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This is a Chicago Bears Monday-morning quarterback open thread.
I’m so bummed.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 7:55 am
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terrible coaching. Rivera was too scared to blitz, but you gotta blitz to beat Manning. The only time the defense did well was when the Bears blitzed. Urlacher was angry during the game about not blitzing.
And offensive guru Ron Turner??? Hey great job giving up on running the football!
Comment by Fire Ron Guenther Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 7:58 am
Although I’m a Packer fan I would have like to have seen the Bears win. Even though Grossman didn’t show it last night, I believe he will end up being one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He’s too young and inexperienced right now.
Comment by Cheesehead Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:03 am
Wish Bears had won, but they were at least playing. Seems a couple dozen other teams wanted to be there but could not make it. After the first 5 minutes I thought the game was over. Arm chair all day and rip on Grossman, you have to be pretty good just to be there. Give Colts credit for a good game in bad conditions. I would think 15 season wins = new contract for Lovie.
Comment by zatoichi Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:14 am
Bear downer…
Comment by Next year? Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:20 am
outcoached and beat by a better team - whats to argue?
Comment by whatevah... Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:23 am
That was “Gross” man.
Sorry Bear Fans. Ram Fans know how you feel.
Comment by BIG R.PH. Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:25 am
I will be the first to admit I was wrong about Hester getting a TD. The Colts kicked away from him the rest of the game and I don’t believe he had another return did he? Had the Colts simply not kicked to him in the first place they would have done even better.
As far as the Bears go, I think their defense played weak. The scheme definitely wasn’t working and the coaching staff should have adjusted. But on the same token, the players weren’t out there making the plays either.
For the offense, I think Grossman once again demostrated his inability to be a good quarterback. There are a couple reasons I don’t think Rex has ‘the stuff’ to be a good NFL QB. First, his bad throws/interceptions are always different. He doesn’t always get picked because of bad throws, nor does he always get picked because of bad decision. He has this weird mish mash of bad plays. Sometimes he thinks he’s back in college playing against inferior talent. Sometimes he just can’t make the throws. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme to his reason which makes it much harder to correct. Secondly, in my opinion he has shown zero progress this season towards getting better. We all talk about him being young and inexperienced, yet in his 19th game of the season, against a defense weaker than some he faced this year, he still could not get it done. Instead of being a QB that got them back in the game with a strong 2nd half drive, he threw a couple picks and sealed the Bears fate.
Don’t take this as Bears bashing because I didn’t root for them, just my analysis of the game.
Comment by Robbie Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:26 am
Its hard to not feel like a loser when you say things like “we had agreat season,” or “nobody expected us to get this far,” but both statements are true. The Bears did have a great season, proving the critics wrong time and time again.
Remember the Bulls of the late 80’s who couldnt beat the Pistons? THe Bulls were a great team who’s time finally came and led to 6 championships in the 90’s. I like to think that the Bears are in the same position. If they can keep this team together, they havea shot next year.
Comment by Buck Naked Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:28 am
Grossman. Need I say more?
Comment by Woe is us Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:30 am
Im a huge Manning Fan….sorry! But Lovie has to do something about Grossman. Urlacker and the Defense can’t win every game for them. Hopefully they can shape that boy up before next season or they man have troubles again. Defense by far is the best in the league.
Comment by Anon Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:44 am
for those of us living closer to Indy than to the State of Chicago, I’ll sum it up in one word Manning (and I dont mean ricky)
Comment by The Horse Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:53 am
SHIP REX !
Comment by Da Coach Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:57 am
What did you expect? They are the Bears!
Comment by Dead Head Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 8:58 am
Second place for the second city. Let’s recoup our betting losses by organizing a pool to see when/if/under court order, Blago pays off his commodity bets.
Comment by Ali Bin Haddin Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 9:05 am
I almost compared Grossman to John Elway. Elway screwed up when he first went to the Super Bowl. But he eventually came back and got his ring.
Comment by Levois Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 9:12 am
Yeah, ditch Grossman. Bring back the glory days of Cade McKnown!
Comment by ZC Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 9:20 am
Sure, blame Grossman because it is easy, but the bottom line is the defense played poorly, the special teams (but for one big play and excluding Robbie Gould) played poorly and the coaches made some pretty questionable calls.
The poster who said out coached and out played by a better team was accurate, but this team will only get better. They need to sign their free agents and shore up a hole or two, and with the weak NFC and especially NFC central, hopefully we’ll be talking about DA BEARS next January as well. Bottom line… good season… bad ending… bright future!
Comment by Jaded Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 9:32 am
For the second consecutive year, a team from the AFC that had to play an extra playoff game made the Super Bowl, as well as the top-seeded team from the NFC.
And also for the second consecutive year, that lower-ranked team from the AFC underperformed and still beat the NFC’s best by a wide margin.
Jaded makes the point that a weak NFC makes a repeat trip for Da Bears a realistic goal. Indeed it does. But WINNING the Super Bowl is going to be incredibly hard for any team from the NFC.
Does anyone think that at least three other teams from the AFC — New England, San Diego and Baltimore — wouldn’t have beaten the Bears as well last night? The conferences are so out of whack the Super Bowl is getting stupid.
The two best teams played in the AFC title game. And the third and fourth best teams played the week before in San Diego and Baltimore.
Comment by imbalance makes it sort of pointless Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 9:45 am
I don’t understand why so many fans are down on Grossman. He’s still learning.
Everyone expected Peyton Manning to have made it to a Super Bowl long before now as it is.
If Grossman doesn’t improve over the next season then fine, look for a new QB. But don’t give up on the guy just because he ended up as QB of the 2nd best team in the league.
So many whiners… How many Super Bowl quality quarterbacks do you people think are out there?
Comment by NW burbs Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 9:49 am
Damn that Rex Grossman.
Sure he took the Bears to their first Super-Bowl appearance in recent memory, but damn him anyway.
And damn that Coaching staff as well.
Jeebus, people.
Comment by So-Called "Austin Mayor" Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 9:53 am
The defects that doomed the Bears yesterday were on display all year; shaky wins against Arizona and Detroit; a so what performance against Green Bay in the regular season finale. Truthfully, the Bears proved to lucky rather than good for much of the year. A soft regular season schedule helped mightily. Rex Grossman has had terrible games all year, but he kept the starting role and took the team out of the running in the second half yesterday. The question for 2007 is will the owners stand pat or will the team go out and spend money for needed player personnel improvements?
Comment by Honest Abe Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 10:07 am
NW Burbs - you miss the point here. The Bears don’t need a QB that will ‘lead them to the super bowl,’ they need a QB who doesn’t suck like Grossman. Trent Dilfer won a super bowl. I hold to the opinion that had the Bears started playing Greise in October they would be Super Bowl champs right now.
I personally would like to say that I don’t beleive the loss was entirely Rex’s fault. Unlike most people, I no longer feel the Bears defense is the best in the league or ever near it. They are still a very good defense, but no longer good enough to carry the whole team. The Bears will definitely have to develop a better offense. They will need balance from the running game and a QB that can manage the game.
Comment by Robbie Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 10:44 am
===And damn that Coaching staff as well.
There’s still a steady drumbeat of fans in St. Louis who want to fire LaRussa even after the Series. Amazing. I’m all for it as a Cubs fan, of course.
Comment by Archpundit Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 10:53 am
Not enough blitzing, but the Bears’ offensive and defensive lines played much better in the second half. I don’t know if they were playing with more intensity or if they just finally wore the Colts down, but the linesmen put the Bears back in the game.
Then along came Grossman. Simply wretched. You can’t count on Grossman to perform in big games.
In addition to Grossman, the Bears made a half-dozen mental errors that cost them points or possessions, and probably two dozen missed first tackles. It all adds up.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 11:00 am
Rex may be young in dog years, or whatever you’d call number of games played, but he’s 26 and he’s been in the league for four years. His biggest problem is one that can’t be coached — he’s too short.
The regular rap on him is that he throws off his back foot, often leading to disaster. At his height, if you looked up and saw giant 6′6′’ linemen charging at you with their arms up, you’d lean back too, our of a healthy sense of self-preservation, throw off your back foot and voila -Pick Six! And he has a hard time seeing down field over linemen, his included.
That being said, we gave up on our bread and butter, a productive running game, the defense couldn’t tackle anyone, we miss Brown and Harris and we lost to a better team.
Expect some significant changes in the off season, coaches and players. Who knows when we will pass this way again.
Comment by XLI Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 11:12 am
Ditka on radio today - the Bears lost it in the trenches, not at QB.
I agree. The running game could not establish itself consistently, and the Harris-less defensive line could not get to Manning, as expected. I also agree about the need for more blitzing - if Manning is picking you apart anyway, what is there to lose? Kudos to Urlacher for a great game - seven solo tackles and about three Colts on smelling salts.
The Bears are young, and will be back.
Comment by Bubs Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 11:34 am
Well guys, I think making it to the Super Bowl says something in itself. There’s going to be a winner and there’s going to be a loser, unfortunately for us, the Bears lost. Easy to sit on the sofa and complain about Grossman, granted he did throw quite a few short, but he and the rest of the team brought us to the Super Bowl. Just think we’ve been having Super Bowl parties for years watching other teams play, this year we got to watch our team play, Da Bears, and I think they provided us with the hope of winning that we haven’t had in years. Go Bears for next year!
Comment by Judy, Judy, Judy Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 12:30 pm
C’mon, folks! This was Grossman’s rookie season and they lost all of 4 games. The kid’s got an arm on him, and I believe he has the potential to be great. You can tell, though that he’s got no confidence in himself, and neither does the team.
-They were calling pass plays which were only designed to gain 2-3 yards in 3rd down situations that required 8-10.
-He’s hesitant to step up to the pocket, and rightfully so when the O-line was unevenly matched against the Colts’ D.
-He’s nervous with the ball and you can tell he doesn’t have his timing down the way he dances and panics. Even Brett Favre wasn’t solid in the pocket during his rookie season.
This was a Peyton year. He’s been working hard since 1998 under criticism similar to what Rex is getting now, each season improving. Worked out well for him.
Give it time. Rex’ll come around.
The Bears were out-played. Here’s to next year!
Comment by QueenB Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 12:32 pm
Rex has potential, but right now he is no more than a great backup. The Bears should sign free agent Jeff Garcia out of Philly. He has at least two good years left, a 95 QB rating this year, and by that time Rex may finally have given up floating up goofy passes from his back foot.
Comment by Bubs Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 12:40 pm
Bears running backs combined for just 17 carries on a rainy day with a shaky QB and the game in reach with plenty of time left. The Bears should have pounded the Colts’ questionable run D with Jones and the underrated Adrian Peterson. The run could have kept their overworked defense off the field, too.
Ron Turner, What’s He Thinking?
Comment by Tom Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 12:48 pm
Rex has certain faults. They must be corrected.
The three worst are his tendency to throw of the wrong foot and not follow through, his need to force completions that are not there, and his inability every time to check down reads.
Ron Turner needs to extend the pocket back further. Notice how deep Manning dropped. He needs to move the pocket, to enable Grossman to see better. He needs to unleash rex as a running threat (at least for eight yeard on tuck and go’s) which keeps the pass defenders honest and open up some passing lanes, otherwise it is ten on eleven.
Somebody remind me, were the Bears playing with no tight ends? Are there any pass plays which let a running back receive the ball beyond the line of scrimmage and in one on one coverage?
Beyond the bad tackling, and Manning’s hand signals, the defense got snookered. They tied Chris Harris in knots on the first Colt TD. The tight end and backs on the Colts would react to linebacker and safety blitzing, quick blocking and moving into a vacant zone. Tell Chico that Urlacher is not an extra deep safety, when moving back opens patterns over and thrugh the middle.
Face it. The Colts won by beating our strengths, not attacking weaknesses.
Comment by Truthful James Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 1:22 pm
Beat in all facets of the game, not the least of which was coaching. No defensive adjustments. No game plan discipline on offense. Whooped!
Comment by Ambulance chaser Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 1:24 pm
Rex looked like a high school QB. I think he ran backwards more than forwards. Did someone forget to tell him to pass to the guys in the dark blue jerseys?
Comment by Festering Drippage Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 3:39 pm
Robbie, You can’t pitch a baseball game without a pitcher and you can’t play a football game without a QB.
It was you who somehow missed my point which is “Why’s everyone beating up on the guys that just went to the Super Bowl?” Yes, they lost. But it wasn’t purely Grossman’s fault.
Figure out mistakes, work on better play in the off-season and get to work again this summer on SB-XLII.
Comment by NW burbs Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 4:02 pm
Is it just me or were the Bears much better when they were all huge and paid less? Seems these younger guys are buff and snappy dressers but very concerned about their contracts. If the Bears of the 70’s and 80’s had happen to them what happened on Sunday by half time, they would have come out growling and all hell would have broken loose. The Fridge would have just laid down on the first opponent he saw. “That’s one out of the way.”
Very lame commercials also this year. It’s been down hill since the frogs and lizards and the Clydesdales dominated the ads. Get rid of that awful preshow and the half time show and let’s play some dirty football!!!
Comment by Disgusted Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 5:48 pm
Disgusted, you’re right about the second half. No adjustments, no rage, nothing. And then Indy’s 7.5 minute drive had to exhaust the defense. I thought they still had a chance to accidentally win it until the beginning of the 4th quarter, then I gave up. And what were those little dump passes at the end? Yes, the game was lost, but put one on the board!
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 5:53 pm
Grossman might have had more passing opportunities if he hadn’t fumbled like every other snap. He ought to spend the entire off season drilling snaps with a wet football. Jeez.
Comment by HoosierDaddy Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 5:56 pm
PS the only good commercial was the one with the animals trying to get online. “Try dragging the mouse!”
Comment by HoosierDaddy Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 5:58 pm
What did you expect? The Bears may have lost it in the trenches, but a decent QB would have adjusted. That is Rex’s problem. No pocket/pressure awareness. Happy feet, no guts and an inability to handle pressure. This season in all likely hood finished the upside of his career. I have seen it happen with other players.
Comment by Papa Legba Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 9:02 pm
Perhaps Urlacher should shed a block? I hear he now has to meet Jeff Saturday at the Lake Forest oasis 2 times a month and Jeff Staurday gives him 20% of his pay.
My solution to the Bears, stop someone on 3 & 7 yards or greater, make a takcle, get a first down on offense.
It was a great season, improve upon it next year.
Comment by Wumpus Monday, Feb 5, 07 @ 9:51 pm