Bears-Raiders: A Win is a Win, Baby
Today's Bears-Raiders matchup was a pretty wretched display of football for the first two hours and forty-five minutes. Neither offense could do crap. Two-point-six and a cloud of dust, three and outs everywhere you look. Even Hester was held in check. But somehow Bernard Berrian managed to get deep in the last three minutes and Rex Grossman somehow managed to throw an accurate pass. Then Berrian somehow managed to catch it. Bears win. Some notes:
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I wasn't even remotely upset when Griese got injured. It's clear that he's a gamer that can win a few games off the bench but it's also clear that he's not a viable option to be the starter next season. With the season slipping fast, they might as well give Rex (or Orton) an extended look. At least there's some upside. Maybe the six-game benching for Rex was just the wakeup call he needed to pull his head out of his ass. He didn't look great today; hell, he didn't even look good. But at least he can throw it down field.
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And how about Grossman? Runnin in there as soon as Griese gets hurt, giddy as a school girl. Then fumbling the first snap. I just about fell off my couch I was laughing so hard.
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Benson looked good at times, but he still only averaged 2.6 yards per carry. Not very good against a team that was allowing 152 yards per game on the ground. (That's more than the Bears give up!)
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Nice to see Garrett Wolfe get in there for one lousy carry. I don't know what happened to him. He just doesn't have the burst he had at NIU. He runs more tentative than Benson.
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Muhammad looked like a pro today, and so did Clark. Can't say much for the offensive line, though. It's hard to evaluate the line's play before watching the replay on NFL network. So it's hard to say if it was the new guy in the lineup, Terrance Metcalf, or if it was just poor play on the whole. All I know is Benson was routinely stuffed behind the line and the quarterbacks took a beating.
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The defense looked pretty good today. Well, they were playing a team a worse QB than their own and less weapons than their own, but still, at least they were able to hold them in check. In particular, I thought Briggs, Ogunleye, Walker, Manning and Trumaine McBride had good games. Especially McBride. He was quite a find in the seventh round of this year's draft. He hasn't quite played up to Vasher's all-pro level, but he's certainly got the job done and the Bears losing has little to do with the Vasher's replacement.
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What's up with the fifteen yard unsportsmanlike penalty from the Bears bench? Lovie! Control your team!
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Robbie Gould is worthless beyond fifty. It's been confirmed.
And that's that. Bears win an ugly game but a win's a win and it's better than a loss. I'm sure they'll crap the bed next week against Seattle, a matchup so good NBC tossed it like some moldy cheese. That's just how this yo-yo team is. But I'll remain optimistic until they get loss #7. That will be the certifiable death blow for the 2007 team. Until then....
Bear down.