It is one of those games in the NFL. Sunday your Chicago Bears will be in Foxboro playing the team of the generation and completing the third leg of the East Coast Triple Crown. The Meadowlands Massacre is done and a win Sunday would not only establish your Bears as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the NFC but also cement them as a bona fide contender to win the whole damn thing. We don't talk about the Super Bowl much on this site...we're not fools...but a win Sunday would start the conversation.
And I have an idea. Turn Rex Grossman loose. Drop him back and let it fly. The whole football world expects more dink and dunk from Ronny and Rex. They expect the Bears to try and win on the other side of the ball. I say put this one on 8's shoulders. The Pats don't have a single top tier defensive back and your Bears now have a receiving corps with two deep threats.
What's the worst that can happen? We'll learn about our quarterback. Make no mistake about it, Rex Grossman will need to make some big time throws in the postseason for this club to have a shot. If he can handle the Bellichick deception and make plays Sunday, we'll know he's capable of doing the same thing in January against a Bill Parcells or John Fox squad. Ron Turner can be Ron Turner and not pretend to be John Shoop.
Turn him loose and let it fly. First play. Four wide. Bears...37. Pats...16.
Guess the score, win next Saturday's column.
#2 Megan said . . .The dink-and-dunk against the Jets happened because: 1) the Bears knew they could beat the Jets on the ground and with their D, and 2) exactly what you just described, playing ahead to the Patriots.
Turner wanted Belichick to think the Bears are reeling Rex in, calming him down and making him more conservative. Only to turn him loose on Sunday.
Final Score: Bears win, 23-20.
November 24, 2006
#3 Midway Monster said . . .I agree, let him loose. He needs to get some good solid experience and I know he has the ability. This could give Rex the confidence he needs.
I even agree with the Belichick deception. We might be able to do it on the other side of the ball, but good Lord, we may not have quite the running game that the Pats have but we really do have some wicked good WR's . This could be the boost in the arm the offense needsBears win 20-17
November 25, 2006
#4 Max said . . .Bears take game 3 of the road trip. 17-14
November 25, 2006
#5 Furious George said . . .Bears win 27-17
Desmond Clark gettin 7 rec 96 yard and 2 touchdowns. . . and Rashied will get in the endzoneNovember 25, 2006
#6 Furious George said . . .I expect to see lark emerge as one of the premiere tight ends in the league; 6+ catches.
We need to see more reliable running from TJ and CB; still not convinced they can help us through the playoffs.
Bears 27 - Patsies 13
November 25, 2006
#7 Green Lantern said . . .I expect to see Clark emerge as one of the premiere tight ends in the league; 6+ catches.
We need to see more reliable running from TJ and CB; still not convinced they can help us through the playoffs.
Bears 27 - Patsies 13
November 25, 2006
#8 paytonrules said . . .living in CT, i've been force fed the pats a lot over the last few weeks, and they're very vulnerable in a lot of areas. i'm varying between being pretty scared and pretty confident about this game.
brady has been more prone to making mistakes than in any other year i've seen, the bears pressure will force him into a couple turnovers, and they're not exactly a fumble proof team in other areas.
rex in the last 6 quarters has looked a little less spectacular, but a lot like what the bears need to win it all this year. I believe that being just over the 16 career start mark that he's understanding not to blindly force throws when pressured, and that taking a sack isn't the worst thing in some cases.
bears running game will not thrive, but will be able to hold onto the ball long enough to give the D a chance for several turnovers and a score.
bears 20, patriots 17, brady comes up short on a potential game winning drive at the end.
November 25, 2006
#9 District Selectman said . . .The Bears games boil down to one thing - good or evil Rex. The Jets game gave us a third thing - Rex Orton. Rex Orton is not an option against the Patriots, with that kind of passing game you go 11-5 and lose in the first round. You need a good, solid, real QB in there. I think Ron Turner knows this, and frankly he's a pass-first guy anyway, and will take the reins off. That means it boils down to which Rex will show up. We know what causes that. According to Football Outsiders NE is 14th in adjusted sack rate, ahead of Minnesota and Arizona, behind Miami and Seattle. Clearly that doesn't tell us much.
How do you determine whether the rush will get to Grossman, and whether he'll be rattled? Frankly it's up to him. Belichick has seen what Minnesota saw - if you throw delayed blitzes up the middle our guards don't recognize and let them through. He will get rushed, and he must not do 13 step drops and he can't fling it away.
You know what? I think he's gonna, because I'm a big stupid Bears fan. He'll whether the storm early then pick on Troy Brown late. That will give the Bears as much offense as the Pats, which isn't a lot since I think they can count on 2 big runs from Mulroney and nothing else.
So a tie you say? Nope. You forget - the Bears have the best special teams in the league. Hester gives us good field position, Gould makes a few field goals that their kicker can't.
17-7, Bears. Make a note I'm scared shitless of Tom Brady.
November 25, 2006
#10 big rob said . . .Last week was a little closer than I had anticipated, but neverdaless da Bearss are starting to thrive away from Soldierss Field. While most might expect da Patss to be better than da Jetss, I expect this game to be a little wider open, with da Bearss pulling away in the fourth quarter.
Bears 72-zip.
November 25, 2006
#11 jeff said . . .REX ORTON!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA....... Thats exactly what I was thinking sitting there watching as "Jets fans" were falling asleep around me in the stands last week..... GO BEARS!!! VOTE NO FOR REX ORTON!!
November 25, 2006
#12 coxyyy said . . .hey paytonrules....if they do what they did last week, i want you to write a full post for me about rex orton...it's too damn good
November 25, 2006
#13 paytonrules said . . .Since last week my highscoring guess was likely the worst of them all, I am going to pull a George Costanza and go the opposite of what I really think. Since I think it will be a low scoring affair, I am going to guess that the score will be 42-35 da bears. We shall see if this plan works.
November 26, 2006
#14 pat rehmer said . . .The Patriots starting punter is out for the day - and they are bringing back a guy who hasn't punted this year.
Devin Hester just catch the line drive punt and then do what you do when you do that think you do that you do so well.
Or something.
I stand by my score, but now I feel a LOT better about it.
November 26, 2006
Lovie smith is a token coach. Any coach with half a mind would have yanked Grossman after the first quarter. He is awful. Bring back Ditka or someone with passion. I can't stand to watch the defense get punished with a totally inept offense. It reminds me of when I was a kid. The only reason I watched the games was because of Butkus. Lovie Smith is making long time Bears fans lose their minds.
November 27, 2006
Here at DaBearsBlog, you are free to kill us or the Bears as you so wish. You are not free, however, to be an asshole. So if you spew racism or ill-meaning foul language (cursing about football is just fine) or anything of that ilk, your comments ain't gonna last long, jerk.