sacks in 17 games, but through five contests this season Cutler was averaging an even worse 9.4 hits and 3.6 sacks.
And finally they went to max protect, taking advantage of a dreadful Minnesota secondary and a Tampa defense with just as many problems.
Since then they’re 2-0 and Cutler has taken 13 hits with 3 sacks.
Coincidence? Of course not.
It’s worth noting as well that the Bears have a nearly 50-50 run-pass ratio the last two contests after running the ball only 36 percent of the time in the first five games.
In 3 losses they’ve run it 27 percent of the plays, and in 4 wins they’ve rushed the ball 49.6 percent of the time.
The numbers are somewhat skewed because when trailing they’re obviously throwing the ball more, but it doesn’t explain away defeats like New Orleans and Green Bay, when the Bears were still in the game in the second half and ran it only 12 times in each compared to an average of 45.5 pass plays.
So now they face a Philadelphia defense Monday night that loves to attack the quarterback, is near the top of the league in sacks and has a very good secondary, but is also susceptible to the run.
At the same time, Cutler is averaging 240 yards and 1 TD on the road this season.
So it would seem clear coming out of the bye that the Bears know what they must do to win the game and keep Cutler upright. They must run it and they must get the lead, something Dallas didn’t do Sunday night.
But sometimes what seems obvious to everyone else it not always so clear to Martz.
Time after time
The NFL is always worried about length of games, but through rule changes they’ve cut the number of plays without significantly shortening games.
Thing is, as expensive as tickets are, fans want more for their money, not less.
It’s usually the media whining about game times and the truth is most fans don’t care about time elapsed. They care about time between plays, like the time between pitches in baseball.
Consider that in Week 3 against the Bears, Green Bay scored with 12 minutes left in the second quarter on an Aaron Rodgers pass to Jermichael Finley.
As the touchdown — which was painfully clear — was reviewed, Fox ran three commercials. They returned with another half-minute of sponsorships read by Joe Buck.
The referee finally announced the play was upheld and the Packers kicked the extra point. Then, two more commercials and two more ads for Fox TV shows, which were as long as commercials.
Green Bay then kicked off through the end zone.
Actual time elapsed was eight minutes for an extra point and kickoff through the end zone.
We know advertising pays for the NFL, but tickets still cost a lot of money and reducing the number of plays isn’t the answer.
Now, the league is reviewing every scoring play, and that’s fine. Get the plays right whenever possible. But don’t put in more rules to reduce the number of plays because the NFL is making the game longer.
That’s not fair to the paying customer.
Moneyball
Paul DePodesta was reportedly the only main character in the movie who didn’t allow his name to be used, so Jonah Hill played an exec named Peter Brand.
DePodesta told the L.A. Times, “I remember thinking how unforgiving it might be to have someone else portray you to the rest of the world. It could be great, but it also could be very unnerving, and once I read the script and realized it was a piece of fiction, I saw no reason for my name to be attached to it.”
Rough call
Charlotte owner Michael Jordan, who was supposed to be an assistant captain again, informed Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples this week that he would skip the matches in Australia this month because of the lockout.
“With the NBA labor situation unsettled,” Jordan said, “I feel it is necessary that I remain in the country.”
But there is no NBA business right now so it would seem the perfect time to be away. And since when did basketball business keep Michael Jordan from doing whatever he wanted anyway?
Injecting humor
TBS’ Conan O’Brien: “The Mets are planning to move the walls of Citi Field in order to increase the number of home runs they hit. Call me old-fashioned, but isn’t that what steroids are for?”
Best headline
Sportspickle.com: “Hot stove quickly turned off so CC Sabathia can eat.”
And finally ...
Omaha World-Herald’s Brad Dickson: “Major League Baseball is getting tough. Starting next season, all beer sales in the Red Sox dugout will be cut off after the seventh inning.”
brozner@dailyherald.com
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