Bears vs. Cardinals: It's not looking good
Time is running out on Rex Grossman. Grossman was much, much better this week in the 23-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, and he actually resembled a professional Quarterback at times. However, he STILL hasn't led the team to a single touchdown in 16 possessions, he threw another interception, and his total offensive output is only two field goals (which were scored in the three quarters Friday night.) That's simply unacceptable. How many more chances is this guy going to get? Lovie Smith still refuses to acknowledge that there's even a quarterback controversy, and it says here he's simply being pig-headed about the issue. Brian Griese clearly has earned the job, but the Bears will not acknowledge it. It's not fair. Not fair to Griese, not fair to the other 44 members of the team. Lovie has sent a message that the starters earn their jobs at every position but one. (well, two if you count Benson -- but I digress.)
In defense of Lovie, it IS still the preseason and the games they are losing will not count in the final standings. All I can say is that the Bears must be operating on the stand that "we know what Brian Griese can do," and they want to see what they have in Grossman. Remember when they signed Jeff George late in the 2004 season, and we were stuck watching Chad Hutchinson flail away at QB? The fans were screaming for George yet Smith wouldn't put him in, stating simply "we know what Jeff George can do." I always thought was a BS excuse, personally. After watching training camp a few weeks ago and watching Grossman put Kyle Orton to shame in drills allows me to trust Lovie a little more. When Lovie says Orton's third despite him not getting a legitimate chance at playing time this preseason, I'm trusting that Lovie saw the same thing from Orton that I saw, and that his place on the depth chart was determined in practice. They probably have been seeing a strong effort from Grossman in practice that at least matches what Griese's been doing. But it's time to translate that to the games. I still believe that if Grossman's struggles extend into the first game of the regular season, Griese will get the job by week two. At least that's what I hope.
Elsewhere, this was a very sloppy game played by both teams. In the second quarter, there was a comical sequence of six false starts over an eight-play span. It looked like the teams decided to line up nine drunk frat boys and expected them to perform up to professional standards.
Moose was a bright spot on offense, but he was pretty much by himself out there. Despite the return of Thomas Jones, the Bears simply haven't gotten the running game going yet. Perhaps a change at Quarterback would ignite the running game?
The starting Defense didn't look too hot either. They would routinely shut them down on first and second down before giving up a first down on third and long. I'm going to chalk this one up to the Bears not wanting to show too much on defense, as they will be playing Arizona during the regular season.
Beyond that, Arizona looked pretty damn good. New acquisition Edgerinn James didn't do much, but you know he'll be fine once the season starts. And they've still got two Pro Bowl receivers in Bolden and Fitzgerald. But what impressed me most was the play of Matt Leinart. He clearly outplayed Grossman and his professional experience consists of less than two weeks. What does that tell you? Yeah. Time for a new Quarterback.