National Football League

Time to Take a Pass

Published Oct. 18, 2010 10:15 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Bears unveiled their run offense last Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, churning out more rushing yards than any game since November 2008. That strategy was adopted largely to take the pressure off veteran quarterback Todd Collins, who needed all the help he could get. But with Jay Cutler returning to the lineup, will Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz be able to control himself? The Seattle Seahawks have the league's second-best run defense and the second-worst pass defense. If ever there were a week for the Bears to abandon the run, this would seem to be it.

Blitzing fools

Defenses that blitz the most on passing downs in 2010

20+

Rank/Team Blitz/plays Pct. TDs Int. Sacks gains

1 Jets 118/192 61.5 6 4 6 14

2 Redskins 97/237 40.9 2 2 7 7

3 Jaguars 87/180 48.3 5 1 8 9

4 Packers 85/203 41.9 1 3 12 6

5 Cardinals 83/189 43.9 6 0 5 10

6 Browns 83/162 51.2 8 2 3 12

7 Seahawks 75/185 40.5 3 3 8 9

8 Saints 74/149 49.7 2 3 5 9

9 Texans 73/215 34.0 3 2 4 7

10 Rams 69/191 36.1 3 1 5 6

NFL average 60.1/ 170.8 35.2 2.6 1.6 4.7 5.7

how it's hangin'

This is Brad Maynard's 14th NFL season, and he remains one of the league's best directional punters. He's tied for second in the NFL with 12 punts inside an opponent's

20-yard line. But Maynard has had some issues getting air under his punts this season. Here's a look at average hang time:

Hang

Rank/Player/Team Punts TBs PR Catch O.B. Downed time

1 Michael Koenen, Falcons 21 2 4 11 1 3 4.62

30 Brett Kern, Titans 25 2 16 0 1 6 4.03

31 Mike Scifres, Chargers 16 3 10 2 1 0 3.98

32 Brad Maynard, BEARS 28 3 14 3 6 2 3.89

34 Matt Dodge, Giants 19 2 11 1 3 2 3.87

35 Josh Bidwell, Redskins 15 0 7 1 2 5 3.73

36 Connor Barth, Bucs 1 1 0 0 0 0 2.16

COMING UP BIG

A look at the most effective running backs in the fourth quarter: