GarageGabs

As I was on the way to Charlotte Thursday morning a thought passed through my head that hadn’t been in it in over 10 years. I thought to myself….”The Cowboys could make it to the Super Bowl“….now, of course, this thought was fleeting. It didn’t stay in my head long, but it is undeniable that I thought it. I’m a pretty logical person when it comes to my sports teams, and I haven’t felt the Cowboys were even contenders for the Super Bowl since the mid to late 1990’s. Later in the day, Dallas only helped my optimism by pounding Tampa Bay.

Fast foward to Friday afternoon as I made my return trip home. I love to get on the phone during long drives, and what better person to call than my good friend Mike. I got on the phone with Mike (whom I just happen to be facing in fantasy football this week) and the conversation instantly went to football. My team (The Silver Foxes) had an early lead on Mike’s (Sucka Free Sundays) thanks to the Thanksgiving games. The conversation was fairly cordial, which is pretty common for our fantasy convo’s. We both touch on things, but seem scared to go into great detail for fear that the other will use our knowledge against us. It’s a general fantasy rule not to divulge too much information to your opponent.

About 5 minutes into the conversation I told Mike of my “vision”. Mike pulled the homer card on me. He informed me that I only felt this way because I was a Cowboy fan getting caught up in all the Tony Romo hype. This is probably partly true, and I told him as much. Then, I dropped a BOMB on Mike.
ME: “I get what you’re saying, but what other team in the NFC could really stand in the way?”
MIKE: “Well, first of all, the Bears! Carolina, and now Seattle is getting Hasselbeck and Alexander back.”
ME: “Uhhh, Dallas already beat Carolina, 35-14. We could beat them again. We don’t know if Sean Alexander is ever gonna be right again this year. Seattle has lost it’s luster”

Mike: “Dude, the Bears, you know they haven’t lost on the road all year?”

ME: “Yeah, I know, they have a great defense…..but Rex Grossman is the achilles heel on that team. I honestly believe Dallas could beat them if they played”

Mike: “I disagree”

ME: “I’m not saying Dallas WILL be in the Super Bowl, just that I think it is a possibility. The planets are aligned. I think they COULD beat the Bears, I’m not saying they would.”

That pretty much ended our conversation as we both sort of agreed to disagree. However, I’m thinking we need to spark that conversation up again in light of what happened yesterday. First, Carolina goes out and loses to the Redskins. Yes, the Redskins. Next, the Bears go on the road to New England (granted a good team) and lose, 17-13. It wasn’t the score that was important though. It was the play of Rex Grossman.

Let’s just say Grossman put up a stinker yesterday. The Bears could only manage 1 TD all day, despite getting 5 turnovers from the Patriots. Why? Our man Rex. Rex managed to throw 3 picks, lose a fumble, and only completed 44% of his passes. The Bears managed to run the ball (150 yards), and they played fantastic defense….but Rex did them in. The fumble came in the redzone. All three picks were by Asante Samuel. Grossman’s last pick came on the Bears last drive of the game. With less than 2 minutes to play, the Bears forced a fumble by New England’s Corey Dillon. Enter Grossman and the hope for a Bears comeback. Grossman only needed one play to give the ball back to the Patriots. This is the guy that’s gonna be leading the “best team in the NFC” come playoff time?

I know, I know, your saying…”it’s just one game”. That’s true, but Grossman has been showing signs of tanking for the past few weeks. In his first 5 games, Grossman had a 10-3 TD to INT ratio. He even seemed to develop a sense of invinciblity. Since week 5, that ratio has changed to 8 TD vs. 11 INT. Yeah, he still connects on the occasional long TD pass, but his mistakes are increasing, and his success rate is dropping. He played HORRIBLE vs. Arizona, Miami, and New England. The defense beat the Jets, Grossman only threw for 119 yards. Of course, he played well against San Francisco and the Giants.

I’m not saying the Bears can’t win a Super Bowl with Grossman. I just don’t think they can win one if they continue to play this current style of offense. Grossman’s “wing it” attitude isn’t going to cut it during the playoffs. If the Bears want to win consistently after December they need to show a true commitment to the run….NOW. I’m not just talking Thomas Jones…..I’m talking Cedric Benson and Thomas Jones. It’s gonna take both of these guys to carry the load come January. Grossman can’t continue to make mistakes. The Bears can rely on a stout defense, a solid run game, and some magic mixed in by Grossman from time to time. He CANNOT be the leading man.

All this being said, I don’t think any of this is possible. I don’t think the Bears can consistently run the ball in January, which will lead to mistakes from Grossman. This isn’t Trent Dilfer and the Ravens. Grossman relies on prayer much more than Dilfer ever had to. I’m saying it now…..(as I’m sure many other sites are) The Chicago Bears will not represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. I’ll finish with this tidbit for some perspective. If you make the fantasy playoffs…..would you be comfortable with Rex Grossman as your starter? Didn’t think so. I rest my case.