Mike Tice assuming the full role of offensive coordinator has to have a lot of Cheshire cat grins in one meeting room at Halas Hall. Tice may have had his Randy Ratio for wideout Randy Moss getting a minimum number of touches per game in Minnesota, but now there could be a Pancake Ratio installed, which should make a roomful of offensive linemen very happy.
Tice formally interviewed with Lovie Smith on Thursday in what may have been just a formality and final clarification of goals, styles and details.
Tice shares the same vision I have for our offense moving forward, Smith said. We want to be a strong running team with a big-play pass attack. Mike will call plays for us and continue to have an active role with our offensive line.
Tice will be Jay Cutlers fifth offensive coordinator, third in four Chicago years, but he also has been intimately involved in the things that may have kept Cutler alive over the past two seasons.
The game designs of Mike Martz saw Cutler sacked 27 times over basically 5-12 games prior to the off week in 2010, a rate of nearly 5.5 per game.
During the break and a meeting that involved Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith, Martz and Tice, Tice was given a bigger say in the game planning and the offense was tilted toward run-pass balance. Over the final nine games, Cutler was sacked a total of 25 times (2.7 per game).
After just two games with passer ratings above his career average of 85 in the first six games, Cutler posted six of 85-plus over the final nine.
NFL
Lovie and I share a similar mindset of what the Bears offense should look and feel like, Tice said in a statement. There will be a toughness about us. We are going to be a powerful run team and were going to be able to mix in explosive pass plays.
It will be important for us to utilize the talents of our players and exploit match-ups each Sunday. We have athletes we can build with. I feel fortunate Lovie has placed the trust in me to help move us forward to a championship.