September 23rd, 2007 - Solider Field, Chicago...
Lovie Smith lowered his head and clutched his clipboard tight, waiting for the seconds to tick down in the fourth quarter as the Cowboys rolled over the Bears, knocking them down to 1-2 for the season.
He saw Romo rip his defense apart, passing for 329 yards and two TDs. He watched in horror as Marion Barber and Julius Jones added another 130-plus yards on the ground.
He watched as Grossman was sacked three times, throwing three INTs. He cringed as Benson only rushed for 46 yards total on 16 carries, fumbling and averaging only 2.8 yards per carry.
He closed his eyes and tried to figure out how his team, who only months earlier came so close to being eternally glorified as Super Bowl champions had now been reduced to a nothing in the league and the NFC North.
A horrible sight to see when Lovie closes his eyes...but when he opened them, he saw something even worse.
He watched a defense that had given up over 400 yards of total offense to the Cowboys walk back into the locker room without so much as a mental scratch from an angered fanbase.
He watched a running back who had managed to consistently do nothing since he took over the starting job for the Bears, follow closely behind and also enter the locker room without a mental beating from the crowd. He watched Bernard Berrian, who had three big drops on the night, including two for sure TD passes, along with Mushin Muhammad, who had a drop as well on a key third down that a rookie could have caught with his eyes closed, follow in the same fashion.
And then he saw Rex.
Rex with his head held high walk into the locker room with fans in his face, booing him, screaming obscenities at him, and hurling vulgar insults. Rex, who had done everything he could to compensate for a joke of a receiving corps and a running back who had become so comfortable with his situation that he gained 23 pounds in the offseason and lost most of his speed due to a bad workout routine.
Rex, who, time after time, fell victim to an aging offensive line that had given up a franchise record 10 sacks in the first three games. Rex, who had fallen victim to a fanbase that was too ignorant to understand that a QB, even the greatest QBs are nothing without a good surrounding environment.
He saw a blind fan base point the finger at the person who was probably the least of the problems at the time and at that moment. Lovie promised himself that he would do everything he could to make sure he would never see that sight again.
...fast forward, seven months later - April 26th, 2008, the NFL Draft.
Roger Goodell approached the microphone with a 4 x 6 card with the 14th overall selection in the draft. It didn't read a QB like some ill-knowledged fans vowed it would. It didn't read a running back, at least not at that point. It read a name that Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton would smile at when voiced aloud:
"Chris Williams, Offensive Left Tackle..."
Ah... music to my ears.
Don't complain those of you who still for some reason think that adding another QB will somehow make the team better. It doesn't matter without an offensive line. It's like buying a carriage before the horse.
This move will help in reestablishing an aged offensive line by placing Williams at the left tackle and moving John Tait back to the right side where he can be more effective.
And the addition of running back Matt Forte, whom the Bears selected later on, will help to perhaps motivate Benson to up his performance a little more, and provide a formidable two-back system which was key in the Bears run to the Super Bowl in 2006.
But more importantly, in a key year for Rex Grossman, it will finally give him a fighting chance to show what he can do with at least decent protection, which Grossman has never really had here. Even in 2006, when he posted some of his best performances, the offensive line still ranked toward the bottom of the league in terms of sacks allowed and per attempts.
The new running back in town will also help take some pressure off Grossman, who literally had nothing in terms of a running game to work with in 2007, particularly before his benching when Benson was the bottom ranked RB in the league.
Here's hoping Rex...here's hoping that the new line will give you time to deliver the ball, that your new receivers don't once again lead the league in drops, that your running game doesn't once again fall to the bottom of the NFC, and that the fans give you longer than one pass attempt to show them what you can do.
Here's hoping.
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5 months ago
Excellent article, Jimmy.
You may be hoping, but here's one Viking fan that isn't.
5 months ago
Nice job. Rex probably has one more chance. Hopefully he makes the most of it.
Of course, I'm not at all convinced he will....
5 months ago
Is it wrong for me to root for the Bears to go 1-15 so they can take Matt Stafford, Tim Tebow, or any quarterback who actually is competent at the game of football?
I think not. Go everybody but the Bears!
5 months ago
Wow really nice article. I'm a Packer fan and a few years ago my dad and I were making predictions that Rex Grossman would be the next hot thing in the NFL. Fast forward to the first half of the 2006 season and Rex Grossman looked like the MVP of the league and was playing like a man on fire. Somewhere along the way, it would appear to me, something got in his head and things went downhill.
It is true, like you said, that his running game has been non-existent, his receiving corps dismal (even Bernard Berrian never impressed me...sorry Viking's fans.) and according to the statistics that you presented and offensive line that failed miserably.
I of course, being a Packer fan, do not wish the Bears success but I do hope that at least their QB Rex Grossman will get a fair shake at redeeming himself and performing like he did in the first half of 2006.
I feel it's also important to point out that Brett Favre, whom I consider one of the greatest QB's to have played football, also struggled mightily when he didn't have a running game a receiving corps or much of a defense (2006.)
Da Bears still suck ;-) but best o' luck to Rex.
5 months ago
Solid write, nice job, but unfortunately I am not sold whatsoever on Rex Grossman being the answer for the Bears.
5 months ago
Bear Down Chicago Bears, let every play clear the way to victory. Yeah i totally agree with you man. Those morons that blame stuff on Rex. Moose couldn't catch, Berrian quit running routes, Fred Miller, let people walk by him, Ruben couldn't lift his arm, Garza can't run block, Tait had injuries, Olin was a stud, Benson couldn't run the ball to relieve the pressure. Stupid man, some people say they are fans but don't know anything about their "favorite" team. Embarrassing. Go Bears! Go Grossman!
from 5 months ago
You forgot "and Rex kept throwing the ball to the wrong team" when compiling your list.
from 5 months ago
Hmm... no, no I didn't. Interceptions happen when you have 1 second to throw the ball.
5 months ago
Instead of getting Rex Grossman upgrades, the Bears are better off upgrading over Rex Grossman.
Lets me real here, Grossman, by no means should be an NFL starting QB. There are a lot of things that go into playing football, that don't include playing football. I just feel that Grossman just does not prepare properly week to week, like a real starting QB like the Mannings and Brady's of the world do. Maybe, Grossman doesn't have the same talent as them, but maybe he also doesn't have the work effort. I mean come on, he blamed his poor performance because he was thinking about partying on New Year's. I don't care how you look at it, that is just saying I don't care about football.
5 months ago
WOW. great artical. I'v been a rex fan forever. Since the day he walked on BEN'S TURF. In his last year at fla, he was yanking at my chain on who he reminded me of. I thought he would be a great fit in N.C. I thought SANFRAN. Then bingo. GREENBAY. He has always reminded me of bret. But better off, he went too DA'BEARS TO MAKE HIS OWN LEGACY. And great pick up w/ Williams. That was the best full circle artical on Rex and that melt down team. And J.J . SuperMan is going to Tampa
5 months ago
grossman isn't the answer for the bears, i agree, but the addition of a nice big OT will certainly help. Forte is going to surprise some people as well. Still, I doubt they win the division.
5 months ago
I think that all the people that say that he had no help around him have one problem. He was great the first part of 2006, but then something automatically changed and in the second half of 2006 he was horrible and cost us the Super Bowl. Nobody got injured, everything stayed constant, Rex Grossman, however, changed, and that is the reason that I don't think he should be the QB of the Bears. Good article though.
from 5 months ago
Right on, Joe. He obviously had the parts around him in 2006, and WAS the reason why the Bears lost the Super Bowl, if you ask me.
from 5 months ago
How was Grossman the reason the Bears lost the Superbowl? Through the first half, he had a 120.6 rating as opposed to Manning's 45 rating. It was in the second half when our running game became useless against the Colts and Turner decided he would put Grossman in a gun-slinging contest against of the greatest QBs of all time, Peyton Manning. You honestly think, at that point in his career, Grossman could match Manning in a passing-based game? Don't be ridiculous!
Benson got injured which killed our run game and forced us to pass. The Colts knew our o-line had been weak since the injuries to Brown and Miller from week 5 that never healed up, and simply blitzed the hell out of our line and Rex. And the defense gave up nearly FIVE HUNDRED (500) yards of total offense to the Colts. The defense, save the first drive, couldn't get Manning off the field!
Ok, so take away Rex's 2 INTs - do you honestly think, even if he had thrown 2 TDs that Manning, who crucified our defense, wouldn't have taken the ball right back down the field and scored? It's ridiculous to blame that loss on ONE man!
Muhammad let a ball bounce off his hands and right into a defender for one INT, Benson fumbled another, and our special teams, save Hester's first return which was amazing, were rendered obsolete! It was not all Grossman! If you think any game, and I mean ANY GAME, can be won or lost by ONE man, then you need to stop watching the NFL right now and go pick up a copy of the idiot's guide to football.
from 5 months ago
Okay, your first point is a good one. Ron Turner is a horrendous offensive coordinator and got away from the run even with Benson hurt. Thomas Jones was a very capable running back...
I don't know, this is just personal opinion, but every time Rex dropped back in the Super Bowl, I got a bad feeling. I'll remember that game not for Hester's return or Manning's dominance over our defense, but for Grossman throwing pass after pass off his back foot and seeing it float away out of bounds. Was that a product of the o-line not blocking? Maybe. I can't remember every play of that game, but even when Rex had time, he still seemed to be throwing off his back foot.
If you can't tell, I'm an extremely disgruntled Bears fan, so maybe I just want to scapegoat Rex for the myriad of things that have gone wrong since February of 2007. I just can't even bring myself to watch this team anymore, though. In comparison to the college game, the NFL is like watching the weather channel and the NCAA is some fast-paced action flick. That's just my opinion, though.
5 months ago
Dem-it. Artical is spelled article.
5 months ago
Rex Grossman was fine until he got coached by Ron Zook. It was all downhill from there. He picked up bad habits in his last year in Gainesville, and he still shows those habits today.
Under the right guidance, he's got the arm to make the throws. Will the Bears coaching staff force him to break those bad habits? We'll see, but they haven't so far.
from 5 months ago
I still believe that Grossman would work as a shotgun QB. Watching Grossman drop back and throw with his momentum going backwards like he usually does is absolutely painful. While I don't envision a fun 'n gun offense in the NFL, running him out of the gun would at least give him more of an opportunity to really step into his throws. When he's doing that, his passes have a whole lot more velocity on them and are much more accurate...
5 months ago
Angelo and Lovie did a great job finding players who work well in their system, and almost all of them of them could seriously compete for starting jobs in the next few years.
Great article. People give Sexy Rexy way too much bashing. He's a tough young guy and hopefully can do a lot better with some younger talent. This could be a big weekend for the Bears and maybe put them in position to compete for a wild-card spot this year.
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