Bears @ Patriots After Thoughts: Time to Make a QB Change!

Dave it is good to have you back from the dark side. There is clearly no way we win a superbowl with rex. Rex's future in this league is as a backup. He just doesn't have the physical or mental tools to cut in this league as a starter. Let's hope that lovie, ron, and jerry get off the kool aid and figure out what the rest of the league already knows. Rex is our weakest link, and a team is only as good as its weakest player, and rex is pretty weak.

Reply

The truly sad thing about ron and lovie isn't that they are sticking with rex, they still refuse to see that they are doing nothing to help him. Once again, it is called the shotgun formation.

Reply

I know Rex's bad play cost the Bears the game but you have to remember this is only his 1st year as a starter.He was hurt most of the time until this year.Troy Aikman,Jim Kelly,and John Elway all struggled their 1st couple of years.We should run the ball more to take some some of the pressure off of Rex.

Reply

By the way, Benson was really laying some leather on defenders.

Reply

Grossman is struggling in his first full season as a starter,just like Aikman,Kelly,and Elway.We need to play more of a run oriented offense to take some pressure off of Rex.No doubt his play cost us the game yesterday though.

Reply

Losing Todd Johnson hurt also and he knows how to deliver a hit,like the one where the ball popped up so high and another Bear recovered it.

Reply

Hey Dave, while I can sense your frustrations, and I have myself have called for Rex to be benched, but let's not so quick to throw Rex Baby out with the bath water. I think the Offense's Weakest Link is Ron Turner, and his lack of accurately assessing opposing defenses and developing an offensive glan plan to defeat it. Long passes while exciting are always a Gamble, relying on uncertain factors to be exact and/or a defensive pass interference penalty to go our way. Which is no plan, or at a juvenile one at best.
What I see is Rex's biggest handicap, is his lack of mobility. You never see him Swing out from the pocket, instead once he drops back a couple yards, he plants his feet and stands his ground, while noble, it's also predictable. He needs some serious Advanced
Courses at the Happy Feet Academy of Pass Defense Rush Avoidance School.
I think that since we have Brian Griese, he really shouldn't be used exclusively as a Back up QB, but more as a First Half QB, with Rex coming in for the Second Half. Because at that time, the Defense should be somewhat softened up, and slowed down, enabling us to better utilize Rex's talents. Sitting out would allow Rex to see from a different perspective, of how the Opposing Defense is operating that day, and hopefully the best way to attack it.
One thing is for sure, and that is when we run the ball, and run it consistantly, we tend not to turn the ball over, and it opens up the play action pass. It's what Kyle Orton did for us last year, and he won us 10 games, before turning over the QB Position to Rex, and then his loss to Minnesota and the first round loss to Carolina. All because we got away from what was working for us.
I don't know if Brain Griese or Kyle Orton is the Answer to our current QB woes, but one thing is certain:
Whatever "IT" is that Great Quarterbacks have, Rex is still trying to find "IT", and I am Sad to say, that I doubt he finds "IT" before the Playoffs! (If we make it that far!)

Reply

chip, aikman and elway were true rookies when they were baptized by fire (Kelly started in the USFL, so he really wasn't a rookie in his first year in the NFL), grossman is now in his fourth year and he is playing worse than a rookie and making mistakes that are not even acceptable for a rookie. Orton wasn't given any slack when he was a true rookie, I find it hypocritical now that many of those who blasted orton and didn't want to hear he was a rookie, now use that excuse for Rex. We don't have time for rex to wipe the dumb, confused look off his face, windows to win the super bowl are closed quickly, we need to see what griese can do.

Reply

sonny, while agree with most of your post, I don't think you can be a serious super bowl contender using a rotating QB system, if you go to griese than let him play the whole game. Rex doesn't have "it", doesn't know where to find "it", doesn't even really know what "it" is.

Reply

the bears will get locked into a losing mode now.its their destiny.with a retarded quarterback,and an asshole like urlacher who dont have any respect for another player,its high time they find out what they really are,"nothing but a one hit wonder".
the differance maker would be "kyle orton",you know the guy who really should be the starter for chicago.come this next spring,if the bears dont try and sign a few of their real talented players their falling in the same destiny that the vikes have fallen into as well as greenbay.might i say the future of the north will be led by detroit?ugh,i hate to say that,but its true.

Reply

Briggs had a good game.. though Tillman needs anger management classes, every game i watch he's late hitting somebody, getting a personal foul or fighting with the other team's coaches..Watching this game against the Patriots told me two things.. The Defense is Championship ready, the offense has some ways to go. With two minutes to go, airing it out on 1st down was STUPID, the way Jones was running late in the game, theres no reason to not run down the clock with short passes and runs to keep the game out of Brady's hands. AND Oh, yeah where was Mark Bradley in this game? DId Rex and Ron totally forget he has big play ability even when Rex throws like t-rex?!..

Reply

I agree with Chip. I was lookig at Brett Farves numbers and that guy hasn't had a single year with the packers under 13 interceptions. If he is a future hall of famer, then I think we should give Rex at least that much consideration. Personally, I think the kid will settle down and with some help from the offensive line, he'll bring us home a superbowl win this year.

Reply

From the other side, don't put Sunday's loss all on Grossman's shoulders. I realize that he has been inconsistent the past several games but if you look objectively, it was because of Grossman's passing that the running game opened up. The Pats stacked the line for the first half and were very effective stopping the run until Grossman burned them on a several third down passes. Also, give credit to Asante Samuel of the Patriots for making good plays on his three INTs. He played the ball and took it away before it got into the hands of the receiver. Those weren't horrible passes, just tight one-on-one coverage by the Pats.

Equal blame for the loss should be placed on Lovie Smith's shoulders. What the hell was the reason for kicking that FG?? You are in the red zone, its 4th and 6, and you're down by 7 points. If you go for it and get a 1st down, chances are good you can tie the game. If you don't get it, you have the Patriots backed up to their own 15 or 20 and leave it up to your defense to stop the Pats. You don't kick a FG and HOPE your defense gets the ball back, you have to assume that you won't get another shot and score the TD when you have the ball.

What does Lovie do? He kicks a meaningless FG to pull within 4 points...but he STILL needs a touchdown. Worse than that, he is now kicking off to Maroney (league leader in KO returns) who returns the kickoff to the 27. The Pats quickly moved the ball downfield and were in short fg territory at the Bears' 22 when Chicago forced the Dillon fumble. Grossman now has to travel 78 yards in 1:52 in order to get the necessary TD.

Now I guarantee that Rex doesn't call his own plays, so blame the coaching staff for not being patient enough and going for broke on first down. With the success that Jones and Benson were having in the 2nd half, it was foolhardy not to at least try and run the ball down the Pats throat before going long.


Regarding the Grossman/Griese debate, if the Bears are going to make a change, now is the time to do it. The Bears have a creampuff schedule over the last 5 games. They do not play one team over .500 the rest of the way and the lack of formidable competition should allow Griese the leeway to get acclimated to the Bears offense with little repercussions.

In closing, I must say this about the Bears' defense. Wow. They are a force. They are good enough to carry this team deep into the playoffs regardless of who's calling signals (see Dilfer and the 2000 Ravens).

Good Luck Bear Fans....hope to see a rematch in Miami....that would be a treat for all of us smashmouth football freaks!

Reply

I really think Lovie was hoping Rex would have gotten hurt by this time, and He would be forced to use Griese, because he really doesn't want a quarterback controversy, and he doesn't want to go against G.M. Jerry Angelo, because thats his Boss and Rex "The Wreck" Grossman is Angelo's Draft Day Baby. The bears would have a much better chance making it to Miami w/ Griese than Grossman. Their defense is good enough to carry them there, if they only had a so-so quarterback that wouldn't lose games for them!!! Rex is losing games, Griese probably wouldn't win many by himself, but he wouldn't lose any either.

Reply

guys, if we don't make the super bowl this year - we might have to wait another twenty years. we won't get there with brian griese. he sucked with denver and he'll suck here too! grossman is our only hope and the coach(s) is going to have to find a way to deal with his weakness. fix that leaky o-line, more use of the shotgun, be more ready for the blitz that every team uses a zillion time a game aginst us. sadly, grossman is our guy and we can win with him but it will be ugly.

Reply

Craig, I couldn't disagree with more. How can you watch rex and actually think this guy can take us anywhere. He is the laughingstock of the league. Griese is solid QB. If brad johnson and trent dilfer can win a super bowl, Brian Griese certainly can, he is better than both of those guys. Rex is a tumor for the bears that needs to be removed.

Reply

john and aaron, your logic is hard to argue with. but belive me as a displaced bear fan now living in denver, i watched brian griese for years - he stinks!
you guys are right in that this bear team can win with just an average q.b. who just doesn't make mistakes. i don't like grossman but now is not the time to ditch him in favor of a proven loser like griese.

Reply