Rex Grossman the whipping boy

[Pocket$ $traight]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

First off I'm not a huge fan of Grossman. I thought he was going to be a complete bust in the NFL but I have to admit he had a much better season this year than I thought he was capable of.

But this post Super Bowl piling on seems to be getting a little out of hand. I heard Mike & Mike talking this morning about an article that suggested that Rex needs to leave Chicago and start over.

Hello, it was his first full year as the starter. Did he have his share of stinkers? Sure, but damn where would the Packers be now if they gave up on Favre early on in his career when he was making horrible decisions and throwing tons of picks.

Again, I'm not a huge fan of Grossman, but how about giving him the benefit of the doubt considering he helped guide a team to a 15-4 record and a Super Bowl appearance? I also think their defense is getting a bit of a free pass here too. They couldn't stop the Colts especially in the 2nd half when they ran all over them.

I think it would be incredibly knee-jerk if the Bears look to replace him already. I don't think they'll do that, Lovie Smith seems like a very grounded and sensible man, but man the media is just so out of control with this Grossman needs to go crap.

Wow...

I haven't heard this talked about too much but I blame the Chicago coaches as much as Rex Brunell. They went the whole game without taking any risks and then in the fourth quarter (when the Bears probably should have had a lead), they expect him to throw them to victory.

The Bears coaches obvously did not trust him (which would have an effect on his confidence) the whole game and then expect him to become Superman? I don't get it.

[SkinEmAll]

nobody is really comparing rex to farve are they? just saying that rex and farve, and I would guess countless other qbs started out in a similar fashion, right?

[ncskinsfanec]

Originally Posted by SkinEmAll

nobody is really comparing rex to farve are they? just saying that rex and farve, and I would guess countless other qbs started out in a similar fashion, right?

I see Grossman and Tony Romo being very similiar, that's a more fair comparison at this point. Both are young, mistake prone, arrogant, and have very similiar career arcs. They're both breed from the Brett Favre school of quarterbacking which means they're either really good or really bad from one game to the next. Both need to be more consistent, or both will be career backups before long.

[ncskinsfanec]

Originally Posted by Grim21Reaper

Wow...

I haven't heard this talked about too much but I blame the Chicago coaches as much as Rex Brunell. They went the whole game without taking any risks and then in the fourth quarter (when the Bears probably should have had a lead), they expect him to throw them to victory.

The Bears coaches obvously did not trust him (which would have an effect on his confidence) the whole game and then expect him to become Superman? I don't get it.

I know Brunell has been kind of underwhelming here in D.C. but when he was with the Jaguars he was really something. It's kind of a insult, I would think, to put Grossman in Brunell's class by calling him Rex Brunell. Brunell's old and wobbly now and that's why he's stunk it up so much lately, but Grossman's young and careless and hasn't really proven anything yet, unlike Brunell.

[FRPLG]

Grossman is terrible but I don't really hold it aganist him. Like Matty said the D is the reason they won 15 games and it was a main reason they lost the SB. Also getting a pass is Lovie. They had a better option. There is not a person on this planet who an convince me that Grossman is even remotely as good as Griese. Is Griese great? No, but Grossman is THE WORST starting QB in the league and everyone knows it. Griese was annoited the job in camp before ever proving he could do the job. I remember thinking 'Why does everyone think Grossman is gonna be anything other than a average QB at best?' He hadn't done anything and he wasn't even a great QB in college. It was like everyone was like 'Yay we don't have to play Orton anymore. Now we can play Grossman who is better.' Problem with that statement is that Orton isn't even a NFL level QB. They had a guy on the bench who has won a lot of games in this league. He is still young and by all accounts hasn't forgotten how to play so why the hell they thought Grossman was a better option than Griese is beyond me.

[Pocket$ $traight]

Originally Posted by ncskinsfanec

I know Brunell has been kind of underwhelming here in D.C. but when he was with the Jaguars he was really something. It's kind of a insult, I would think, to put Grossman in Brunell's class by calling him Rex Brunell. Brunell's old and wobbly now and that's why he's stunk it up so much lately, but Grossman's young and careless and hasn't really proven anything yet, unlike Brunell.

Grossman has a conference championship. Something that Brunell does not and probably will not ever have.

Did you see Grossman in the Superbowl? In the second half I saw flashbacks of the early part of our season.

[Pocket$ $traight]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

Grossman is terrible but I don't really hold it aganist him. Like Matty said the D is the reason they won 15 games and it was a main reason they lost the SB. Also getting a pass is Lovie. They had a better option. There is not a person on this planet who an convince me that Grossman is even remotely as good as Griese. Is Griese great? No, but Grossman is THE WORST starting QB in the league and everyone knows it. Griese was annoited the job in camp before ever proving he could do the job. I remember thinking 'Why does everyone think Grossman is gonna be anything other than a average QB at best?' He hadn't done anything and he wasn't even a great QB in college. It was like everyone was like 'Yay we don't have to play Orton anymore. Now we can play Grossman who is better.' Problem with that statement is that Orton isn't even a NFL level QB. They had a guy on the bench who has won a lot of games in this league. He is still young and by all accounts hasn't forgotten how to play so why the hell they thought Grossman was a better option than Griese is beyond me.

Grossman's bad games were pathetic but when he was sharp his numbers were as good as anybody's.

[FRPLG]

I am thoroughly confused as to why anyone thinks that Grossman can be a great QB in this league? Or ever did.

I kept saying the whole game 'This is playing out exactly like everyone thought. Bears dominate on special teams early but the Colts bust abig play to keep in it. Bears play OK D and keep the ball out of Rex's hands. They have the lead.'

When Grossman throws the first pick my next statment in like half a seond was 'And now Grossman throws the game away just like everyone knew he would.'

The guy can't play.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by Grim21Reaper

Grossman's bad games were pathetic but when he was sharp his numbers were as good as anybody's.

The bears run 3 fly routes 30% of the time and 2 fly routes another 30% of the time. Then on the other plays Moose and Clark run breaks on WR clearouts. Not once in any of the 7 games I saw the Bear play did Grossman ever make a play. All he did was throw down field and pray. That plus a solid run game was their offense. He didn't show me even once that he was a good QB.

[ncskinsfanec]

Originally Posted by Grim21Reaper

Grossman has a conference championship. Something that Brunell does not and probably will not ever have.

Did you see Grossman in the Superbowl? In the second half I saw flashbacks of the early part of our season.

Grossman was a conference champion in spite of how inconsistent he was. His teammates carried him to the super bowl for the most part. Brunell, on the other hand, in his early days was a key contributor to the Jags success and could help win games singlehandily through his play. It's unfair to a fine player in his day, like Brunell, to be compared to someone as inconsistent as Grossman. Heck, Brunell was really solid last season (2005) until the Giants cheapshotted him below the knee.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

Grossman is terrible but I don't really hold it aganist him. Like Matty said the D is the reason they won 15 games and it was a main reason they lost the SB. Also getting a pass is Lovie. They had a better option. There is not a person on this planet who an convince me that Grossman is even remotely as good as Griese. Is Griese great? No, but Grossman is THE WORST starting QB in the league and everyone knows it. Griese was annoited the job in camp before ever proving he could do the job. I remember thinking 'Why does everyone think Grossman is gonna be anything other than a average QB at best?' He hadn't done anything and he wasn't even a great QB in college. It was like everyone was like 'Yay we don't have to play Orton anymore. Now we can play Grossman who is better.' Problem with that statement is that Orton isn't even a NFL level QB. They had a guy on the bench who has won a lot of games in this league. He is still young and by all accounts hasn't forgotten how to play so why the hell they thought Grossman was a better option than Griese is beyond me.

Well, the leagues' worst starting QB is Andrew Walter by a significant margin (or Brooks takes his title as worst if you annoint him the starter), but Grossman (in 2006 only) also clearly outplayed Bruce Gradkowski, Brad Johnson, Alex Smith, Charlie Frye, Trent Green (post concussion) and you can probably throw Vick on this heap too depending how much you value his running skills (Because Vick is a crappy passer on the Grossman standard). Plus there were a few starting QBs who got replaced who were considerably worse than Rex this season. Jake Plummer, Daunte Culpepper, and Drew Bledsoe come to mind.

So as bad as he was at times, many teams had it a lot worse this season.

The Bears don't have an above average QB on their roster, so it was relatively moot who played the position for them. If they are smart, they will go out and get actual, serious, non-Griese competition for Grossman, but it wouldn't surprise me if Grossman won the job in camp anyway.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by ncskinsfanec

Grossman was a conference champion in spite of how inconsistent he was. His teammates carried him to the super bowl for the most part. Brunell, on the other hand, in his early days was a key contributor to the Jags success and could help win games singlehandily through his play. It's unfair to a fine player in his day, like Brunell, to be compared to someone as inconsistent as Grossman. Heck, Brunell was really solid last season (2005) until the Giants cheapshotted him below the knee.

I've actually shown in many different threads how effeciently Brunell played, even this season. Most teams would have won this year with Brunell at QB, it's unfortunate that we had the worst pass D this league had seen in a long time.

You are absolutely correct, there is no comparision between Brunell and Grossman.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

Well, the leagues' worst starting QB is Andrew Walter by a significant margin (or Brooks takes his title as worst if you annoint him the starter), but Grossman (in 2006 only) also clearly outplayed Bruce Gradkowski, Brad Johnson, Alex Smith, Charlie Frye, Trent Green (post concussion) and you can probably throw Vick on this heap too depending how much you value his running skills (Because Vick is a crappy passer on the Grossman standard). Plus there were a few starting QBs who got replaced who were considerably worse than Rex this season. Jake Plummer, Daunte Culpepper, and Drew Bledsoe come to mind.

So as bad as he was at times, many teams had it a lot worse this season.

The Bears don't have an above average QB on their roster, so it was relatively moot who played the position for them. If they are smart, they will go out and get actual, serious, non-Griese competition for Grossman, but it wouldn't surprise me if Grossman won the job in camp anyway.

You didn't mention one QB who was worse than Grossman. Maybe statistically worse but not worse in the way I meant. Well maybe Frye. I'll give you that one.

[MTK]

Why oh why does any QB conversation have to revert back to Brunell?

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

You didn't mention one QB who was worse than Grossman. Maybe statistically worse but not worse in the way I meant. Well maybe Frye. I'll give you that one.

I don't think I mentioned anybody that had a better year than Grossman. Guys like Culpepper and Plummer may have had good years in the past, and have potential for the future, but what did they do well this year?

But how can anyone who saw the Raiders play (or even if they didn't) not think that they had the worst 2 QBs in the league?