Rex on the Bench!

Lovie and Company Didn’t Have to Let It Come to This for Rex Grossman!

The Rex Grossman era is officially over in Chicago after Lovie Smith’s announcement today that backup quarterback Brian Griese will replace Grossman as the starter this week at the Detroit Lions.

What once seemed so promising, the Grossman era was marked by tremendous lows during the last 12 months, from Rex’s five turnovers against the Arizona Cardinals on MNF last year to his zero quarterback rating against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field weeks later to his two interceptions in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl XLI defeat at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts to his eerily similar performance against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night.

Smith has finally given in to the calls to bench Grossman and go with Griese; however, did it have to get this ugly?

Grossman is obviously not the guy for the Bears. He lets one mistake snowball into others and has fundamental and mental breakdowns way too often. This was apparent many times throughout the second half of last season and is even more so now, especially with it clear that many teammates have lost all confidence in Grossman.

With that said, Grossman has been handcuffed by a coaching staff in Smith and Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner whom both expressed their faith in him but did not game plan to his strengths.

Grossman has always been a guy who liked to throw the ball down field. In fact, a deep downfield completion for Grossman early in the game often was a sign of good things to come.

But as the media scrutiny of Grossman grew last year, intensified after his disappointing performance in the Super Bowl and carried over into the off-season and the first three weeks of 2007, Smith and Turner continually and unsuccessfully tried to make Rex a game manager.

They treated Grossman with kid-gloves, trying to minimize mistakes and then throwing all the pressure on him when the Bears fell behind in games and needed to score, as Chicago’s recent losses to New England, Indianapolis, San Diego and Dallas revealed.

Grossman naturally pressed in those situations and made mistakes. The furor from fans only grew and eventually boiled over to the ugly scene on Sunday night.

Despite the fact that the Cowboys physically dominated the Bears in all facets of the game and that Grossman kept Chicago alive with a gutsy scoring drive in the third quarter on Sunday night, the fans began the Griese chants after his first pick in the fourth quarter, a terrible throw into triple coverage that resulted in an Anthony Henry touchdown.

When Grossman later looked the ball into the hands of Cowboys safety Roy Williams, it became evident that Rex was done. Walking off the field with head down and confidence shattered, Grossman had officially been defeated by the endless and now out-of-hand scrutiny. Smith officially cemented Grossman’s fate with the franchise this afternoon.

In the process, Grossman has become a much sympathetic figure and symbol of an inept franchise that can’t develop quarterbacks. The treatment of Grossman has been downright embarrassing this season. Grossman is not the reason the Bears are 1-2.

It’s not Rex’s fault that the offensive line has looked old and can’t pick up a blitz to save its life.

It’s not Rex’s fault that Thomas Jones was traded in the offseason, thus clearing the path for an undeserving Cedric Benson who has been an absolute dog.

It’s not Rex’s fault that Ron Turner, who has transformed Grossman from a borderline cocky gunslinger into a shaken and ineffective player, remains a recycled and awfully inconsistent Offensive Coordinator.

It’s not Rex’s fault that his receivers are dropping passes and breaking off routes at times.

It’s not Rex’s fault that tight end Desmond Clark is rarely being used.

It’s not Rex’s fault that he plays for a Head Coach who thinks he will get a defensive or special teams touchdown each week, thus allowing him to employ an offensive philosophy of playing not to lose rather than playing to win.

While Grossman has a lot of flaws, he’s not alone on the Bears.

Ultimately, this benching is the best thing for Grossman, who needs to leave Chicago and go somewhere else where he can regain his confidence and eventually develop back to a starting quarterback. Here’s hoping that Grossman returns to Chicago one day with Smith still coaching the Bears, throws the ball all over the field and leads his new team to victory.

Furthermore, without Grossman on the field, it will become apparent that the Bears have a lot of other problems. Brian Griese is a decent quarterback, but he’d better hope that Benson gets his act together, the offensive line corrects its problems, and the receivers start holding onto balls.

If they don’t, Griese will be left out to the wolves like Grossman thus far this year. With this benching, maybe irrational people will realize that the problems are not just with Rex.

While it is easy to put all the blame on Grossman (who hasn’t been guilty of this at one point), it’s embarrassing how the Chicago organization, fans and media have respectively mishandled, blamed and targeted him this season.

In all honesty, Grossman is one of the better quarterbacks that the Bears have had in years (a sad testimonial to a franchise that’s been around since the 1920s). He has done some very good things, but was obviously doomed by more bad plays.

With that said, the outcry against Grossman shouldn’t be this bad. It’s amazing how Rex Grossman is the root of all evil while Smith, Turner, Benson, the offensive line and others have avoided such scrutiny.

In fact, all of these figures should be thanking the scapegoat Grossman, who has made all of their lives a whole lot easier as he is the whipping boy, regardless of how everyone else performs.