Chicago Bears: Enter the Trestman

The Chicago Bears knocked off the Cincinnati Bengals to win their 2013 opener at home 24-21.

And it was all because of Marc Trestman.

There, I said it.

How can I make such a sweeping claim so boldly and with such absolute certainty? Sunday's week one victory, to me, boils down to three key factors:

1) The emergence of Jake Long and Jordan Mills at right Guard/Tackle, respectively, and the decision to start them.

2) Clock management at the end of the first half.

3) Trusting the offense to make plays instead of trusting the defense to save the game.

Taking each case one at a time, let's compare the new regime to the Lovie Smith Bears.

1) Long and Mills

 Lovie's predilection against starting rookies was well-documented, as was his lack of ability to effectively evaluate and draft offensive talent; it was simply never "his thing." Let's be honest: if Lovie were still here, would Long even be playing? Would he even be on the team? I suspect instead we'd still see J'Marcus Webb under contract. That Phil Emery was able to find what appear to be, for all intents and purposes, two starter-quality offensive linemen in the same draft is truly impressive. But perhaps even more so is the coaching staff's ability to develop both Jake Long and Jordan Mills as rapidly and with as much success as they have had thus far in the young season. Their contribution is immediately apparent: in the key fourth-quarter fourth-and-inches call, Trestman and offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer called a run... to the right... with the game on the line... behind two rookies... and it worked.

It's hard to believe, but that fourth-and-short trust with the game on the line wasn't even the most impressive contribution from Long and Mills. No, the most telling stat is this: Zero. Sacks. The Bengals have one of the best defensive lines in football - the front four alone were responsible for 43 of the team's 51 sacks in 2012. Today? A couple of rookies, an aging center, and two first-year free agents blanked them. Cutler wasn't sacked once. In four years under Lovie, Cutler was sacked an average of 2.64 times per game. So far under Trestman? A clean slate.

2) Clock Management

Look, I'm not a Lovie hater. I actually liked him. He won. It wasn't pretty. Sometimes, it was downright grotesque. But he was a winner. Still, even the staunchest Lovie lovers wouldn't argue: he was terrible at managing the clock in key moments... on both sides of the ball.

Enter Marc Trestman. With 37 seconds left until half and down by a score, WWLD? (What would Lovie do?) I'll tell you what Lovie would do: he'd take a damn knee. Over and over again, he'd take a damn knee instead of running a play or two.

Instead, Trestman pressed and found a way. The Bears pulled closer on a 58-yard Robbie Gould record-setting field goal to enter halftime down four instead of seven.

Oh, by the way, what was their ultimate margin of victory? Tell me that final score, again?

3) In O We Trust

Close game. Late. Fourth and 1. Down four. Inside field goal range. WWLD? He'd kick the field goal and trust his defense to get a stop. What would Trestman do? He'd let Forte get him the couple inches on the aforementioned right-side run. He'd trust his playmaker to make a play.

The very next snap? Jay Cutler to Brandon Marshall. 19 yards. Touchdown.

And the rest, as they say, is history.