I was all ready to use this morning's post to trash talk Jay Cutler's Walton-level-HORRIBLE pass late in the first half of last night's game, but then this morning I noticed this:
Rex Grossman:
6 of 19 passes completed, for a total of 34 yards, 0 TDs, 3 INTs
And he WON the game, courtesy of a defensive touchdown, safety, and a punt return TD. 16 points scored w/ Sexy Rexy on the bench.
People are openly screaming for Grossman to be benched, favoring the Immortal Brian Griese.
So my question is this, do you bench Rex for Griese, heading into the playoffs, despite the immutable law of No Team With Brian Griese As Quarterback Will Ever Win The Superbowl?
I say no, unless the clubhouse has completely turned on Rex. What I do propose, however, is that they punt on first down. Call it the anti-Tecmo strategem. Punt first down, every possession. Keeps your best players (defense/special teams) on the field, and your worst player (Rex) safe on the sideline. Hell, devise a whole slew of fake-play punts just to cause havoc and confusion. Maybe try some Flutie drop kicks too just to spice things up. Is Flutie available?
Rex Grossman:
6 of 19 passes completed, for a total of 34 yards, 0 TDs, 3 INTs
And he WON the game, courtesy of a defensive touchdown, safety, and a punt return TD. 16 points scored w/ Sexy Rexy on the bench.
People are openly screaming for Grossman to be benched, favoring the Immortal Brian Griese.
So my question is this, do you bench Rex for Griese, heading into the playoffs, despite the immutable law of No Team With Brian Griese As Quarterback Will Ever Win The Superbowl?
I say no, unless the clubhouse has completely turned on Rex. What I do propose, however, is that they punt on first down. Call it the anti-Tecmo strategem. Punt first down, every possession. Keeps your best players (defense/special teams) on the field, and your worst player (Rex) safe on the sideline. Hell, devise a whole slew of fake-play punts just to cause havoc and confusion. Maybe try some Flutie drop kicks too just to spice things up. Is Flutie available?
posted by Alex at
8:22 AM
4 Comments:
This is a tough question. Rex Grossman is a disaster. Defenses have him figured out. I think Griese has a better chance of not crapping the bed than Grossman at this point, but boy it's a close call. You'd think one of them could handle a 90% running offense, which is where the team has to go I think even though their running game isn't that great, but I'm not actually sure.
RE: Denver/Seattle. Can you believe that was 1 game away from being the superbowl matchup last year? Man those teams looked bad. I mean, new quarterback for Denver and Hasselbeck/Alexander just coming back from injury, but wow. At least the Seattle defense looks like it's gelling a bit.
By
Jesse, at 11:13 AM
Yeah, definitely Griese at this point. Look no further than Grossman for proof that you can change horses mid-stream... didn't Grossman torch the Panthers last winter in a losing effort?
As for Denver, I'm just happy they're essentially locked into road playoff games from here on out (for obvious reasons).
By
Jeff, at 11:19 AM
I'd stick with Grossman for at least another week or two, and here's why:
(1) He can throw deep. Griese and Orton can't. The threat of that should open up the running game (although as of a couple of weeks ago, their YPC was less this year). This seems to matter a lot to the Bears who were well aware of his Kitna-esque, damn-the-torpedoes/turnovers approach to quarterbacking at Florida.
(2) By all accounts, the players like Rex. Players seem to get tired of Griese drunkenly falling over them, his dog, and himself. Ok, ok, not funny.
(3) Grossman has had all kinds of catastrophic injuries as a pro. So even though he's been in the league for what, 4 or 5 years?, he's basically a 2nd year starter. 2nd years starters have these kinds of phases (well, maybe not "6-19 with 34 yards and 3 picks" phases, but still).
(4) Combining 2 and 3, we already know what Griese can do. We don't really know Grossman's ceiling. Kind of like the Bronco's dilemma: Griese/Plummer may be able to get you to the playoffs, but they won't win you a Super Bowl. You could argue that Grossman is no Cutler and Griese might be just good enough to manage games for you. Still, I think the Bears ultimately have a better team if they can get Grossman to figure it out.
(5) The Bears have an insurmountable lead in the Central and have a decent cushion for home field advantage. Why not give Grossman a few more games to work it out?
(6) Longer-term, the Bears' defense is young and locked up for the next few years at reasonable money. If you're interested in being a player for a few years to come, it'd be best to develop their inexperienced QB now, rather than basically running him out of town. The flip side is that you never know how things'll shake out over the next few seasons and that you have to be more concerned with the present, but it's an additional reason beyond the ones for sticking with Grossman in the short-term.
Of course, all of this could change if he craps the bed next week and/or the week after.
By
chas, at 5:39 PM
Chas- i'm with you on this one.
By
Alex, at 9:38 AM
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