Listen Up Bears: Give Rex Grossman Another Shot

Rex Grossman deserves another shot with the Chicago Bears. Let me tell you why.

Look at the following statistics. These are a certain quarterback's stats against the now-Super Bowl Champion New York Giants:

29 of 48 for 266 yards, one TD, and five sacks with an 82 passer rating

No, it's not Rex Grossman. The previous stats are those of the indestructible Tom Brady.

So what's my point? Here, take a look at Rex Grossman's stats against the same New York Giants back in week 13 of the 2007 regular season, and tell me if you see any similarities:

25 of 46 for 296 yards, one TD and six sacks with an 81 passer rating.

Look at all familiar?

The only differences between the much maligned Bears QB and the invincible, pretty boy are Rex throwing for 30 more yards, completing four less passes with two less attempts, and being sacked only once more than Brady.

Now hold the phone, for a minute. How does Tom Brady suddenly turn into Rex Grossman in the blink of an eye?

I will tell you. It's what any football fan that has the magic of sight could've told you from week one where Grossman was planted on his first drop back of the season against the Chargers. Three words:

The offensive line.

Brady suddenly lost his pocket of protection and looked less than human. His accuracy was off, his throws were rushed, and at least two passes should have been picked off by the Giant's secondary. The QB, who was laughed at Plaxico Burress' comment about the highest scoring offense in the history of the league not scoring more than 17 points in a predicted loss, only managed to throw one TD in quite possibly one of the most important games in his life.

A game that gave him the chance to be the only undefeated QB in the history of the league since the 16 game regular season came into play.

So what does this mean? It's quite simple: Any quarterback, no matter how great or how perfect they may seem, can't do their job, and do it well, without an offensive line.

Rex Grossman would tell you this after he crawled away from his first rib-cracking sack of the season against the Chargers. Grossman would play six more games behind a line that would eventually end the season giving up a sack every 10-15 attempts. Which gave their quarterback's (all three of them) an average of less than two seconds to get rid of the ball.

As opposed to top-of-the-line o-lines like the Colts and Patriots who give their quarterback's nearly 4 to 5 seconds to deliver a pass.

Not to mention also the fact that Grossman played with "Benson the bust" who on top of not being able to pass block, finished as one of the worst rushers in the league, and a wide receiving corps, that lead the league in dropped passes with 27 this season.

Do you really expect ANY Quarterback to flourish in an offense with all those struggles? In the midst of the mediocre commentary of Superbowl XLII, Brady was quoted as, "showing us how he would look if he were playing behind Chicago's offensive line." Brady gave up more sacks in that game than he'd given up in any game all season long.

My point: Rex Grossman cannot be blamed for the Chicago Bears' offensive struggles this season, period. Let's look at this logically, on top of the offense that struggled as a whole, we tried another QB in Brian Griese. He fared no better, and ended up leading the team in INT's.

Griese had more snap fumbles than Rex and Kyle Orton, and didn't help us improve the statistic that counts the most: the win/loss stat. Grossman played in less than half the games this season, and the Bears still ended with a losing record.

So it's obviously more than Rex.

And not that it helps heal the wounds of a lost season any quicker, but Rex played significantly better after coming off the bench, throwing 3 TD's to INT in a span of three games and posting an 82 rating average in those 3.5 games.

Those hoping for a free agent to come in and light it up, please, tell me who?

Donovan McNabb is staying in Philadelphia, Chicago can't afford to lose a first and third round pick, and the money it would cost to sign Derek Anderson, who by the way posted a 52 rating in his last five games, throwing 5 INT's and looking... not so hot.

Who else? Daunte Culpepper? Cleo Lemon? Josh McCown? Please, even those who hate Rex to the very depths of their football souls know that he has shown more promise than the previously mentioned.

Rex could be signed at a cheap deal, leaving us money and draft picks to upgrade a badly degraded offensive line and perhaps take another running back to compete with Benson. Also give them another deep widereciever to replace Bernard Berrian, who may leave, and help complement our passing attack which should feature the ever-explosive Devin Hester next season.

With that kind of weapon on offense, the Bears absolutely need Grossman and his powerful, accurate arm next season. Nine of Griese's 12 INT's came on passes over 15 yards, so he obviously struggles with the deep pass. Orton has the arm, just not the accuracy to make the throws Rex can make. All in all, Grossman seems like the smartest choice for 2008.

And with the constant sightings of Grossman working out at Hallas Hall, Sexy Rexy could very well be back in the mix for 2008.

Hopefully Chicago will re-sign him, and do him a favor: Get him an offensive line.