“You have to let him work through some of the things.”
That’s how Lovie Smith described Rex Grossman’s performance yesterday.
“You have to let him work through some of the things.”
Work through some things? I’m not going to waste a ton of time today breaking down Rex Grossman. He missed wide open receivers all over the field all day long. You know why? He’s terrible. Yesterday the Bears needed a quarterback to win a winnable game against a good team. They didn’t have one. If I’m the Bears, I start Caleb Hanie if Kyle Orton can’t go next week. Not because he gives us a better chance to win but because I don’t want to see Grossman play sports anymore.
By the way, Lovie Smith, here’s a warning. You’ve been beaten by Brian Griese, Jake Delhomme, Matt Ryan and Kerry Collins. Not exactly a Mount Rushmore of NFL quarterbacks. I didn’t mind seeing Delhomme make perfect throws and Calvin Johnson win jump balls in the endzone. But Kerry Collins was throwing to wide open receivers on third down every time I looked up. Sunday you’ll face the most dynamic passing offense you’ve faced all season and unless you and “Not” 2B come up with creative ways to get to Aaron Rodgers, you’ll be looking at a 40 on the scoreboard.
There were a lot of positives yesterday. Mike Brown and the rush defense were brilliant. Matt Forte is incredible. Devin Hester made a great catch. But ultimately I can’t put much stock in a loss that involves #8. They allowed 21 points – which defenses are allowed to do – but couldn’t find a play from under center. The Bears need to survive however long he’s in there and gives themselves a chance to win the division. That starts Sunday.
This is Packer week.
#2 jeff said . . .This was a team effort, or LACK there of.
I don't want to hear how well the defense did stopping the run. This is more Atlanta and Tampa crap.
They made another journeyman QB look like Johnny Unitas.
What part of "When they DO throw they like to throw to the tight end" didn't we understand?
13 Completions to Titan Tight ends including a TD.
Titans 7-17 on 3rd down.
Still cannot rush the passer. FIX THIS!
Time for Lovie to take the car keys away from Dave Babich.Offense. Bears 3-14 on 3rd down. Rex: You had good protection and a running game.Feel free NOT to throw it up for grabs, especially deep in your own end. Guys were open. You missed them.
Special teams: Blocked FG attempt. Crappy punts (yeah, I know it was windy, DEAL WITH IT!). and no help for field position from the return game.
I say they win this game with a healthy Orton able to sustain more drives and flip field postion which killed us from the middle of the first quarter until the
November 10, 2008
#3 Worm0922 said . . .there were five drives yesterday that ended because of grossman. that's amazing.
November 10, 2008
#4 Brian in Sec 430 Row 25 said . . .I have to admit that saw the numbers on NFL.com due to no live feed in VA, I was like "F" grossman. But, then I watched the film and saw a quarterback make right reads, but the timing was way off. Look at the deep ball to Hester, a second or two of air, thats a TD. With Orton, thats a win!!! Orton goes down before the bye, maybe its still a win!!! At least we are 3-0 in the division and no blowouts!!!
November 10, 2008
#5 Pissed Off said . . .That one hurt....babich should be fired today. if I kept making the same mistake over and over again at my job I would be fired, why is the NFL any different. The list of QB's that have lit our tits this year is a real embarrassment. If I were Lovie, I would walk into babich's office and tell him "Either your unit shuts down the packers passing game or you are fired."
As Jeff pointed out....THIS IS PACKER WEEK!
November 10, 2008
#6 Dr. Lecter said . . .I still think he's a good QB. The defense lost that game yesterday, they couldn't make a stop when we needed them to. On the last offensive play, the receiver ran the wrong route, Rex's pass may have looked to be right into the chest of the defender, but that was trick photography.
November 10, 2008
#7 The Duke said . . .This just in: Rex Grossman has always sucked. This also just in: Kyle Orton isn't that good either. I'm not a Bears fan, but I think they have a strong team all across the board, except for the QB.
November 10, 2008
#8 BRIANsong said . . .This loss is on our pass coverage. End of story. We can say what we want about Grossman and missed opportunities but he did not bother me or make my blood boil as much as our over-payed and waaaaay overrated corners. Tillman can strip and tackle once the ball is caught, but have you ever seen him defend a pass??? The guy gets burnt. Consistently. And all Vasher did was get lucky and grab some tipped balls one year and he gets crowned with a new contract.
November 10, 2008
#9 AK said . . .They allowed 21 points. They were awful but they allowed 21 points. The Bears were the best scoring offense in the league and they looked wretched yesterday. That's on Rex.
There was a lot of throws to tight ends all by themselves. That's not the corners.
November 10, 2008
#10 RandomName said . . .The SunTimes had it right. "Rex Grossman looked like Kyle Orton of 2005 -- no big mistakes, but no big plays. But playing Titans in his first full game is an unfair test."
This was a total team failure from the players to the coaches. The problem with the pass defense has been known for ages and still there hasn't been any substantial overhaul of the defense.
The coaches are brain dead.
November 10, 2008
#11 Bill said . . .In response to the headline...yup.
November 10, 2008
#12 jeff said . . .I wish Orton had been able to play, but then I wish I had sold some of my mututal funds in August too.
Babich is a major problem. We have no pass defense AND he actually has the players and some of the media (like Greg Couch) believing that an outstanding job stopping the run is all that matters.
This was a game lost becuase of field position. And we were NOT up to the task in any of the three phases. Rex couldnt' get us FDs when we needed it; Matynard had a sub-par day (and if that's no longer sub par for him, then we need another punter), Hester still can't get on track (more on that later) BUT the defense kept giving up these 7-10 yard chunks on passing plays.
Our defense is not good enough. Rex isn't good enough, but that's why he's the backup. No point in getting too upset there - the guy doesn't have the talent or confidence to lead a team to victory. All he can do is what he did. Not quite enough - but if the D coudl be average against the pass, maybe we win anyway.
Regarding Hester - I noticed at least twice on punt returns that a Titan got down the field to him essentially unblocked. That is, on kicks that Hester didnt' fair catch. The fact that he fair caught a few was obviously based on the same problem. I really dont' think it's him - I think our punt return blocking is worse than the last couple of years.
November 10, 2008
#13 zmac said . . .regarding the suntimes and rex....they casually don't mention his missing wide open receivers the entire game.
November 10, 2008
#14 Peanut FTW said . . .Jeff, there were also plenty of times where Rex had plenty of time and no one to throw to. Yes he missed a couple open guys, but our receivers are mediocre at best and had a VERY hard time finding separation against the Tenn. secondary. I still have faith in Rex and I think he just needs to get back in rhythm with a more repetition. I dont see the need to RUSH KO back. Let him recover. There is a good chance we make the playoffs this year and most of us would rather not have Rex starting with an injured KO on the sidelines during the playoffs.
The defense needs to learn how to defend the pass. Its pretty sad that Kevin Payne is leading our unit in nearly every pass defense category. The run defense was beautiful... i just dont understand how you can get into the back field and stuff the run nearly every time, but you cant get into the back field and more than 2 or 3 pass plays a game.
November 10, 2008
#15 jeff said . . .Totally agree with jeff again this week.
Regardless of who the Defense is, Rex had protection, throwing lanes, and his receivers were creating space. I saw him like quadruple pump once, WTF even if they bite you can't hit a wide open receiver anyway.
He missed a deep pass to a wide open Hester (this is his supposed upside and to a receiver he is familiar with.) He missed Davis 3 times that I counted for first downs; Davis was destroying their coverage all day, he was open at least 6 times; he could have exploited them the way... Kerry COLLINS exploited us. I mean it's not that he can't make perfect passes, it's that he is just stupid and can't make any passes. Did you see him slide for a sack instead of just chucking it away? Did we run one screen pass (which has killed Defenses all season)? Did he make a single adjustment at the line? Jesus Christ! Please, please, start Hanie, even if we lose, at least we'll have the advantage of surprise!
The defense while nowhere near stellar, did not lose this game for us, they screwed up, but managed to hold the team within 1 score of us and got us the ball back with like 3 minutes left, in good field position. That should have been enough. I agree if Rex or Forte gets us tied at that point; and the D allows a scoring drive, then yes; on them.
Biggest problem, we have had maybe 1 game so far this year when the O, the D, and the ST have all showed up for a whole football game. And normally 2/3 come and thats enough to eek out some wins, yesterday noone truly showed up, what can u expect.November 10, 2008
#16 mikebdot said . . .dont know its something they can learn. the scheme doesn't work and hasn't worked at all this season.
November 10, 2008
#17 Reverend Dave said . . .There is no way that is really PO'd. Wonder who wrote that one...
Albert: I forgot to mention their TE's at the bottom of the last thread. Very true.
Our D was changed up quite a bit. I'm not sure why people are blaming the coordinator. Does anyone even remember the '06 season? Just can't put a finger on what's different...hmmm, maybe it's the 6 fucking return TDs that won multiple football games for us. Or the 44 turnovers we generated. We just happened to get them earlier in drives and capitalized on them more.
We've been running this defense since Lovie got here. If you can't run the football and control the clock, the defense doesn't work. If you can't generate pressure from time to time with your front four, it doesn't work. It's pretty simple. Our D-line and O-line are the problem. Some O-lines can pass AND run block. Not ours though. Not anymore.
November 10, 2008
#18 Peanut FTW said . . .Yeah Rex sucked. I've long been in his corner and yes he hadnt started in a while and yes he was playing a good D but the fact remains he played very poorly. His ball placement and touch were fairly terrible outside of the first drive especially on plays that mattered like the ball he threw behind and above Rashied when we needed a first down and the one where Hester broke loose. That one is paticularly aggravating as it was a probable TD and its the pass that is supposed to be Rex's money shot, the one that makes up for the problems with his short ball.
However Rex doesnt really worry me. He is the back up now, I think he is capable of at the very least playing at this level against any team in the league and throwing and running for a pair and a 64 passer rating is perfectly acceptable as his basement. I think if he had to play more games his touch, at least long, would improve some.
But i dont think it matters because this game illustrated that we wont be going anywhere even if we make the post season, even with KO coming back next week and playing the rest of the season like he has the last 6 games. Our pass D will absolutely get us slaughtered the moment we see a non rookie, non fossil QB. We got beat yesterday by the same way we have gotten beat every loss and the same we have taken every win (save the first Detroit game) to the last second: a complete and inexplicable disinterest in guarding anything 7-20 yards from the line of scrimmage. Opposing recievers arent just getting open they are setting up tents and bbq grills camping out. They could give a postgame press conference in the time they have to make catches before our D gets to them. Christ Justin Gage scored on us.
This isnt new. Its every week, screw making halftime adjustments we cant seem to make 10 week adjustments. I put most the blame on scheme and coaching but clearly there is plenty to go around to players too. But it doesnt matter cause the bottomline is if they havent fixed it by now its not getting fixed this year and that removal of hope for the season when we are still above 500 and atop the division is what kills me.
Sorry for going so long. PS Can anyone who was at the game tell me how well the Titans corners were covering our recievers cause there were three or four plays where Rex had 6+ seconds to throw and was obviously looking all over the field before throwing it away. But the TV would never show us what was going on downfield.
November 10, 2008
#19 craig said . . .The main diffs on the Oline between run and pass block is pre snap assignments and firing off the line as opposed to stepping back off the line. So if it is a run play and you overload a gap that is pre assigned and the block is unassigned at the line of scrimmage, when it's snapped there is no real adjustment, and your back can't pick that up cuz well he has the ball. So getting a tackler into the backfield when you send 6 is not that hard but in a true passing situation the line can adjust blocking at the line pre snap and keep the back or a TE to pick up that 6th guy and still have time to pick you apart.
November 10, 2008
#20 Crown said . . .Rex was bad yesterday, but this loss isn't on him. These are team problems. We've lost games just like this all season. The inability to defend the pass, the inability to get it done on late drives, all these things were killing us long before that out-of-bounds hit on KO brought Rexy back.
November 10, 2008
#21 Joseph said . . .Don't blame the lack of pass D on the corners. It's all about whether the front four gets pressure, and once again there was no pressure on an old and relatively immobile QB. Peanut and Vash can't be expected to contain their men one on one for the huge amount of time Collins had to throw. Blame this on our DEs and T. Harris not getting pressure once again. OK, Wale had one sack when he beat their running back, woo hoo. I agree with Jeff, go to Hanie if Orton can't play. Haven't you Rex supporters seen enough tipped balls, interceptions, balls thrown over receiver's heads, balls thrown short (last throw to Hester). I never want to see Rex Grossman take a snap under center for the Chicago Bears again. I have been saying it for along time now. Those of you who thinks Rex will improve with more repetitions and when he gets "back into rhythm" should move to Green Bay right now. Hey zmac, Orton worked with the same 'mediocre' receivers and had the highest scoring offense in the league. Thank god we have zmac here to inform us all that the WRs weren't open and Rex had no one to throw it to.
November 10, 2008
#22 jeff said . . .We don't match-up well against Green Bay.
This game scares me! Green Bay is at home coming off a division loss they are gonna be hungry. The good news is they can't stop the run and their D is still banged up. The bad news is Rodgers is coming off a shitty passing game and most likely wont repeat that effort(expecially against our D).
If our coaches can't adjust through out the game then we are fucked! Somethings gotta change because we still have Green Bay twice and the Saints and the Vikings in Minnesota!
Grossmans isn't worthy of being on the practice squad. Cut his ass and sign Leftwich next season. I'm done riding the Grossman Coaster!
November 10, 2008
#23 JP said . . .my point is this.
the bears needed 7 more points. even with terrible pass defense, they needed seven more points. the giants are the best team in football and they allowed 31 last night. you know what? they scored more.
this wasnt a shut down titans defense. there were wide open players everywhere, including 7 points to hester on the bomb that is supposed to be grossman's strength.
November 10, 2008
#24 JP said . . .Jeff,
Sorry buddy! This isn't new news to anybody! I literally found myself wondering what Rex would be doing for a job next year yesterday. If you watch Sportcenter, NFL Network or any pre-game show for that matter, Rex Grossman is a joke. When Tommy Waddle, a former Bear, only calls him by Good Rex Bad Rex you know it's bad. I can't imagine a team out there picking him up. But then again I never thought anyone would lure Daunte Culpepper from retirement. LOL...
On a side note I also wonder how long Lovie Smith will stay...or should I say...HOW LONG SHOULD HE STAY. Is there anything worse than watching his post-game interviews, or any for that matter? He looks totally lost and lacks any passion.
START HANIE SUNDAY!
HIRE SINGELTARY IN THE OFF SEASON!GO 49'rs!
November 10, 2008
#25 Al In WI said . . .On a side note...
How good to you think Orton slept last night?!?!
hahaha
November 10, 2008
#26 No REXY! said . . .I think the suntimes headline was right on and this what pisses me off so much.
I've been a long time Grossman supporter because he is, excuse me, was a gunslinger. I happen to prefer that type of quarterback over the game manager. Personally I'm willing to live a few turnovers at times if they are made because a quarterback was being agressive.
In fact a game like yesterday is why I used to not like Orton very much. I hate watching a quarterback play not to lose. Orton has gotten the message and plays to win, and Grossman is the guy who plays not to lose.
If you watch him closely his main goal in life yesterday was 'don't make a mistake, don't throw the int.' I'm sorry you can't play like that. To me that is the most disapointing aspect of Grossman's game yesterday.
I'm pretty confident that Orton will be rushed back this week. But the problem is that Richard Dent and Dan Hampton are not expected to play.......November 10, 2008
#27 Spinning BackFist said . . .PISSED OFF: this just in your a fucken retard! our defense lost the game for us??? the titans had the ball on there 50 yard line every series they went in....our REX GROSSMAN lost the game AND OUR STUPID ASS COACHES...we didnt run the ball enough! we go out there and throw the ball three times and go three and out....FORTE was running all over these fucks and Ron Turner still didnt get the fucken clue...i hate our coaches they should all be FIRED!
November 10, 2008
#28 craig said . . .Anyone who backs Grossman at this point is living in a fantasy land. The pathetic QB has 42 turnovers in 29 games. Ridiculous. If Grossman was a man, he would hand in his jersey and let Caleb Hanie become the #2 QB. I agree, if Orton cant play Sunday, then it HAS to be Hanie. Also, those of you who think its bad to Boo, yeah OK, I am sure you were really cheering for Grossman yesterday. Get over it, if they Suck, you Boo, thats how it works. We are not boo'ing the Bears, we are boo'ing an individual that over and over again makes up excuses for his poor performances. How can anyone say Grossman played good!!! The guy threw for 1 yard in the 2nd quarter!! I have seen high school QB's have better pocket presence from this guy. I cant believe anyone can say the Defense lost the game! Well, how would any team fair if they defense was on the field the WHOLE game, the opposing team had the ball starting at the 50 yard line or better, and playing one of the best teams in the NFL this year?!?! And on another note, is Lovie Smith alive?? I have never seen any sort of emotion or any type of reaction to this. We need to have a coach that gets excited and shows emotion on the sideline. If this season doesnt get better, LOVIE MUST GO. Stop drinking the Rex Grossman kool aid.
November 10, 2008
#29 No REXY! said . . .Disclaimer: Rex was awful yesterday. No arguing that.
But all this business about "if Kyle was in, no doubt we would've won," and "all we needed was 7 points and Rex couldn't get it for us" is misguided. Surely, our memories can't be that short. I seem to recall needing "just 7 points" quite a few times....
Ask yourself how much this game looked and felt like our other losses this year. Try and remember the shitty playcalling we've seen late in games. The rush to abandon the run. The stalled drives. The inability to execute—from missed blocks, dropped passes, and inaccurate throws to blown coverage and poor tackling.
My point? We've got TEAM problems. No matter how fast Orton gets better. Piling on Rex, no matter how bad he was yesterday, simply obscures that fact. Besides, the fact that he's not very good is no longer news.
November 10, 2008
#30 No REXY! said . . .''I think if you look at it, we did a lot of different things,'' defensive coordinator Bob Babich said. ''We blitzed; we tried different coverages; we did different things. You just have to make sure that you find out what's working for you as a unit and try to keep that going.'' ITS FUCKEN WEEK 9 AND BABICH STILL CANT FIND OUT WHATS WORKING??? WHAT AN IDIOT FIRE BABICH
November 10, 2008
#31 No REXY! said . . .''Do you understand football?'' tackle Tommie Harris said. ''How long was he in the pocket? How long did he hold the ball? Yeah, he was quick throwing the whole time, so something has to give.
''It has nothing to do with pressure. We're not Superman. If he drops back and he's patting the ball, then you talk to us about pressure. But we're doing our job.''
OUR COVERAGE SCHEME SUCKS!
November 10, 2008
#32 No REXY! said . . .''Do you understand football?'' tackle Tommie Harris said. ''How long was he in the pocket? How long did he hold the ball? Yeah, he was quick throwing the whole time, so something has to give.
''It has nothing to do with pressure. We're not Superman. If he drops back and he's patting the ball, then you talk to us about pressure. But we're doing our job.''
OUR COVERAGE SCHEME SUCKS!
November 10, 2008
#33 Bill said . . .''Do you understand football?'' tackle Tommie Harris said. ''How long was he in the pocket? How long did he hold the ball? Yeah, he was quick throwing the whole time, so something has to give.
''It has nothing to do with pressure. We're not Superman. If he drops back and he's patting the ball, then you talk to us about pressure. But we're doing our job.''
OUR COVERAGE SCHEME SUCKS!
November 10, 2008
#34 Phil from SATX said . . .No Rexy: yes, the defense lost the game, in my opinion. More to the point, Babich did (again). I know next to nothing about coaching details, but I've watched well over 40 years of football and seen good and bad enough to know the difference. Babich cannot adjust. His pass defense is bad. MAybe it IS personnel, but I doubt it. He needs more pressure and if the front four can't do it, he has to mix in some blitzes that are tough to pick up and can confuse the QB into thowing picks. Babich had no answer after he dared them to throw and they took him up on it and kept moving the ball enough to keep us pinned deep.
Of course, you can say that Rex shoudl have been able to get us out of there. I believe the Kyle woudl have. Rex is a backup for a reason, and may actually be out of football next year after this performance.
HANIE??? Come on - that's over-reacting to the situation. I'd rather take my chances with a guy who has played (and played well) in Green Bay.
But hopefully Orton will be ready.
Anyone catch the grades the SunTimes gave? They (sarcastically I assume) gave the coaches an A for keeping the Titans guessing up to game time whether it would be Rex or Kyle.
November 10, 2008
#35 No REXY! said . . .Rexy, you bit on a joke posting. Did you catch the part at the end when Fake PO'd said "it was trick photography"? That was the clue. PO'd's been gone for a coupla months now.
We're arguing with each other over a needless question: which was more responsible for the loss? That question doesn't need to be answered - because there's two answers -
Answer 1: Rex Grossman not being prepared and ready (because if you're THAT rusty after only a few months off of a starting job, doesn't that mean you're not prepared? I think it does) to help us win a game.
If you had to pick, this was the primary reason we lost that game. D still held Titans to 21 points. However, because Rex is only in there on a temporary basis (and hopefully temporary includes the concept of "ended" right now), the easily more DEPRESSING reason we lost was because of
2) D that can't get to the passer, NO MATTER WHAT. I agree with Crown - I don't think the corners were that bad in this game, and I think for much of the game I thought Vasher was doing very well. But if a QB stays clean, and especially as clean as KC did yesterday, you're not going to get that D off the field - unless your QB is Rex Grossman, I should say.
What in the world happened to Tommie Harris? Was he overrated, or did he decline, or is he playing with injury? SOMETHING happened to him. And what we thought was the second coming of Tommie in Dusty D, well I guess the answer there is he's the second coming of Bad Tommie. We are 9 games into the season, and unfortunately I agree with Reverend Dave, this is why the team is becoming unwatchable this season, because there's no way to just assume it's going to get better. Great line by the Rev, they can't even make 10 week adjustments much less halftime ones.
This coaching staff is the definition of Peter Principle in action. The next coach for the Bears needs to be not Mike Singletary, who we like as a man and former player but have no idea whether he can coach a lick, but none other than the great BILL COWHER! You all know this guy is the right one to step in and fix this sinking ship. I just wish it could happen TODAY.
Mikeb, I know that when you're calling out our line, you're talking about run blocking, and you're right, they totally suck at it. We need stunts for success. Don't know why RT didn't dial some of those up yesterday. But it's amazing the improvement we have made at pass blocking. So they're doing half of their job, kind of like the D.
Will a Bears reporter please ask when we can hope to see Earl Bennett play for our team? We knew we needed an offensive lineman, and running back and a wide receiver in the draft. They knocked it out the park with the RB, and the Olineman was hurt. But where's Bennett? Where the f is he? Marty Booker needs to sit down and give Bennett a shot. What is it with this coaching staff?
Caleb Hanie needs to take snaps this week. Period.
November 10, 2008
#36 Crown said . . .I said a couple weeks earlier that "OUR COACHES WILL BE THE END AND DISASTER OF OUR SEASON" they dont know our strengths and they dont know our weaknesses....THEY ALL NEED TO GO! Bring COWHER IN SINGLETARY AS DEFENSE CORDINATOR
November 10, 2008
#37 jeff said . . .Hanie looked good in pre-season. He is a legitimately over 6 feet, unlike another QB on the team who is listed as over 6 feet but is really as tall as Arnold Drummond. He is mobile and can get away from pressure and the team hasn't given up on him yet. He looked extremely composed and was moving the ball during the pre-season. I know a lot of you will say it was just pre-season, but how ignorant or stubborn do you have to be to realize that Rex is not going to turn into the worthy first round pick we all were hoping? Probably as ignorant and stubborn as our coordinators and head coach. You can't have a QB that does not even believe in himself anymore. Why would you rather have an experienced guy in there if he simply isn't getting it done.
November 10, 2008
#38 Phil from SATX said . . .barnett out for the year for the packers.
November 10, 2008
#39 Pankster said . . .Also, so is the deal with the formerly promising Brandon Lloyd that as soon as he gets hurt, he quits for the year? Is that what is happening here?
Can you believe we gave away our 2nd rounder Mark Bradley FOR NOTHING!??? How about Brandon Rideau - wouldn't you like to see him get a shot? Has Marty Booker done more than one or two things for us this season? I love Marty but that experiment has failed. We need receivers.
November 10, 2008
#40 Sdwat51 said . . .Today starts a day when our Bears take a hard look at what thehell they are and begin to execute on Defense ASAP! Hell my son who is a somphore quarterback could have burnt tilliman/vasher yesterday them 2 suck akong with their coach Babich Patch who I have a message FUCK YOU!!!!And finally being Packer Week and all I hope Orton can go we need this game more than yesterday this week Happy Veterans Day to whoever served like I did Thank You for your service!!!BOTTOMS UP and Bear Down!!
November 10, 2008
#41 jeff said . . .#24 JP said . . .
On a side note...How good to you think Orton slept last night?!?!
hahaha
November 10, 2008
-----------------------
Heh.
November 10, 2008
#42 JP said . . .our receivers have played well, phil. don't look at yesterday as an example of anything offensively.
November 10, 2008
#43 Bill said . . .One more thing I have to say is this...
I am so sick of people comparing Lovie Smiths demeanor (not necessarily on this blog) to Tony Dungy. This is Chicago Bears football we are talking about! Doesn't someone just wish for once Lovie Smith would come out screaming and yelling like Singletary or better yet Ditka. Maybe it's just me and what I have grown up around with Chicago Bears football but I would feel a lot better even about our record if someone was mad! Maybe I'm hot headed but I need a coach that is not so even keel. It's great Lovie got us to the Superbowl but come on...Let's not be content to wait another 20 years to get there.
I HATE MONDAYS LIKE THIS!
November 10, 2008
#44 Joist said . . .I woudl have liked to see Booker do somethign to at least try and break up the INT. I know he was looking for the ball, and maybe I'm out of line, but as big as he is he shoudl have been able to do something.
Side note - my pet peeve on NFL rules. Defensive interference is an automatic catch. Offensive interference should be an automatic interception.
Everyone says I'm crazy when I propose that, and I'm only half serious. The point is, you can fling the ball 50 yards and D-interference gets you a catch. But we nearly kill a drive with an INT in the end-zone and the receivere wisely interferes. Because the "penalty" is 10 yards BUT you get the down over. To me, it should be 10 yards and loss of down. And D-interference shoudl be like college - 15 yards and automatic first down.
November 10, 2008
#45 JP said . . .Anybody who thinks Grossman can still be a viable NFL starting QB is delusional. The Bears definitely made a significant mistake drafting a QB (in the first round!) who has a very simple and obvious physical limitation - he's too short to be a pocket QB. Throw in his penchant for bad decisions and you've got yourself a mistake.
However, this loss is NOT his fault. He did about as well as could reasonably expected - one INT, slightly above 50% completions, one TD, some nice throws, more terrible ones.
Jeff, I usually agree with you, but you are simply wrong here. It's very difficult to evaluate Rex objectively at this point - either you're an apologist and you saw the two TD drives (both finished off by Rex) as signs that he can still play and play well, or you hate the guy and you look at everything that happened in between those two drives (1 yard passing in the second quarter, missing Hester and others when they were wide open). The fact is, Rex played as well as could be expected, and the rush defense was phenomenal.
That the pass defense couldn't stop the suddenly one-dimensional Titans' offense, led by Kerry Freaking Collins, who beat his previous season high in passing yardage by OVER 100 YARDS, is what led to this defeat.
As to which element within the passing defense to blame, I'll go with the coaching. The coaches' goal all week was to stop the run, and that's what they impressed upon the players: Stop the run. Stop the run. Stop the run. Guess what? The players stopped the run.
Then the Titans decided, hey, let's just pass it. The Titans OC said he knew they would have to pass to win by the SECOND SERIES. When do you think Babich figured that out? I think he's still scratching his head about it.
What could the coaches have done? How about an exotic blitz or two, overloading one side of the line, or a delayed blitz, or a safety or corner blitz? How about doing away with the retarded "fake blitz", which only leaves the middle of the field even more wide open? Hell, how about subbing Mark Anderson in once in a while, when it's clear that the Titans are going to be passing?
Remember, when the defensive line is asked to stop the run, it behaves differently. Instead of blasting through the line, they're focusing on containing it so Briggs and Urlacher and Brown can blast through and beat the crap out of Chris Johnson, which they did.
I'm perfectly happy with Grossman as a backup QB. I didn't expect this game to be won, partly because I expected Grossman to have 3-4 turnovers (not 1), and partly because I expected the Bears' rush defense to be exploited against the two-headed Titans monster. Instead, Grossman played capably, and the Bears fucking went to sleep after it became readily obvious to EVERYBODY EXCEPT BOB BABICH how the Titans were going to approach them given the success of the Bears' rush defense.
Grossman sucks. But so do Frerotte, Collins, and Griese. The difference is how their coaches devise a game plan to maximize their team's success when they have a crappy QB.
Oh, and one more thing: I hope Jeff and the rest of you are joking when you suggest that CALEB HANIE is better-equipped to play in Lambeau next week. I shouldn't even need to mount a reasoned argument against this mound of bullshit. That is reactionary bullshit at its worst. "Our backup QB didn't play like Tom Brady! Let's bring in our rookie 3rd-stringer who's never sniffed a practice with the 1st team, let alone a game!" That sounds an awful lot like, "One World Series game got suspended for two days. Let's shorten the season by a month and move the Series to a neutral site!" in its reactionary nature and shortsightedness.
November 10, 2008
#46 Phil from SATX said . . .Joist,
Sorry man I disagree. The Bears were within 30 yards of sending this game into OT with 3 minutes left in the game.
As much as I agree with you that there is plenty of blame to go around, when you have an opportunity like that at the end of the game your QB has to make those clutch throws. Back up or not to be at the 30 and have not one, not two but three incompletions is unaccaptable in this league.
We should have tied this game up easily and at least had a chance in OT.
November 10, 2008
#47 FORTE IZ BEAST! said . . .Jeff, Marty Booker hasn't really been up to snuff this year. I agree that we can't judge much just based on that game given how incredibly lame Rex was. But Booker has been below par. And I'm a big Booker fan. We drafted Earl Bennett to give us immediate help - I'm sure Angelo said that. Either they screwed up with the pick, or more likely, they're not very good at evaluating their own talent.
Joist, I am in the middle - neither a Rex apologist nor hater. But based on that game, when he had a chance as a veteran QB playing backup to step in and be on target with his passes, he shit the bed. He does not deserve another chance to do the same next week, even given his previous success against Green Bay. I think both teams are different now - with Rex it's like he's starting all over again with new personnel. Not sure if that's the reason he couldn't throw an accurate pass, but again, we've seen enough Bad Rex to last a lifetime. Bad Rex has cost us games in 3 different seasons now.
Hanie's a rookie - true. But so's Matt Ryan. So's Joe Flacco. Just because you're a rookie doesn't mean you can't play a lick. Haleb could easily surprise us. When Rex is bad up in Green Bay it won't surprise us a bit. In most cases calling for a rookie to start over a seasoned veteran would be the silliness you speak of. In Chicago, with Rex Grossman as that veteran, it's not so silly.
November 10, 2008
#48 zmac said . . .ITs Our coaches! plain and simple...they should know what plays work for rex and what plays dont...5 yards passing plays are just as good.. and RT should of just kept handing the ball to FORTE...and babich well this guy is clueless...babich has to go!our blitz schemes suck our coverage scheme sucks... FIRE ALL OF THE COACHES!
November 10, 2008
#49 Duff Diggler said . . .What about the dink-dunk pass we allowed to Collins on basically the last play of the game??? You had another chance to get the ball back with 2 mins to play and you give up a dink dunk first down??? The pass defense lost this game... just liek they have been the contributing factor to most our losses this season. The corners AND pass rush suck... its not one of the other... our corners got burned all day on short quick passes and our pass rush allowed Collins to complete deeper balls and 12 passes in a row.
November 10, 2008
#50 Ronaldo said . . .What was Rex's majorat Florida??? What ever it was, he better start makin resumes in that field. The AFL wouldn't take his ass next year!
Also, the DL (pass D) disapointed me. collins almost 300 yds, 2 TDs, 0 INTs???? WTF?!?! Don't get me wrong, the run D was great, but if you make a team one dimensional, theres is no excuse for not being able to defend them!!!!
My post from the other day:
#10 Duff Diggler said . . .
Although I agree with jeff about our kickers, I think our DL's performance sunday will be more important than hester's........as he mentioned they want to run the ball all the time. We stop the run. Good match-up. Assuming we do stop the run, Collins is going to have to go to the air. Save for a couple of those pesky quick slants, our DL HAS TO GET PRESSURE ON THE QB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if we stop the run and get pressure, i can easily see us pull this one out....
i don't want to see KO on that field! I love him too much to see him get KO'ed for the season this time in a game that the "experts" say we are supposed to lose....
....the sex cannon doesn't have to be a superstar if our D does their job....
November 6, 2008
November 11, 2008
#51 Brian in Sec 430 Row 25 said . . .I echo all the comments about Rex. We've know for some time he's not up for the job. Anyone who doesn't see it by now just doesn't know football. I'm not going to pile on anymore, it's wasted energy.
What I'm going to try to do is offer some takes on what we think Babich should do to fix the pass rush. It's clear that the Bears D, under Lovie and Babich, will run the cover 2. Our situation's not hopeless, the Colts had similar problems in 2006 on their way to the Super Bowl, running the exact same scheme. The one advantage they have over us is that they more speed in their LB core and a much more dynamic safety in Bob Sanders than we do in Mike Brown.
Given our inability to stop the run in the recent past (see 2007), it seems Babich adjusted by having the tackles line up bunched together and moving the DEs in a little off the edge. This clogs the middle and forces the RB to the edges where our LBs and CBs can chase them down. The problem with this is that if the opposing team starts going to the pass, our line doesn't have a sufficient enough spread to use their speed to get to the QB. There's a bottle-neck in the middle of the line on every pass play. The edges are open for the TEs to get open in space and for easy 7-8 yard gains or, as is becoming more common, larger hits down the field for 10-15 yard pass plays to the WRs as they have more time to get open.
We can fix this by spreading out our line to rush the QB. If they start handing off, we can bring Mike Brown down into the box as an extra defender. This gives more turf for K. Payne to cover as the only pass defending Safety, but I think he's up for the job. If not, push Brown to the bench, bring Payne into the box, and use Steltz as your coverage safety (he's got speed).
Apologies for the long post, but I needed a more creative outlet other than finding more stylistic ways to critique Rex's play.
November 11, 2008
#52 Pankster said . . .Every week, we all get on this blog and make predicitions for the upcomming game (suprisingly enough, 99% of us are 5-4). Anyway, I am curious to know who among you thinks the Bears are going to make the post season? I think we need to A) Win the division or B) Win 10 games.
The remaining schedule in my opinion looks daunting and I am not sure we are going to get in. (For example, I think we are in serious trouble this week)
Anyway...just wanted to know....you guys think we are playing in the post season?
November 11, 2008
#53 Max said . . .Games I am leary about
1. GB this Week
2.Minn Prime time game at their house
3.Jacksonville
4. Gb at home
Gents we need all of these just to hit 9 wins and as crazy as this leauge is to pick each week dont over look st louis and houstan I say Hell Yes! WE Will win the division and go to the Post season Bear Down!November 11, 2008
#54 Receivers, we don't need no stinking receivers said . . .We cant stop the pass. Plain and simple. I dont think our CBs are playing as well as we paid them to, but I think they do better than most give credit. Sure Vasher got burned on Justin Gage's TD, but he also broke up a couple passed and so did Peanut.
It is the coverage scheme. The soft cover 2 leaves holes inbetween the safteys and the corners right up the seam. Everyone should know this because it happens to us almost every game at least three times. At somepoint, some announcer (Brian Billick maybe???) showed a graphic of the cover 2 and showed where its weaknesses are. It was dead on. I only wish Lovie was watching.
(And for those of you blaming Babich, I dont. Its all Lovie when the D is out there. Babich is nothing more than a puppet)
I dont wanna talk about anything else except the Packers this week. (Wish Midway was here, he was always at his finest during Packer week.)
November 11, 2008
#55 Doh! said . . .Mark Bradley had 9 catches for 81 yards and a TD with Tyler Thigpen at QB and no running game in a 1 point loss and led the team in receiving yards last week over Tony Gonzalez.
The Bears can not evaluate or develop talent. Either the player is great or a bust. And it looks like they now know how to de-motivate even very recently great players (see D-Line and #54). Shit #23 is missing (compared to B4) and the secondary is not earning their huge contracts either.
Scrap the coaches and front office. JA can stay to pick defensive players starting round 4 of the draft each year.
November 11, 2008
#56 Shady said . . .We got 2nd Rd pick, potential #1 WR's here that are finally healthy. What do we want for him in a trade? Uhh. Nothing. No you can just have him. You guys sure you don't want to hang on to him for a minute since you have no proven #1 or #2 WR on the team? No no we are sure. We have a plan. When all else fails. Change nothing and look stoic.
Somebody better fucking bring it this week (besides Forte). We are getting near must win games now.
If you can't Bear Down against the Pack.....
November 11, 2008
#57 Brian said . . .I too never want to see Rex Grossman in sports again. Ever.
Caleb Hanie should be elevated to the 2nd string QB and Rex should be traded for a bag of chips and a warm flat can of Tab.
That pick Grossman threw? Yeah, he audibled into that one. Apparently Rex has made NO improvement in his technique or his decision making. He looks just as terrible as he did last year, time to let him go.
Yes the defense couldn't stop the pass, but the shut the best running game in the league down. When you make your opponent one dimensional like that, you give your team an opportunity to win. Bottom line was that Rex Grossman didn't take advantage of the chance he was given on Sunday, and unfortunately, that could be the ugly moral of his career. Rex Grossman I hate you, and yes, it's now definitely personal.
November 11, 2008
#58 suck my sweet and sour nuts! said . . .I agree with what your saying abour Rex. He has had 5 years to prove himself. He has proved that he is not a good qb. They should definately give Calab Hanie a chance. Why not? Rex, you suck.
November 12, 2008
Alrite cunt bags! REx is good, but he needs more time to get familiar with our WR's. I pitty our WRs why? Bc KYle has fucked them up. They run routes slow enough for Kyle to hit them at, now since REx is in the mix, they have to run full speed and catch, which unfortunately they can't handle. Again, its KO's fault the WR's are comfortable for the moment playing with KO's abilities. REx is in accurate do to not having enough practice time with the 1st squad. So fuckn give REx a break, you cowardly fucks! MOther fuckers need to be sodomized to keep your whining down. God dam cunts! Go BEARS!
November 14, 2008
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