Mike Martz did what's counterintuitive to him: He went on the defensive.
Two weeks ago, in front of the dining hall at Olivet Nazarene University, the Bears offensive coordinator was asked about the alarmingly high number of times his quarterbacks were sacked, on average, during a season.
''The biggest thing is, if you just look at St. Louis, those numbers aren't as high,'' Martz told the Sun-Times. ''Where we were high is in Detroit. In Detroit, in order to win games, we just had to play basketball, and you're going to get sacked.
''You're going to get sacked.''
Martz had a point. In the two seasons he was the offensive coordinator of the Lions, veteran quarterback Jon Kitna was sacked an astounding 117 times, 47 above the NFL average during that span. But from 1999 to 2005, when Martz was either the offensive coordinator or head coach, the Rams' quarterbacks were still sacked an average of 43 times per season.
Martz's high-risk, high-reward offensive approach historically yields impressive results.
For those eying up Cutler in the middle rounds to serve as your starting QB, this is a reminder to maybe take a quality backup sooner than you may want to.
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