He was bouncing, you might say. Bouncing like a kid at the top of the stairs on Christmas eve. Hoping, praying that he'd find what he wanted under the big green tree. Rex Grossman was tired of Jay Mariotti eulogizing his just begun life as Chicago Bears general. He was anxious to make that play. The one that would harness the talking horses at ESPN and silence the boos. The one that would send the sideline into a chorus of a now deserved battle cry, "That's our quarterback!" And on a first quarter, third and seven from his own twenty-three yard line - Rex made that play. He ran straight down the field for twenty-two yards and gained a lot more than a first down.
Rex didn't play a perfect game last night. He didn't even play a great game. But he played the kind of smart, controlled football that will be enough to usher this team through the postseason. He never killed them and when the opportunity presented itself - he made two of his finest throws of the season. Both for touchdowns.
Rex didn't play a perfect game last night. He played a tough game. The world had decreed he was no longer fit to be quarterback for the Chicago Bears. No one let Rex in on the decision. #8 looked like #9 last night and no Bears fan can say that big, bright, shiny smile on his face didn't make you think he'd turned the corner.
That's the last corner on the track. Welcome to the home stretch and Rex Grossman's Chicago Bears. Looking like #9 is one thing. Finishing like him makes you immortal.
Addendum: Over last night...don't fuck up Sunday, Rex.
#2 jonathan said . . .I even liked the throw he made under pressure to TJ during the first quarter. He avoided the sack and made the play. I had a feeling that he wasn't "thinking" he was just playing.
December 12, 2006
#3 Max said . . .nitpick: "That's out quarterback" -- shouldn't that be "our"? I understand, I'm hungover too today, but that just means you do one more little proofreading before posting :)
In all seriousness, Rex had a great night. I'm a bit worried about him facing a truly deadly secondary in the playoffs, but it's a solid step in the right direction. Keep it up.
December 12, 2006
#4 Onside Kicks said . . .Rex played well. But all he did was buy time. If he resorts to bad Rex next week, itll all be back. He has to maintain his poise against the Bucs. Great RUNNING attack by all. TJ, Benson, and Peterson. I was so pumped to see Peterson get that touchdown.
Adrian Peterson is a true Chicago Bear. We draft a running back in the first round last year and he still signs a 3 year contract with us. He knows he is hardly ever going to get to see the ball behind these 2 guys in front of him but he still comes back. He plays hard, he tackles hard on special teams, and when given the ball, he hits the hole hard.
I say Da Blog Game Ball is offically changed to the Devin Hester Award and we then give it to AP. . . heck, I am not even gonna press for Rashied to get it even though it was his presence alone that intimidated the Rams D.
December 12, 2006
#5 Jerry said . . .the good thing is, their arent many "truly deadly" secondaries in the NFC -- but the AFC, thats a different story.
Great post Jeff, you exemplified exactly what I was thinking both during the game, and after the final whistle. I couldnt have said it better myself...
December 12, 2006
#6 jonathan said . . .Rex made a good first step, slapped the monkey, maybe gorilla, that was climbing the highest on his back off for now. That monkey's relatives are still there and climbing. Rex has to recognize the monkeys are there, are not going away, and do a slapping every week. It aint gonna be easy.
Keep giving Griese some snaps, not only if the monkeys succeed but if there, God forbid, is some type of injury.
I love my Bears and am realistic.
Go Bears.
December 13, 2006
#7 jonathan said . . .Amen Jerry, I'm with you. Here's to hoping Rex stays on his game AND stays healthy....
December 13, 2006
#8 Pissed off said . . .Good article on Rex's step forward at the Trib:
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-061212bears,1,5521340.story
December 13, 2006
#9 Shamen said . . .I have heard some national speculation that the Bears D is not best in the league, maybe outside the top 5 even. What do you think about this? And is our offense good enough to win it all with only a top 5ish defense?
December 13, 2006
#10 Adam from Pitttsburgh said . . .There is only one stat that means anything for a defense - points allowed per game. If the defense is keeping the other team from scoring, that is all they are charged to do. Through 13 games in 2006, the Bears have allowed 13.6 points per game, behind only the Ravens at 13.1 points per game. If my math is correct, 2nd in the league is in the top 5. If you want to add a second stat to determine defensive greatness it would have to be takeaways, and guess what? The Bears are #1 in that category (40, Ravens next at 32). Let's see - keep the other team from scoring and take the ball away to give your offense good field position. Sounds top 5 to me.
December 13, 2006
#11 Still said . . .I never understood the calls for Grossman's benching.
It's one thing for a bunch of Chicago fans who don't know shit about fuck to say, "We want Greise." But I was allarmed at the amount of commentators that threw him to the wolves after a few bad games. I'm sure the Chicago Bears drafted Rex Grossman with the intention of making him their franchise quarterback. He had performed well in college and showed flashes of brilliance early this year. He never lost the Bears a game. He was no Ryan Leaf. So why bench him? When you're 10-2? Further stunting his growth?
These sports writers get paid to think about this shit.
And they got it wrong.
Again.Even if the media didn't stand by Grossman, at least his team did.
I got the distinct impression that all the Bears wanted Grossman to retain his starting position. They were in no hurry to shuffle Greise into the huddle. His team was pulling for him; trying to help him any way they could. After Rex ran for the first down on third down, everyone on that offense congratulated him. That was a very heartening thing to see.
He took a crucial step toward regaining confidence in himself. The look on his face after the fade pass to Muhammad said it all. "I can still lead this team. They still believe in me. I made my coaches proud." Again, I'm sure the media will have to eat their words in this situation. If Grossman plays as effectively as he did under the Monday night lights in St. Louis for the rest of the season and into the playoffs, I would think that the Bears will be hard to stop.
December 13, 2006
#12 Brad said . . .POed? Which one of the geniuses said that? Did you catch their top 5 list?
I agree somewhat that we looked squishy at times on Monday, but when it matter in the the 3rd quarter, I believe we had a couple of straight 3 and outs.
There is cause for concern with the loss of a handful of Pro Bowlers, but Vash will be back and so will Todd Johnson. With a few spare parts not there on Monday, that certainly didn't help things.
But not in the Top 5? Bite me, whoever said that. POed, if you can recall who it was, I'll make this more personal to them. I'm feeling particularly mean spirited today especially after the crescendo of Rex-puke that was circling the airwaves over the past weeks.
December 13, 2006
A quick rebuttal to Adam. This comes from another guy who took abuse from family and friends for remaining in the "stick in with Rex" camp. So I'm as glad as you that Lovie stuck with Rex, and that Rex put together a game that justified that vote of confidence.
I thought all the talk of benching Rex -- esp. after that tough loss at Foxboro, where he had some TO's but not DUMB turnovers -- was crazy. But after the incredibly bad outing vs. the Vikings... after we start seeing the Defense getting injurred because they're on the field 20% more than a normal team... you can't say it was unreasonable to look for a Plan B.
It's a really tricky debate: do you stick with the guy that's considered "the future" and do your best to keep team chemistry in tact... or do you place a bet that this year is your best shot and you need to eliminate the riskiest elements on your team. (I was certain the Cubs would be back in the playoffs in '04, '05.... )
As my bro has said to me -- while it's great that Rex made some nice plays on Monday night -- it reflects that we're NOT in an ideal situation if our feelings about Rex starting the Super Bowl are changing from play to play, from quarter to quarter.
Again, this comes from a consistent Rex backer, who thinks our best shot is to stick it out with him. But let's remain cautious about what Monday night proved.
December 13, 2006
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