sago1
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Was checking out Chicago and came across below article. Many of us are excited that we playing Grossman this weekend cause he's seen as a lesser problem then either Eli or even Trent Green. But it seems their running game isn't that great either. I think we need be concerned about everything when we face the Bears but obviously our big concern is their defense. But what I find amusing is the credit they give the Chiefs, who are not highly regarded.
QB WATCH | Smith asks for patience, but Grossman may be on thin ice
September 18, 2007
BY BRAD BIGGS bbiggs@suntimes.com
The head coach with the defensive background was grilled about his offense Monday.
Instead of taking to the defensive, Bears coach Lovie Smith preached patience. How much longer he will cling to that virtue remains to be seen, but one got the distinct impression quarterback Rex Grossman has been put on notice.
Smith never is going to come out and say so, but he also isn't going to wait an entire season for things to turn around.
Bears quarterback Rex Grossman is sacked Sunday by Chiefs linebacker Napoleon Harris. Grossman has been sacked six times in the Bears’ first two games.
In two games, Grossman has been picked off three times, has completed 56.1 percent of his passes, has been sacked six times and has a passer rating of 55.1. That rating ranked Grossman 32nd in the NFL entering play Monday. It's hardly the improvement that was promised in his second full season as a starter, and Smith didn't try to sell it as such.
''The turnovers on the offensive side are something that we have to eliminate,'' he said. ''It's as simple as that. Passing-game-wise, we didn't get a lot done [Sunday].''
Smith divides the season into quarters and said it's too early to rush to judgment about Grossman and an ailing offense that ranks 30th in yardage. It might be that Brian Griese is only a few games away from getting his opportunity because the organization is running out of ways to rationalize what is happening.
It's the same 11 starters with the exception of running back Cedric Benson, who was supposed to be an upgrade over Thomas Jones. It's the third season for coordinator Ron Turner, who spent the postgame talking about the good calls the Kansas City Chiefs made in the second half of the Bears' 20-10 victory Sunday. And Wade Wilson, the quarterbacks coach who supposedly wouldn't work on the things that needed work, has been replaced by Pep Hamilton.
''If you're doing well pass-wise, it's a combination of things,'' Smith said. ''It's protection, it's the quarterback throwing the ball to the receivers, pitch and catch. Right now, I'm going to say the entire operation, we're just not there.
''We made progress offensively as I saw it this past week [by] getting our running game going. The next phase of it will be to bring the passing game along with it, too.''
Did the Bears make progress?
The explanation handed out by Turner, Grossman and the receivers was that the Chiefs were in a deep zone and were doing everything in their power to prevent giving up the big play. Fine. In trading the deep stuff -- Grossman had exactly one completion go for more than 11 yards -- for the short stuff, the Bears also should have shredded the Chiefs on the ground.
Benson rolled to 101 yards on 24 carries, a workmanlike effort but hardly the kind of outing that left the Chiefs dazed and wounded. The Bears conceded the Chiefs took away their big-play capability, but they couldn't make the Chiefs pay where they were then vulnerable. You can't have it both ways in the aftermath of a rushing attack that produced only 107 yards with a 3.7-yard average.
''Their philosophy defensively is they are not going to give up the big play,'' Turner said. ''We knew that going in, and we said going in that to move the ball against these guys, you had to be very efficient.''
The mistakes Grossman has been making aren't the gunslinging errors that have been discussed in the past. He's not getting picked off trying to force a ball into a tiny hole 30 yards downfield. He lobbed a screen pass to linebacker Napoleon Harris and said he never saw linebacker Donnie Edwards on a short throw to Rashied Davis.
''I just don't think we're playing as well consistently,'' Grossman said.
You've seen this happen here before. Rarely does it end happily. The coach is asking for your patience. He will need to ask his offense for points Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, who have rolled up 82 points in their first 2-0 start since 1999.
''I don't think you make any calls based on what you've done after two games,'' Smith said. ''You need to go into the first quarter [of the season] a little bit.
''We are taking steps. We just haven't been able to see it all in our play right now. It's still a little early to say, 'This happened last year.' Give us a little bit more time. We're not where we want to be as a football team. I can't give you reasons why.
QB WATCH | Smith asks for patience, but Grossman may be on thin ice
September 18, 2007
BY BRAD BIGGS bbiggs@suntimes.com
The head coach with the defensive background was grilled about his offense Monday.
Instead of taking to the defensive, Bears coach Lovie Smith preached patience. How much longer he will cling to that virtue remains to be seen, but one got the distinct impression quarterback Rex Grossman has been put on notice.
Smith never is going to come out and say so, but he also isn't going to wait an entire season for things to turn around.
Bears quarterback Rex Grossman is sacked Sunday by Chiefs linebacker Napoleon Harris. Grossman has been sacked six times in the Bears’ first two games.
In two games, Grossman has been picked off three times, has completed 56.1 percent of his passes, has been sacked six times and has a passer rating of 55.1. That rating ranked Grossman 32nd in the NFL entering play Monday. It's hardly the improvement that was promised in his second full season as a starter, and Smith didn't try to sell it as such.
''The turnovers on the offensive side are something that we have to eliminate,'' he said. ''It's as simple as that. Passing-game-wise, we didn't get a lot done [Sunday].''
Smith divides the season into quarters and said it's too early to rush to judgment about Grossman and an ailing offense that ranks 30th in yardage. It might be that Brian Griese is only a few games away from getting his opportunity because the organization is running out of ways to rationalize what is happening.
It's the same 11 starters with the exception of running back Cedric Benson, who was supposed to be an upgrade over Thomas Jones. It's the third season for coordinator Ron Turner, who spent the postgame talking about the good calls the Kansas City Chiefs made in the second half of the Bears' 20-10 victory Sunday. And Wade Wilson, the quarterbacks coach who supposedly wouldn't work on the things that needed work, has been replaced by Pep Hamilton.
''If you're doing well pass-wise, it's a combination of things,'' Smith said. ''It's protection, it's the quarterback throwing the ball to the receivers, pitch and catch. Right now, I'm going to say the entire operation, we're just not there.
''We made progress offensively as I saw it this past week [by] getting our running game going. The next phase of it will be to bring the passing game along with it, too.''
Did the Bears make progress?
The explanation handed out by Turner, Grossman and the receivers was that the Chiefs were in a deep zone and were doing everything in their power to prevent giving up the big play. Fine. In trading the deep stuff -- Grossman had exactly one completion go for more than 11 yards -- for the short stuff, the Bears also should have shredded the Chiefs on the ground.
Benson rolled to 101 yards on 24 carries, a workmanlike effort but hardly the kind of outing that left the Chiefs dazed and wounded. The Bears conceded the Chiefs took away their big-play capability, but they couldn't make the Chiefs pay where they were then vulnerable. You can't have it both ways in the aftermath of a rushing attack that produced only 107 yards with a 3.7-yard average.
''Their philosophy defensively is they are not going to give up the big play,'' Turner said. ''We knew that going in, and we said going in that to move the ball against these guys, you had to be very efficient.''
The mistakes Grossman has been making aren't the gunslinging errors that have been discussed in the past. He's not getting picked off trying to force a ball into a tiny hole 30 yards downfield. He lobbed a screen pass to linebacker Napoleon Harris and said he never saw linebacker Donnie Edwards on a short throw to Rashied Davis.
''I just don't think we're playing as well consistently,'' Grossman said.
You've seen this happen here before. Rarely does it end happily. The coach is asking for your patience. He will need to ask his offense for points Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, who have rolled up 82 points in their first 2-0 start since 1999.
''I don't think you make any calls based on what you've done after two games,'' Smith said. ''You need to go into the first quarter [of the season] a little bit.
''We are taking steps. We just haven't been able to see it all in our play right now. It's still a little early to say, 'This happened last year.' Give us a little bit more time. We're not where we want to be as a football team. I can't give you reasons why.
