I may end up eating these words tomorrow, but I don't think Rex Grossman is The Savior. In fact, I don't think he's anything beyond mediocre and never will be, whether he gets hurt again or not. I am in the minority with that opinion. OK, I'm the only one with that opinion. Everyone else around here is drooling with optimism, but the reality is, he was only marginally better than Kyle Orton in the six quarters he played this year, and that's not a step down from previous years. He doesn't make great decisions and he's not particularly accurate. Come to think of it, that's what they say about Orton too, but Orton's a rookie. However, Grossman's the best the Bears have right now, so he has to play, but because he's not nearly as good as Jake Delhomme (now there's an indictment for you), the Bears are going down today. It won't be a blowout because the defenses are too good. Something like 13-6. Carolina didn't show up when the two teams played before. They will this time.
BTW, this isn't an opinion born out of a bias for Orton because of I'm a Purdue guy. I didn't like it when the Bears drafted Grossman. I didn't like his game in college.
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Only 1:22 into the game, the Bears are down 7-0 thanks to a two play Carolina drive. Rex Grossman has started out 0-for-3. The Bears' punter shanked a punt for 19 yards. Can it get worse for the Bears?
17/41, 192 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT, QB rating of 54.1. He had a nice stretch in the middle of the game, but otherwise couldn't hit a bull in the butt with a banjo.
Jerry, nice call. Eli Manning isn't any better for the Giants, just watch him play. Scattershot.
From what I've seen of Manning, he's better than Grossman, but not much, at least not yet. I'm higher on Manning's potential than I am Grossman's, but that's not much of a standard.
Jerry,
I think it is too early in Grossman's career to know whether or not he has something special or not. I know his performance versus the Panthers wasn't spectacular, but this is basically his second game of the season...He has less experience than Orton...I don't think Orton could have led the Bears offense to 21 points but Grossman made plays. I do think if the Bears had used more conservative playcalling, like they did during the regular season with Orton, than they would have won the game versus Carolina.
My comments have nothing to do with Orton. I'm not suggesting that Orton should have played against Carolina or would have done any better.
I think the point about playcalling is well taken. They got away from what they do well, which is run the ball. The coaches had too much faith in Grossman when there is no basis for it. And the defense couldn't make up for it this time.
It is relatively early in Grossman's career, but I'm not optimistic because I didn't think he was anything special at Florida. In college, I thought he was erratic and took too many dumb chances. That's why I don't expect anything at this level either. So far, he hasn't disappointed.
As for Orton, it took him two years at Purdue to get really comfortable in the offense. After that, when he was healthy, he was very good. In particular, he rarely made bad decisions and was an accurate passer (not quite as good as Brees, but that's not a fair standard). He was especially accurate with the deep ball. With the Bears, accuracy has been a problem. He has tended to overthrow his receivers. I suspect that's just a matter of not being comfortable with the offense. He also seemed to "hit the wall" midway through the season. Through October, his QB rating was 65.5. From November on, it was 52.9. Whether a couple of years carrying a clipboard and practicing with the second unit will get him ready to play, we'll have to wait and see.
There is no doubt he will be carrying a clipboard next year as long as Grossman's healthy, no matter how badly Grossman plays.
Jerry,
I was wondering if you have an early prediction for the NCAA championship game, and if you would like to share it with us!
Duke vs UConn.
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