Bears' status: Questionable
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http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/193999,CST-SPT-bear02.article)
January 2, 2007
BY BRAD BIGGS Staff Reporter
The Bears will have you believe they can flip the on/off switch and bring their top-notch game when they want.
They better hope so.
What's alarming after their 26-7 beating Sunday night at the hands of the Green Bay Packers -- who had just as much to play for: nothing -- is the significance the Bears put into the game. A year ago, they threw up the white flag at Minnesota and got thumped heading into a bye week. This time, they said all the right things, played all the right players -- and got whacked.
''There is no excuse for the way we played,'' center Olin Kreutz said. ''They kicked our [butts].''
Had quarterback Rex Grossman performed like this a month ago -- completing more passes to the Packers (three) than teammates (two) -- Brian Griese would be the starter. But the coaching staff maintained its faith in Grossman, if not his practice reps, and he kept the job.
Coach Lovie Smith said the plan was for Grossman to play into the third quarter Sunday. After his miserable showing, Smith decided not to let him dig a deeper hole.
''I would have loved to have played [in the third quarter] and gotten out of that funk a little bit,'' Grossman said. ''Now, I'm just going to go back to square one. I've been in this position before, and hopefully I never come back.
''I hate this. I hate it right now, but I'm really excited about where we're at right now, all of the opportunities that are in front of us.''
Perhaps it's fitting in the NFC that the top seed has as many questions entering its bye as reasons for confidence about returning to the Super Bowl for the first time in 21 years. The Bears are 13-3, tied for the second-best record in the league, but in addition to Grossman's latest nose dive, the defense continues to give up yardage and points with big plays adding up and explanations hard to come by.
Knee-jerk reactionaries will clamor for Griese, but he wasn't much better than Grossman on Sunday, throwing two picks of his own. There won't be a change. The Bears have reached the point of no return for this season.
Before Grossman entered the media room at Soldier Field after the loss, Smith pulled him aside for what Grossman called a ''heart-to-heart.'' Offensive coordinator Ron Turner had a chat with him at his locker before they departed.
''I'm trying to figure that out,'' Grossman said when asked about his struggles. ''Everything that could go wrong went wrong. The regular season ended on an extremely sour note.''
''This was a huge letdown by us,'' right tackle Fred Miller said.
Smith was careful to point out that blame was earned across the board. About the only bright spot was running back Cedric Benson, who rolled for 109 yards on only 13 carries. But Grossman's struggles were the most noticeable, and they're the ones that will be under the magnifying glass with an extra week for armchair quarterbacks to weigh in.
Grossman has had these games before and eventually has responded. What's unknown is whether he can do so for three games against top competition. None of the Bears' last five opponents finished with a winning record.
But maybe more troubling is the play of the defense. Half of the Packers' points came on interception returns for touchdowns, but in throwing for 285 yards, Brett Favre did most of his damage with unsung receivers Ruvell Martin and Carlyle Holiday. The secondary will look different in two weeks with cornerback Charles Tillman returning and maybe strong safety Todd Johnson. But the last time the unit played well was in the three-game road swing through New York and New England.
''I don't think we gave up 300 yards until the [11th] game,'' strong-side linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer said. ''We haven't held anyone under 300 yards in months. We are capable of being a dominant defense, but we haven't played that way.''
The fact that can't be dismissed, though, is that holes can be poked in all of the NFC playoff teams, even the surging Philadelphia Eagles, whom the Bears would not face until the conference title game. And home-field advantage means plenty in the postseason, especially in the NFC. Eight of the conference's last 12 top seeds have reached the Super Bowl.
''Maybe it will serve as a wake-up call, and we'll get a little sense of urgency and realize we're not going to roll the ball out there and just beat people,'' Turner said.
At least the Bears are not in danger of yakking it up as they did before facing the Panthers last season.
''We had a sense of urgency coming into this game,'' cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. said. ''It's really hard for players. A lot of guys say you play down to your competition. We didn't play down. We were ready for this game. We were excited. Brett made some plays.
''We'll be fine. We're not worried about anything. The last couple of games have been terrible. We know that. But we have a week to re-evaluate things. Then it's lights out. It's playoff time, baby. It's a whole different atmosphere.''
bbiggs@suntimes.com
