Bernstein's Blog: Don't Give Smith A Pass

Mike Martz calls the plays, but he is not the head coach.

He is the ranking offensive mind both in the always-blissful corridors of Halas Hall and on the tense gameday sideline. He was hired to scheme to score.

Lovie Smith is in charge, however, and it would be nice if he acted like it.

The reason why head coaches wear headsets during games is because they have final veto power over every call in every phase. Some came up through the defensive ranks, some the other side -- but both types then allow their opposite-coordinator counterpart to assume a high degree of control and responsibility.

Often, that dynamic clouds our assessment of who's in charge of what.

So let me un-cloud it: Smith needs to save Jay Cutler from Mike Martz, and Mike Martz from himself.

On the final Bears possession of the first half Sunday night, Martz was reckless, irresponsible and borderline sadistic. A head coach must recognize that and say, simply, "Let's run it here." The conservatism of play-calling in the second half indicated that some kind of reality eventually sunk in, but it should have arrived earlier.

Place blame for that where it belongs -- not necessarily on the known commodity in the delusionally-aggressive Martz -- but on the man in charge of the team who is entrusted to overrule and forestall decisions that expose the team to unreasonable peril.

Meantime, Jay Cutler floats in brain-injury limbo. Reports today identify this as his third known concussion, adding gravity to his current situation. It is likely that no further information will be available until tomorrow, but today is important for the neurological evaluation. I see no reason for Cutler to play this week.

Hub Arkush joins us at 5:00 to gove his pointed opinions on the Bears and the NFL. Gerry DiNardo talks college football at 3:00. Second Half at 3:30.

MLB playoffs open tomorrow, the Blackhawks open at Colorado Thursday, and the Bulls get ready for exhibition play without Carlos Boozer.