Apparently there is still one battle left waging in camp as Brandon McGowan and Kevin Payne will do battle for the right to start opposite Mike Brown (for the five weeks leading up to his annual vacation to Six Flags IR). Joke that it may be, both of these guys will inevitably play together at some point during the season.
Rick Telander in the Sun-Times is particularly frisky this summer but he had one line I like in his latest column. "It was almost sad to see Grossman enter the game and do almost nothing, then get wildly booed by the crowd." Grossman has become a tragic figure of sorts: the rise and fall of a quarterback.
Hey Jerry Angelo! Quit being full of shit. In his short press Q&A, he actually said of Kyle Orton: "This wasn't anything different than what we've seen in the past." Who? What? What now? This was everything we hadn't seen in the past. This was the finest performance he ever delivered in the laundry. Don't sit there now and pretend you knew. It insults reporters and it insults the fans.
Maybe you don't think this way but I do. Here are the backup quarterbacks in the NFC North: Bears (Rex Grossman), Packers (Brian Brohm), Vikings (Gus Frerotte), Lions (Drew Henson). I don't understand. Are there really not sixty-four great athletes in this country that can play quarterback?
Max really like Rash Davis. You should too.
Michael Silver over at Yahoo! Sports writes an indictment of the Gene Upshaw era. It's good to see a sports journalist reporting with absolute integrity and not conforming to the ESPN/Disney sugarcoating of the sports world.
The Packers got banged up Friday night. And Mr. Brohm didn't complete a pass.
#2 animal said . . .FIRST
Love the Alaska time difference. I love Rashied Davis, and hope like hell he continues to progress as he has. Ill never forget the catch to beat Minny and the catch in the playoffs v. the Seacocks.
Dying to see who will be cut.
I too was very sad for Rex. Really, so much promise and hope and then disappointment. Has anyone ever been that close to greatness and fallen that far and fast?
Just think- he had a good run in the playoffs to get to the superbowl. What if he had had a great game vs. Manning? What if he had won? The difference between him and Eli is just that- same guy, one had a good showing in the SB, one had a bad day.
Argue with me all you want- they are basically the same QB.
Sad. Sorry, Rex. and Goodbye (for now?)August 23, 2008
#3 BearsTransplant said . . .Wait, Rash Davis is only 5 foot 9??
August 23, 2008
#4 jeff said . . .I don't like Brandon McGowan. Never have. He tries to play like Kevin Payne, but he's not strong enough. That hit K. Payne had in PS game #1 where he meets the receiver head-on and the ball just goes flying out; that's what I want to see. We've got two good cover corners, I want a safety who will take people's heads off.
Rex Grossman sucks, Jerry Angelo is an ass, and I'm over it. "Kyle is our Quarterback." I still like Rex better than everybody on that list except for maybe Frerotte. We'll see how Rash D. does against top-tier corner play. RIP Mr. Upshaw. He was good, he was bad, he did his damn job.
And no, they're aren't even 32 high-level QBs to go around. This is why the assertion that hitting a baseball is the hardest feat in sports is BS. There are at least 50 guys a year who hit right around .300 every year. There are only about 24 that can successfully QB an NFL team.
August 23, 2008
#5 beardown1982 said . . .hey transplant...i have always heard heard that hitting a baseball is the hardest "thing" to do, though hitting a good wedge shot from the sand is harder in my opinion. i do think time has clearly shown that this is the hardest position to be great at in sports.
August 23, 2008
#6 Phil from SATX said . . .I was at the game on Thursday...and it was depressing to hear the crowd boo Rex at every opportunity they could.
Of course, I understand the frustrations...but it just seems unnecessary at this point. It's not like the guy goes out there and intentionally tries to fuck up.
Truth be told, I think if Rex got on a team with a real o-line and some actual receivers, he would be a decent player. Would he still make bone head plays...yes. But I think they would be masked more easily by the good ones.
That said, it really is time for us to move on. The Rex Grossman era is officially over. (unless of course our o-line gets Orton hurt, which is very possible at this point). Be pissed at the guy all you want...and if you are still bent out of shape about the Super Bowl loss and his poor play in that game, well, you probably didn't watch the Bears too closely that year then. Blame for that loss should probably be put more on the shoulders of a defense who didn't show up and a coaching staff who did a crap job.
And honestly...I've kind of stopped hoping that we are going to find a quality QB at this point. If we get one, great...but why keep expecting it.
I'm much more concerned with a defense that seems way too into talking about how great it can be instead of doing ALL of its talking on the field...time to shut the fuck up and start earning all that money your side of the ball keeps getting fellas...
August 23, 2008
#7 BRIANsong said . . .Up at 4 in the morning today, did some research. Rewatching the defensive series in that game to try to determine, "Should we be worried?"
I will chart.
1st Series
1) Their line beats our line - Gore for 11.
2) This is the horrible tackling play that stayed in every writer's mind - cutback by Gore with misses by --- count them --- McGowan A. Brown Urlacher Hillenmeyer Harris. Gain of 36. This is what we saw repeatedly last year.
3) Gore for 4.
4) Good blocking by O line, Urlacher is in place but misses key tackle, Keasey gains 16. Note that Mike Brown makes contact at the 22, doesn't bring him down until the 16. That didn't look like the old Mike Brown.
Ball on the 16 - Bears hold for 3 points. Watch Martz - all running plays. Bears D good at least in being bend but not break.2nd Series
1) Pass to Gore for 3 yards. Here you see JToS quick release - he takes maximum 4 seconds to release.
2) Perfectly executed screen to Gore. Why can they do this so perfectly, fooling everyone, when we suck at it so bad? Might it be... Ron Turner vs. Mike Martz? Gain of 15 to the 44.
3) Urlacher and Hillenmeyer both blocked off the play, Gore gains 7.
4) This should have been a sack, uncalled hold on Alex Brown, pass to Keasey for 8.
5) Tillman blitzes, a perfect pocket forms, JToS steps up into pocket PERFECTLY, ball out in 4 seconds to Isaac Bruce for 17. This is a very good O line and a QB who knows how to use it.
6) Briggs tackles Gore for loss.
7) Both ends get tricky, try to time clock winding down, both are offsides. +5
8) 1 second end zone fade route thrown to somebody, Tillman face guards and interferes.
9) Beautiful goal line stand - holds them to 3 points. Once again, bend but don't break. (actually break for 3)3rd Possession
1) JToS steps up nicely in a nicely formed pocket, very quick release to a flying Vernon Davis, good coverage by Hillenmeyer but a perfectly thrown pass. The first of this year's fruitless Lovie challenges (probably a reasonable challenge though). Gain of 40.
2) Play action, roll right, Mike Brown blows coverage, perfect QB pass. TD
Two play drive for 7.4th Series
Wolfe muffs kickoff, ball on 16. Now Alex Smith comes in, he's much less certain in pocket. Tillman plays soft, Tillman holds, TD.
5th Series
Our first 3 and out.
6th Series
Game tied, we should be able to burn the 40 seconds or so, but Gould inexplicably kicks it out of bounds. Ball on 40.
Then the dreaded prevent D takes over, with Vasher playing soft, then Tillman playing soft (31 yards on that one!) - Izzy blocks the field goal, should have been an inexcusable 3 for them and half time lead.
Here's what I got out of this. It wasn't really about the tackling except for one series, which only cost 3 points. Tillman had a really lousy game, Mike Brown looks like he has a long way to go before he regains his Pro Bowl form, and Brian Urlacher was simply not very good. The line did not succeed in bothering JToS.
This was also about a QB whose quick release and good line resulted in successful pass plays. It was about a O coordinator in Mike Martz who is apparently skilled not only in calling plays but in preparing the entire O. It was about a running back named Gore who is very, very good, and a coordinator who knows how to use him.
Bottom line - I still expect our D to play better, I know Tillman can, I think Brown will de-rust, not sure about Ur given his injury. This game showed me how important a good line is and how important a good O coordinator is, two things we emphatically don't have.
The other thing - JT O'Sullivan is, now, at this point in his long and many-stopped career, a very good quarterback. Quick release, great mechanics in the pocket, mobile, can thrown on run, strong arm and accurate. What's not to like? I was about to get really mad that we actually had this guy on our roster (twice!) but when I wiki'd him I saw how many different rosters he had been on. It may be a David Garrard deal - he finally got to where he needed to be. Right now he's better than any of our guys. The 49'ers O should be very good this year, looks like their D may be their downfall.
That's all I got (uh, that's quite enough, isn't it?)
August 23, 2008
#8 Shady said . . .I'd like to see J.T. make a regular season start against a defensive gameplan before we determine whether he's any good or not. Hard not to root for the guy though...
August 23, 2008
#9 trueblue said . . .Yeah I don't really understand everybody getting on the defense for one poor performance in a preseason game. Haven't they earned the right over the years to be allowed one mulligan, especially in a preseason game? Don't be fooled by the results of this game, like Rob said on gamenight, things aren't as bad as they seem on defense (they're just too good) and things aren't as good as they seem on offense (they're just too unproven). This team isn't putting very much stock in the preseason, they realize everyone is still 0-0 after these 4 meaningless games and anything can happen during the regular season. I think the Bears like when the expectations are low, they work best with a chip on their shoulder (when they get disrespected) and without a bullseye on their back, see 2007.
August 23, 2008
#10 beardown1982 said . . .There are 64 athletes who can play QB. About 55 of them are in college.
August 23, 2008
#11 jeff said . . .Shady...understandable. But a great defense shouldn't need to feel disrespected...it should dominate because that is what it does. I am personally concerned. Be it preseason or not. I saw way too many of the same defensive breakdowns, missed tackles, and overall bad defense on Thursday that I saw most of last season. Can they turn it around? Of course.
I'd love to blame last season on injuries...and this and that...blah blah blah. If this team is going to be any good, it will be a result of the defense. They should own that responsibility like they did in 2005...and for most of 2006.
That said...I'm actually glad the first game is at Indy. It will be a good measuring stick for the defense...and a good performance may help them get a bit of the swaggar back.
August 23, 2008
#12 jdawg said . . .trueblue, there are not 55 good college quarterbacks. there are maybe six.
August 23, 2008
#13 Spanish Bear said . . .I watched the first half again. One thing I noticed is that Tommie looked like he was playing not to get his knees chop blocked. If I didn't know who he was I'd say he was the worst DL on the field.
Remember, this is preseason. They played shitty but I'll beleive shitty play in the real season when I see it.
They looked awesome against SD in last year's opener and I expect them to look a lot better against Indy.
August 23, 2008
#14 jeff said . . .I´m watching now the Lions and I´m getting scared. Detroit is 13 - 0. Kitna is 9 of 11 (98 yards) and Orlovsky is also on fire. The have a better OL (at least today) than ours. Well, seen a divisional rival playing like today is not good news for a Bears fan.
August 23, 2008
#15 animal said . . .we lost to the lions twice last year, in case you forget. we return the favor in 08
August 23, 2008
#16 The Duke said . . .they do get a mulligan. if f-ing preseason. I knew we'd do this again and make way too much of the preseason (go ahead, cue the Denny Green quote).
August 23, 2008
#17 Max said . . .Will someone please tell me why we didn't even give O'Sullivan a chance in our QB department now that he's been named teh starter in SF???
August 24, 2008
Phil one thing i will add that you left out, on the first possession where Gore goes for 36 or whatever, Peanut chased him down and saved what woulda been a TD run.
Is it just me or did it seem like Peanut would be the guy to chase down someone once they got past the linebackers and DB's all of last year. Seems i remember him doin it to Minnys A.P. and at least 2 or 3 other times, but maybe im crazy.
Rashied is a beast, but again, i think im biased.
August 25, 2008
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.