NFC North: Grossman gets second chance in Chicago
Sports Network | November 04, 2008
(Sports Network) - In two seasons, Rex Grossman went from being the quarterback who led the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl to the man holding the clip board on Sundays. However, the 2003 first-round pick is about to get a second chance in the Windy City.
Grossman led the Bears to a 13-3 regular-season record in 2006, as well as playoff wins over Seattle and New Orleans before a Super Bowl loss to Indianapolis. The Bears were on a roller-coaster ride that year with Grossman, who was coming off two injury-shortened seasons before playing in all 16 games that year.
Sure, there were the multi-touchdown games, including a four-score performance in Week 2 in 2006. There was the 3,193 passing yards and 23 total TD passes he compiled that year as well.
There was also the turnovers. Grossman was picked off 20 times in 2006 and was intercepted three or more times in a single game six times that year. He needed to play just well enough in the Super Bowl for the Bears not to lose. He didn't, getting intercepted twice while throwing for just 165 yards.
After tossing six interceptions through the first three games of the 2007 season, Grossman was on the bench. Still, he took a chance and re-signed with the Bears for one season this past summer. He then lost a training camp battle with Kyle Orton, but is likely to get another chance to shine with Orton suffering a right ankle injury in this past Sunday's win over Detroit.
Though head coach Lovie Smith did not say on Monday how long Orton would be out, the Chicago Tribune reported that he could miss up to a month of action due to a high ankle sprain.
In steps Grossman, who accounted for two touchdowns in the second half of Sunday's game, including the deciding one-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter of the 27-23 victory. The 28-year-old finished the game 9-for-19 with 58 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
"You always want to play, but never under those circumstances," said Grossman. "I had the whole halftime to kind of think to myself about my game plan, how I'm going to go out there and get ready, so that was nice."
Grossman said he felt great "probably 70 percent" of the time on Sunday, though he added his timing was off. He said that should work itself out with a week of practice.
Chicago, which is fourth in the league in points scored this year, can't afford for Grossman to take too long to get into rhythm. The club is 5-3 and leads the NFC North by a game over Green Bay and Minnesota, but also draws 8-0 Tennessee this weekend.
"It's pretty difficult (to get rhythm going after the quarterback change), said wide receiver Rashied Davis, who caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Grossman in the third quarter. "We started out on fire, then we got off kilter a little bit. We were out of sync a little bit, but we were able to turn it around at the end of the game."
The x-factor for Grossman this year could be the play of running back Matt Forte. In 2007, the Bears suffered due to the lack of a ground game, as the now-departed Cedric Benson failed to get things going out of the backfield.
Forte, though, has thrived in Chicago after getting selected in the second round of the 2008 draft. He ran for 126 yards versus the Lions and has totaled 641 yards and four touchdowns on the ground this year, to go along with 30 catches for another 228 yards and two TD grabs.
UP NEXT: The Bears host the undefeated Titans, a club they have beaten in each of the last three meetings. The clubs haven't met since the 2004 season, a 19-17 overtime win for Chicago. The Bears lead the all-time series, 5-4.
DETROIT: QB CIRCUS CONTINUES
It now looks as if Dan Orlovsky will not be under center this weekend for Detroit. The question now is -- who will be?
With Orlovsky suffering a sprained right thumb in last Sunday' 27-23 loss to Chicago, the Lions now have to decide if they went to throw 2007 second-round pick Drew Stanton into the fire or go with the recently signed Daunte Culpepper, a 1999 first-round pick by Minnesota.
Lions head coach Rod Marinelli spent a good portion of his Monday press conference addressing his quarterback position, one day after he confirmed the club had reached an agreement on a contract with Culpepper. The 31-year-old signal-caller signed a two-year deal on Tuesday.
Marinelli wouldn't say who the quarterback would be after Sunday's game, a position he stood by on Monday.
"Well, we'll wait and see how the week goes out," he said. "I think it would be foolish on my part, to tell our opponent who's going to be our starting quarterback."
According to Marinelli, doctors told him that Orlovsky had a sprained thumb that was still getting checked. He refused to rule out that his former starting QB suffered a fracture.
Orlovsky had started Detroit's last four games with Jon Kitna landing on injured reserve due to a back issue. He threw for a season-high 292 yards in Sunday's loss, completing two touchdown passes while also getting picked off twice.
In seven games this year, Orlovsky has thrown for 1,033 yards with five touchdown passes and four interceptions.
Though it is tough to imagine Culpepper starting this Sunday's home game versus Jacksonville, the 0-8 Lions have little to lose, especially if they think Stanton isn't ready.
"One thing he (Culpepper) is, he's a veteran player," said Marinelli. "There are a lot of similarities in the system -- the numbering system that we use. So we just get to work on it and see where we'll be."
Culpepper spent last season with the Oakland Raiders, playing in seven games and throwing for 1,331 yards and five touchdowns while also getting picked off twice. He has thrown for 142 touchdowns in nine NFL seasons, including a career-high 39 along with 4,717 passing yards with Minnesota in 2004. The Central Florida product has also ran for 33 touchdowns in his career, including 10 in 2002.
Stanton, meanwhile, hasn't thrown a pass in his NFL career.
UP NEXT: The winless Lions host the Jaguars on Sunday. The two teams have met just three times before, with Jacksonville winning the last two. The franchises haven't met since 2004 and have played just once in Detroit, back in 1995.
GREEN BAY: TRYING TO REBOUND VERSUS DIVISION
The Packers came out of their bye and held their own against the only undefeated team left in the NFL, the now 8-0 Tennessee Titans. The 19-16 overtime defeat to the Titans this past Sunday was one of Tennessee's closet games this season.
That's not good enough for Green Bay.
"There are no moral victories," said quarterback Aaron Rodgers after the game. "We wanted to come out of this 5-3. I felt like we had a great game plan that was very aggressive. I just didn't throw the ball as well as I wanted to. I am very disappointed in the way I played."
At 4-4, the Packers trail the Bears by one game for first place in the NFC North. The Vikings are also 4-4. Green Bay visits Minnesota this Sunday before hosting Chicago in two weekends.
Needless to say, the Packers are entering an important stretch.
"Division games are very important, no doubt about it," Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said on Monday. "Division road games are probably the toughest road games that you play throughout the year, in my opinion. So this week's challenge will be big for us, no doubt."
Green Bay, which is 2-0 in NFC North play this year, having opened the season up with wins against the Vikings and Detroit Lions, has some things to work on this week.
For starters, the Packers allowed the Titans to rush for 178 yards in the three-point game, although Tennessee does own the NFL's third-best ground game.
Green Bay also needs to address the turnover battle, as it gave the ball away twice (on an interception and a fumble by Rodgers) while failing to force one of their own.
"We need to play better run defense. I think we're a physical defense, just the way we're structured," McCarthy said. "Scheme-wise dictates that. Bump- and-run, two-gap inside. I'm disappointed in some of the continuous gap control problems that we've had. Floating to the gap instead of attacking the gap, just the fundamentals of football."
As far as turnovers, the Packers secondary was able to get their hands on some balls, but couldn't haul them in. Corner Charles Woodson said after the game he personally felt like he should have had at least two picks.
McCarthy agreed the following day.
"I would say we had two or three legitimate opportunities for turnovers in the game, and we did not get any of them."
UP NEXT: Green Bay travels to Minnesota this Sunday.
MINNESOTA: WIN TAKES HEAT OFF FOR NOW
If it was one thing Vikings head coach Brad Childress learned under Philadelphia's Andy Reid during his tenure with the Eagles, it is how to win after the bye week.
Reid is 10-0 in Philadelphia in the team's first game coming out of the bye. With Sunday's 28-21 win over Houston, Childress, who was on the Eagles' coaching staff from 1999-2005 before coming to Minnesota, has won all three of his games after the break with the Vikings.
For the first time in his three years as Minnesota's head coach, Childress was feeling the heat during his week off. Expected to contend for a Super Bowl appearance, the Vikings instead got off to 1-3 start and the masses began to call for Childress' job.
However, the embattled coach has responded with wins in three of the team's last four games, and at 4-4, Minnesota is just a game back of first-place Chicago in the NFC North.
To Childress' credit, the Vikings came out clicking in Sunday's win. Quarterback Gus Frerotte threw three touchdown passes, including a 49-yard scoring pass to first-year Viking Bernard Berrian, and Minnesota's biggest strength, its running game, posted 177 yards on the ground. That included 139 yards and touchdown out of reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Adrian Peterson.
One of the few negatives was an interception thrown by Frerotte that Houston's Jacques Reeves took 44 yards to the end zone.
Defensively, Minnesota held Houston to 62 yards on the ground and posted five sacks. The pressure finally got to Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, who left the game with a knee injury. Defensive end Jared Allen led the charge with two sacks and a forced fumble.
The win was big for the Vikings, who are tied for second in the division with Green Bay, a team Minnesota hosts this Sunday. It should also alleviate some of the negative vibes Childress has been getting from the city all season.
However, the leash remains short in the eyes of the fans in Minnesota.
UP NEXT: The Vikings play their second straight home game this weekend, when they welcome the Packers to town. A Childress-led Minnesota team has never beaten the Packers, as a Week 1 loss to Green Bay dropped the head coach to 0-5 lifetime in the series.
