Taco John
02-05-2007, 03:13 AM
Local Columnist: Gunslinger Grossman shoots his team in foot
February 5, 2007
MIAMI -- While the Indianapolis Colts began celebrating their 29-17 Super Bowl XLI victory Sunday night over the Bears, Rex Grossman navigated his way off the field after shaking hands with one Colts player and quickly headed down the tunnel.
This week of Grossman's life couldn't end fast enough for him.
He knew. The Colts knew. Everybody watching the game in the rain at Dolphin Stadium and most people in the TV audience of 1 billion knew.
One throw cost the Bears their shot at glory. One throw robbed Chicago of its chance of finally putting memories of the 1985 Bears on a shelf for posterity.
Sure, the Bears had issues against the Colts with their run defense, problems with the offensive line and breakdowns in the secondary. But all of those contributing factors to the loss might have been moot if not for one pass out of Grossman's hand with 11 minutes 59 seconds left in the game.
Grossman's decision to attempt such a throw given the situation could be described best as reckless. Ill-advised. Even ignorant, to use the word Grossman himself introduced into Super Bowl week.
It was a sideline pass Grossman floated to Muhsin Muhammad in the fourth quarter that changed the Super Bowl more than any other play. Muhammad wasn't that wide open, and the Bears didn't really need to take such a risk at the time. Turns out they couldn't afford one either.
It's one thing for Grossman to be a gunslinger, but not if he is going to shoot himself and his team in the foot.
The Bears were driving. It was first-and-10 in their own territory. Grossman had just completed a sharp 22-yard pass to Muhammad and looked to have regained the swagger with which he played the first half.
Down 22-17 in a game that really had no business being that close, the Bears had begun to look like a team that had hung around long enough to pull it out. You almost could hear destiny knocking at the door.
Problem is, that completion to Muhammad apparently gave Grossman too much confidence, because on the next play he fooled himself into thinking he could make a play that just wasn't there.
It required a perfect throw to a single spot, the type of precision that is difficult to expect from any quarterback on a rainy and windy night. Kelvin Hayden proved that by leaping to intercept Grossman's pass and returning it 56 yards to turn a tenuous five-point margin into a decisive 29-17 lead. That play took away any momentum the Bears had regained as well as the faith Grossman had restored in himself and the passing game.
Four plays later, that uncertainty showed when Grossman underthrew Bernard Berrian, who had gotten behind the Colts secondary. Safety Bob Sanders camped out under the pass like a Marlins center fielder and ended any hopes the Bears had.
It also guaranteed that Grossman would head into the off-season without removing any of the doubts expressed often enough in the Super Bowl buildup to annoy him, his teammates and his coaches. Besides the two interceptions, Grossman lost a fumbled snap and mishandled another one and sacked himself by tripping over his own feet while dropping back.
"When you turn the ball over as much as we did, it's really hard to win," coach Lovie Smith said.
The Bears' coaches seemed to show doubt in their quarterback themselves early by calling a game that looked designed to keep Grossman from creating his own bad luck. On one third-and-6 at the Bears' 9 in the first half, for instance, offensive coordinator Ron Turner called a handoff to Thomas Jones rather than let Grossman throw and possibly turn the ball over deep in Bears' territory.
His best moment came in the first quarter on a 4-yard touchdown pass to Muhammad on a throw that carried the zip and accuracy of a quarterback on top of his game. By the fourth quarter, Grossman looked like anything but that quarterback. Part of the unsteadiness can be attributed to the Bears possessing the ball for only 21 minutes 56 seconds. At one point, the Bears went 25 minutes 15 seconds over four possessions without making a first down—and still trailed only 19-14.
Yet the longer Grossman stayed on the sidelines, the more pressure he seemed to be putting on himself when he took the field.
From the press box, where Grossman has said the media don't always understand what they're seeing, the Colts didn't appear to play any defenses the Bears were not expecting. Like the Bears, the Colts keep it simple in the Cover-2 and rely on pass pressure from their front four. The Colts had one sack, by Anthony McFarland, and kept the heat on Grossman, but his biggest errors were unforced.
Hayden's return was the fifth interception a Bears' opponent had returned for a touchdown this season in 19 games. The fumbled snap the Colts recovered with 1:18 left in the second quarter denied the Bears a chance to stage a drive and kick a field goal that could have sent them into the locker room with momentum and a lead. Then who knows how the second half might have unfolded?
"You have to give them a lot of credit," Smith said of the Colts' defense.
True, but blame also is assigned inevitably in a game this big, and most of this one's will fall on Grossman's strong shoulders. This might have been the year Grossman solidified the quarterback position for a Bears franchise that traditionally hasn't experienced any. But those who believe the Bears would not have been here without Grossman this season also have to acknowledge his mistakes prevented them from winning Sunday more than any other player's.
That's the hard reality that will stare Grossman in the face Monday morning, and maybe every day until he and the Bears return.
But when the pain subsides, perspective will surface, and Grossman and the depressed fans in the city will realize how high he elevated the position in 2006.
You could say that, without Grossman, Sunday never would have hurt so much.
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-070204haugh,1,601540.column?coll=cs-home-headlines
February 5, 2007
MIAMI -- While the Indianapolis Colts began celebrating their 29-17 Super Bowl XLI victory Sunday night over the Bears, Rex Grossman navigated his way off the field after shaking hands with one Colts player and quickly headed down the tunnel.
This week of Grossman's life couldn't end fast enough for him.
He knew. The Colts knew. Everybody watching the game in the rain at Dolphin Stadium and most people in the TV audience of 1 billion knew.
One throw cost the Bears their shot at glory. One throw robbed Chicago of its chance of finally putting memories of the 1985 Bears on a shelf for posterity.
Sure, the Bears had issues against the Colts with their run defense, problems with the offensive line and breakdowns in the secondary. But all of those contributing factors to the loss might have been moot if not for one pass out of Grossman's hand with 11 minutes 59 seconds left in the game.
Grossman's decision to attempt such a throw given the situation could be described best as reckless. Ill-advised. Even ignorant, to use the word Grossman himself introduced into Super Bowl week.
It was a sideline pass Grossman floated to Muhsin Muhammad in the fourth quarter that changed the Super Bowl more than any other play. Muhammad wasn't that wide open, and the Bears didn't really need to take such a risk at the time. Turns out they couldn't afford one either.
It's one thing for Grossman to be a gunslinger, but not if he is going to shoot himself and his team in the foot.
The Bears were driving. It was first-and-10 in their own territory. Grossman had just completed a sharp 22-yard pass to Muhammad and looked to have regained the swagger with which he played the first half.
Down 22-17 in a game that really had no business being that close, the Bears had begun to look like a team that had hung around long enough to pull it out. You almost could hear destiny knocking at the door.
Problem is, that completion to Muhammad apparently gave Grossman too much confidence, because on the next play he fooled himself into thinking he could make a play that just wasn't there.
It required a perfect throw to a single spot, the type of precision that is difficult to expect from any quarterback on a rainy and windy night. Kelvin Hayden proved that by leaping to intercept Grossman's pass and returning it 56 yards to turn a tenuous five-point margin into a decisive 29-17 lead. That play took away any momentum the Bears had regained as well as the faith Grossman had restored in himself and the passing game.
Four plays later, that uncertainty showed when Grossman underthrew Bernard Berrian, who had gotten behind the Colts secondary. Safety Bob Sanders camped out under the pass like a Marlins center fielder and ended any hopes the Bears had.
It also guaranteed that Grossman would head into the off-season without removing any of the doubts expressed often enough in the Super Bowl buildup to annoy him, his teammates and his coaches. Besides the two interceptions, Grossman lost a fumbled snap and mishandled another one and sacked himself by tripping over his own feet while dropping back.
"When you turn the ball over as much as we did, it's really hard to win," coach Lovie Smith said.
The Bears' coaches seemed to show doubt in their quarterback themselves early by calling a game that looked designed to keep Grossman from creating his own bad luck. On one third-and-6 at the Bears' 9 in the first half, for instance, offensive coordinator Ron Turner called a handoff to Thomas Jones rather than let Grossman throw and possibly turn the ball over deep in Bears' territory.
His best moment came in the first quarter on a 4-yard touchdown pass to Muhammad on a throw that carried the zip and accuracy of a quarterback on top of his game. By the fourth quarter, Grossman looked like anything but that quarterback. Part of the unsteadiness can be attributed to the Bears possessing the ball for only 21 minutes 56 seconds. At one point, the Bears went 25 minutes 15 seconds over four possessions without making a first down—and still trailed only 19-14.
Yet the longer Grossman stayed on the sidelines, the more pressure he seemed to be putting on himself when he took the field.
From the press box, where Grossman has said the media don't always understand what they're seeing, the Colts didn't appear to play any defenses the Bears were not expecting. Like the Bears, the Colts keep it simple in the Cover-2 and rely on pass pressure from their front four. The Colts had one sack, by Anthony McFarland, and kept the heat on Grossman, but his biggest errors were unforced.
Hayden's return was the fifth interception a Bears' opponent had returned for a touchdown this season in 19 games. The fumbled snap the Colts recovered with 1:18 left in the second quarter denied the Bears a chance to stage a drive and kick a field goal that could have sent them into the locker room with momentum and a lead. Then who knows how the second half might have unfolded?
"You have to give them a lot of credit," Smith said of the Colts' defense.
True, but blame also is assigned inevitably in a game this big, and most of this one's will fall on Grossman's strong shoulders. This might have been the year Grossman solidified the quarterback position for a Bears franchise that traditionally hasn't experienced any. But those who believe the Bears would not have been here without Grossman this season also have to acknowledge his mistakes prevented them from winning Sunday more than any other player's.
That's the hard reality that will stare Grossman in the face Monday morning, and maybe every day until he and the Bears return.
But when the pain subsides, perspective will surface, and Grossman and the depressed fans in the city will realize how high he elevated the position in 2006.
You could say that, without Grossman, Sunday never would have hurt so much.
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-070204haugh,1,601540.column?coll=cs-home-headlines