Bear-ly tolerable: Chicago struggles in preseason debut

By Paul Eide  |   Monday, August 14, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Chicago Bears
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If there was any doubt about who deserves to be the Chicago Bears' starting quarterback this season, Friday night's embarrassing 28-14 loss to the 49ers should give way to an easy answer.

Could it be any more apparent that Rex Grossman is not the right quarterback for this offense?

The Bears' first team offense struggled mightily in defeat, accumulating a meager 52 total yards on 16 plays. The offense actually had more turnovers (two) than first downs (one) during its short time on the field and never displayed any rhythm or continuity.

On the third play of the game, receiver Mark Bradley had the ball stripped after a 16-yard reception. His fumble was recovered by cornerback Walt Harris at Chicago's 43-yard line. The 49ers converted the turnover into a Joe Nedney field goal and a 3-0 49er lead.

On the Bears' third series, they faced a third-and-two. Grossman, while appearing to attempt a quarterback sneak, fumbled the ball, regained possession, then fumbled again. The ball was scooped up by 49ers linebacker Jeff Ulbrich and returned for a 32-yard touchdown, giving the 49ers a big 10-0 lead. The Bears followed up that sparkling effort with another three-and-out before the first-team offense was benched for the night.

The second-team offense was the Bears' only bright spot. Brian Griese threw two touchdown passes (12 yards to Gabe Reid and 41 yards to Rashied Davis), but more importantly was able to sustain drives and keep the defense off the field. The two possessions Griese was on the field for resulted in touchdowns. He also developed a nice rapport with wideout Rashied Davis, who was playing his first NFL game at the position after being converted from cornerback in training camp. Davis staked a claim for the vacant second receiver position by leading the Bears with four receptions for 91 yards.

Chicago's lack of a running game didn't allow the offense to stay on the field, as the 49ers possessed the ball for 41:34 of the game's 60 minutes. On 16 ground attempts, Bears backs accumulated an embarrassing 29 yards as both Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson were noticeably absent due to injury. Five-time Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz also missed the game because of illness and gave way to journeyman backup Lennie Friedman, further contributing to the team's problems on offense.

Grossman looked as bad as he ever had during his time in a Bears uniform. His failure coupled with the success of Brian Griese and the second-team offense further fueled a brewing quarterback controversy that head coach Lovie Smith has attempted to ignore throughout training camp. The numbers and opposite performances by the two quarterbacks can't be ignored, however, no matter how bad Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo want Grossman on the field.

After the first preseason game this much appears to be true: The Bears are a better team with Griese at the helm.

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