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NFL III


Xray the Enforcer

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Quick Thoughts:

-The Pats have never looked this good this early in the season. At the same time, the combined record of their opponents is 2-7.

-Those who said LaBabian's outburst at the end of the game v. the Pats last season was an abberation are wrong. Its the rule, not the exception.

-Why are teams so quick to dump Marty? Of all the teams that Marty has left- Browns, Chiefs, Skins, and Chargers, none got any better after he left; in fact, most got much worse. Stay classy, San Deigo.

-KC won a game. I know, I had to look twice to.

-Donnovan is BACK! For now! Or at least for one game! Or at least until something goes wrong and he falls apart again! Or he faces a really good team! I don;t know- nothing against Donovan, but the ESPN talking heads have to chill out.

-Steelers- quietest 3-0 team in the NFL. And the 49'ers looked horrible.

-St. Louis- quietest 0-3 team in the NFL. What happened?

-Giants showing they have a pulse.

-I want to know what the basement is on Grossman? How bad does he absolutely have to get before something is done? Also, what does he have to do to get the media to "give up the ghost" and just admit "He is a terrible quarterback?" Throw 5 INTs in a game? Have negative yardage? Remember, he did have a game where he had 2 completions and 3 INTs. What is the "Paulie-Turn-My-Back-On-You" moment where you give Ray Liotta a wad of cash and acknowledge the complete peice of garbage that he is? In other words, when will he be the starter for Miami?

-The Pats are coming.

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I'm no expert, but just watching Romo move in the pocket to evade tackles, while at the same time still looking downfield for recievers made me realize that Grossman is a lost cause for the Bears.

Yeah, you can blame the running game or stone-handed receivers, but Grossman is just a dullard behind center. Oh my! A pass rush is coming! I'd better curl up in the fetal position post haste! Or, hey, there's my third receiver so I'll throw to him! Too bad he's on the sideline or in the fifth row of the stands gagging down a Polish sausage.

The Bears are so hard headed in attempting to justify their number one picks in Grossman and Benson. What (beyond cap room) was wrong with having a two back attack with Thomas Jones and Benson sharing the load? Egos.

A caretaker QB could take this team pretty far, injuries to half the defensive starters notwithstanding. If that's Griese, then so be it. Hell, if it's Orton, that's fine, too. Enough with the three-and-outs and interceptions. The defense needs a minute for oxygen.

And every time I see Benson run straight up the middle for 0 or 1 yard I see The Ghost Of Curtis Enis Past. It's ugly. Get to the outside for a 3 yard gain, man!

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No fear of Grossman would be an understatement at this juncture, which is obviously no help to the RBs. Further, I would guess opposing Ds love to null the run, just to put the ball in Grossman's hands, at this point.

It seems to me that confidence and concentration is in the toliet: the drops, the muffs, imprecise routes, fumbles. Everyone is frustrated. I dunno if Griese can mend that mentality, but what else are you gonna do? Seems to me you have to try him, unless you're willing to concede the year already. The team has stuck by Rex publicly (to my knowledge), but at a guess, I suspect they've little to no confidence in him at this point, either. Improvement is unlikely, an uphill battle at the least, assuming that is, in fact, the case.

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The problem is Chicago needs to find a long term solution. Sure Griese can cover for Grossman's GROSS mishandling of games - but he is no long term plan for Chicago. Chicago needs to wise up here.

As for Romo - that man is old school good. He is exactly what the Cowboys have needed for years, and they finally have a cohesive offense. Now, if they can get their defense together - they will be a powerhouse team.

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Jaxom,

Last year Rex made some long completions that softened up the box and allowed for the run. He's not making those throws this year, and that is part of why the run isn't working.

True. To a point. The run also isn't working because there is not a single defense in the NFL that feels threatened by the Bears running Cedrick Benson with Adrian Peterson backing him up. The Bears made the wrong choice in letting Thomas Jones go too soon.

The Bears have many more problems than Rex Grossman and he's not even the main problem anymore.

No fear of Grossman would be an understatement at this juncture, which is obviously no help to the RBs. Further, I would guess opposing Ds love to null the run, just to put the ball in Grossman's hands, at this point.

And every time I see Benson run straight up the middle for 0 or 1 yard I see The Ghost Of Curtis Enis Past. It's ugly. Get to the outside for a 3 yard gain, man!

Exactly!

Put together a running game that teams have to actualy give at least a passing thought about loosens up a defense just enough that Grossman gets an opportunity to look about the field to throw to guys who have a shot at getting a little more open. And hopefully guys who are a little more open don't show the stone hands that weren't as big of a deal last season...

FOR THE RECORD: I thought four games would be a suitable leash to allow Rex to show that he could be the man. I don't know that he's gotten anywhere close to the team he had last year to show that he could move them forward. The Bears offense has taken too many steps backward before Rex got an opportunity to take a step forward. Not exactly fair to him, but this game is a business too.

I'll truly feel sorry for Rex if Griese starts next week against the Lions and suddenly the O-line is tighter, Berrian and Moose run their complete routes and catch balls they should catch and Benson decides that it's possible to run to the side occasionally (I highly doubt this last thing).

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-Steelers- quietest 3-0 team in the NFL. And the 49'ers looked horrible.

I was actually somewhat encouraged by the Niners performance. The D still played well (14 points for the Steelers came on D/Special Teams), and the offense had it's best day passing the football. It's clear the OL needs some more time to gel, as Smith was pressured far too often and Gore didn't have much running room, but this is a veteran unit that's done it before, I'm pretty confident they'll get their act together.

Last year when the Niners went on the road to face a tough opponent (Chicago, KC) they got absolutely demolished. Now, playing on the road against probably a top 5 team in the NFL, they hung in there and kept things close until the fourth quarter-- when they got totally demolished. It's all about progress, I guess :P .

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I'll truly feel sorry for Rex if Griese starts next week against the Lions and suddenly the O-line is tighter, Berrian and Moose run their complete routes and catch balls they should catch and Benson decides that it's possible to run to the side occasionally (I highly doubt this last thing).

Hey, if that's the Placebo effect of starting someone besides Wrex, then I have no pity for Grossman.

They can't afford another week of having to have players defend Rex with the toe-the-line "He's our guy" line when you can hear between the lines that they are aching to give someone else a chance.

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The Bears made the wrong choice in letting Thomas Jones go too soon.

I agree. As far as the other, I can see the chicken/egg, although I have to admit, I think it more likely that the RBs production would improve under a better passing game, more than Grossman's game improving with better running. Honestly, I don't know why they went round and round with Lance Briggs to just call the season a rebuilding year, for his development.

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Hey, if that's the Placebo effect of starting someone besides Wrex, then I have no pity for Grossman.

They can't afford another week of having to have players defend Rex with the toe-the-line "He's our guy" line when you can hear between the lines that they are aching to give someone else a chance.

Pity Grossman because it means he never had the team this year and never had a chance. Pity the fan because the team, just removed from the Superbowl, could be that petty. And then move on. Because Green Bay's coming and it's going to be ugly.

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The problem is Chicago needs to find a long term solution. Sure Griese can cover for Grossman's GROSS mishandling of games - but he is no long term plan for Chicago. Chicago needs to wise up here.

The issue here is not how good Griese is; its how bad Grossman is. I understand, Griese will not blow the joint up. He won't put up Manning-like numbers (and I mean Eli). However, Rex is terrible and actively helps the opponent win games. This is not the Bledsoe-Romo problem where Romo was better and Bledsoe was not getting the job done. No. Rex is MAKING the Beras lose. All alone. Impressive. I understand that there have been dropped passes, but the recievers don't trust him so they make mistakes.

Griese is many things, but better than Rex is all he needs to be.

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The issue here is not how good Griese is; its how bad Grossman is. I understand, Griese will not blow the joint up. He won't put up Manning-like numbers (and I mean Eli). However, Rex is terrible and actively helps the opponent win games. This is not the Bledsoe-Romo problem where Romo was better and Bledsoe was not getting the job done. No. Rex is MAKING the Beras lose. All alone. Impressive. I understand that there have been dropped passes, but the recievers don't trust him so they make mistakes.

Griese is many things, but better than Rex is all he needs to be.

Griese might very well be better than Rex. But pinning the entire woes of the team on Rex ignores every other problem that offense has.

That doesn't mean that Rex is the better play right now. Something needs to be done.

Coaches need to be looking in the mirror too here.

Man I can't believe I'm starting to sound like a Rex backer in full force (when I've clearly said he's got limited time to get it done) but it's just been so glaringly obvious that there is more here than just Rex.

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Honestly, I don't know why they went round and round with Lance Briggs to just call the season a rebuilding year, for his development.

IMO, it's not a coincidence that the Cowboys scored so many points after Briggs left the game at halftime with an injury.

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A good quarterback covers up a lot of woes. A bad quarterback makes them more obvious. And makes them all worse.

And honestly, Jones isn't doing shit in New York. And Benson might be able to run a bit more if the defense didn't put 8-9 men in the box every first and second down. They practically beg Grossman to throw the ball, but he just yells hike without audibleing, because, let's be honest, he doesn't recognize a defense. (And I'd be surprised if he were allowed to change plays at the line of scrimmage. You don't let toddlers drive cars, after all.)

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IMO, it's not a coincidence that the Cowboys scored so many points after Briggs left the game at halftime with an injury.

Of course not. He's the best player on their team and Harris is a close second. With those two out, it was off to the races.

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Man I can't believe I'm starting to sound like a Rex backer in full force (when I've clearly said he's got limited time to get it done) but it's just been so glaringly obvious that there is more here than just Rex.

You're right. I'm talking about their current options. There's no new RBs gonna jump out a locker. There are other QBs on the depth chart. Apart from hoping for better QB play, attempt to instigate a change in surrounding player's mentality, which is contributing to poor play, IMO. Could be that fails, but at least try.

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That defense just wasn't the same in the second half. It was like the air was punched out of them, and with Briggs gone, it was like that. Why they're going to let him go after this year is beyond me. He, like Harris, just makes the team better. Having Ogunleye (thought he came back), Harris, Vasher and Reuben Brown all go out in short order just killed the defense. Having a 3 and out offense doesn't help.

There were so many missed tackles in the game, I wasn't sure I was even watching the Bears defense. Romo should have been sacked about 8 more times, but the sneaky little bastard can move around the pocket well.

I know that Rex isn't the only problem on offense, and the guy looks like a great quarterback at times. But the horrible quarterback just keeps shining through more and more. It's like he has the play in his head, the route and the receiver he's going to and that's that. He doesn't improvise if he needs to, he doesn't look for other receivers; he makes up his mind on where the ball is going and throws it there no matter what or gets sacked. I'm thinking it's time for him to go bye-bye.

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You're right. I'm talking about their current options. There's no new RBs gonna jump out a locker. There are other QBs on the depth chart. Apart from hoping for better QB play, attempt to instigate a change in surrounding player's mentality, which is contributing to poor play, IMO. Could be that fails, but at least try.

What's the point of three QB's on the sideline if only one gets to play?

What is this mentality that you can't pull a QB? If Lovie won't pull Rex, then put Orton on I.R. and add another position player where some depth is needed or something useful. Like a backup punter or something.

If the starting QB's psyche is so fragile that missing one half of play, or one start for that matter, will damage him forever, then there is a bigger problem than originally thought.

And, I agree with Jaxom that there are more problems than just Grossman, but this Good Rex/Bad Rex routine will just fester and get worse. You don't fix the QB situation, you don't fix anything.

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IMO, it's not a coincidence that the Cowboys scored so many points after Briggs left the game at halftime with an injury.

Agreed. In case it was unclear, I'm saying I don't know why they fought with Briggs for months, ending in the 1 year deal... that settlement says to me their expectation was to be playoff bound, and not that they were treating it like a rebuiling/looking ahead year.

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And honestly, Jones isn't doing shit in New York. And Benson might be able to run a bit more if the defense didn't put 8-9 men in the box every first and second down. They practically beg Grossman to throw the ball, but he just yells hike without audibleing, because, let's be honest, he doesn't recognize a defense. (And I'd be surprised if he were allowed to change plays at the line of scrimmage. You don't let toddlers drive cars, after all.)
Exactly. The Bears never had a great running game last year, it was sufficient. The issue last year was that early on, teams couldn't dare Grossman to beat them because, well, he'd beat them. Then they started keying on his problems and working on the run, and he started getting worse and worse. Jones isn't the issue; a decent runner can still do fine replacing a good runner when they're not the lynchpin of the offense (in other words, you can't replace a Marshall Faulk, but you can replace an Edge). The issue is that no one is at all afraid of Grossman and the pass offense.

You could see this so clearly in two back-to-back series. In the first, Grossman clearly got some info from the sidelines on weaknesses and started making these out throws. Easy ones, just like that. Then he went to the TE after that, which is a good move; when you start making the Outs, the middle of the field tends to open up a bit. And that was successful.

The next drive, he tried exactly the same thing. He didn't bother looking at other receivers or even looking in any direction other than his primary out. The Cowboys were waiting on him and looking for the ball the whole way, and boom - TD the other way. Later, he did the exact same thing and failed the exact same way. He didn't bother going to his checkdown or his second option. He's not going through his progressions at all. Part of that is that he doesn't have time; his line isn't doing any favors in pass protection. But part of that is that the DLine can just rush like there's no tomorrow when the Bears are down a bunch. They're not going to run, and once you take that possibility out of the Bears they become less than a one-dimensional team.

Grossman has the actual athletic skills to make plays. He can throw those great Out patterns, has a good arm. But he doesn't see the field, he has no instincts for avoiding sacks, has horrible mechanics, and most importantly makes hideously bad decisions. Get him out of there. Please.

Stego, as to Urlacher/Briggs - of course Briggs makes Urlacher better. It's a team sport! That's like saying that Brady sucks because with Moss he's great, but take Moss out and he doesn't do nearly that well on a consistent basis. Urlacher's not known for his sacking prowess anyway; he's known for hard hits and getting to the ball carrier. (and now, being juked by Tom Brady). That doesn't make him a bad player, that makes him a role player on that defense.

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