Mike Martz: Bears’ offense might be NFL’s least talented since 0-16 Lions

The Bears’ worst nightmare is that they can’t find out what they have in quarterback Justin Fields because of a below-average roster.

SHARE Mike Martz: Bears’ offense might be NFL’s least talented since 0-16 Lions
Former Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz stands with quarterback Jay Cutler during training camp in 2010.

Former Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz stands with quarterback Jay Cutler during training camp in 2010.

Nam Y. Huh/AP

The Bears’ offense might have less talent than any team since the winless 2008 Lions, former Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz wrote Tuesday.

Evaluating NFC North quarterbacks for the33rdteam.com, which counts former Bears consultant Bill Polian and former Bears coach Marc Trestman among its contributors, Martz painted a doomsday scenario for quarterback Justin Fields.

‘‘Fields is a guy that makes a lot of mistakes and is not particularly accurate at times,’’ Martz wrote. ‘‘He’s not a quick read-and-react guy, and he’s on a horrendous team.

‘‘But I don’t know if I’ve seen an offense that bad in talent since the 0-16 Detroit Lions. They just don’t have anybody there.’’

Martz was the offensive coordinator for the Lions in 2006-07, leaving the year before the winless season, and served in the same role for the Bears in 2010-11.

‘‘I’ve seen a lot of really good players go to bad teams, and then their career just never takes off,’’ he wrote. ‘‘And I think that’s what will happen with Fields. It’s going to take a long time for them to get talent there. He needs to be on a good football team behind really good players for a couple of years to learn how to play the position.

‘‘And when you put a guy behind a bad offensive line and you have no talent at wide receiver and you tell him to just go make big plays, he’s going to learn bad habits. You start doing stupid stuff just trying to survive.’’

That’s the Bears’ worst nightmare — that they won’t be able to find out what they have in Fields because of a below-average roster.

‘‘I think he’s a talented guy as a passer,’’ Martz wrote. ‘‘But you don’t know how to evaluate him because he just doesn’t have anything around him.’’

CST form logo
Halas Intrigue Bears Report
Expert analysis and reporting before and after every Bears game, from the journalists who cover the Monsters of the Midway best.

By subscribing, you agree with Revue’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

The Latest
Eileen O’Neill Burke is leading Clayton Harris III, 50.15% to 49.85%, a margin that changed only by hundredths of a percentage point, after city and suburban officials tallied more mail-in ballots Thursday.
Suspect Romeo Nance’s son witnessed the shooting of at least five relatives, according to Joliet police reports obtained through a public records request. The reports also indicate the child’s mother was more deeply involved in the case than first thought.
Counsell is measured and stoic, more so than Joe Maddon or David Ross. After Justin Steele’s Opening Day injury, Counsell will put his head down, pace and figure it out.
Steele held the Rangers to one run through 4 2/3 innings, but the Cubs lost in 10 innings.