Aug 13 2008
Orton or Grossman? Chicago Bears early Preview.
With the Chicago Cubs, White Sox and the Beijing Olympics taking over the sports headlines right now. The Chicago Bears are fine with that as they have another quarterback controversy in the preseason. In addition expectations are not so high with this no name offense and an aging defense which is one injury away from going back to the same as last year.
On offense there is no more Mohammad or Berian and now we have Llyod and Booker. Gone is Cedrick Benson and now we look to one veteran in Kevin Jones who has been injury plagued, and Wolfe and Forte are the new hypes for this year but are they big enough to take the pounding of a sixteen week schedule The offensive line which was pretty bad last year still remains pretty much the same as the Bears first round draft pick and left tackle had to have back surgery that will put him on the sideline up to twelve weeks. A not so smart investment so far if you ask me after not doing much about this prior to the preseason. Chris Williams has not even played with the regulars and we will not know how good this guy even is, which I do not think he will make a ever lasting impact anyways. Most new left tackles take time and this set back will delay his game.
Then that leaves we have Rex or Kyle at quarterback. In my mind I know these two guys will be playing for a new contract next year ,with any team, but I feel like we are just playing the two same old records in the juke box that just keep skipping. Both quareterbacks have the backgrounds and have had success but on this team I am not sure that will still happen. Orton might be the better fit right now with the offense not really having a deap threat and that is Rex’s game. Berian has been Rex’s best receiver on the deep route and he is gone playing for Minnesota. Another reason for Orton is that he may present the best person to not allow as many mistakes as Grossman which has been his achilles heal. The fact that Grossman cannot even retrieve a snap form time to time I think and feel more comfortable with Orton as the Bears quarterback.
Devin Hester will be our lone weapon as we will use him more on offense and still on special teams. With this being our best strength of the team he is our hope for the most touchdown this year. We do have quality tight ends in Olsen and Clark however it will still be the defense that makes or breaks this team. The defense will be good but for how long as this defense was on the field a lot last year, which eventually broke down because of the lack of offensive productivity. Urlacher and Briggs have their new contracts and we shall see if that pays off as both these players have peaked and I do not forsee any more drastic improvements in their game. The cornerbacks must stay healthy as well as all of the backs missed games last year and without quality cornerbacks and safeties we can sack the quarterback all we want but if we cannot make stops on third down then it make no difference how much pressure you put on the quarterback. Defense works just like offense where everyone must play their part for overall success and if the injury bug comes back then I for see another bad Chicago Bears record after so much success in 2006.
In summary I am trying not to overlook this and Bears fans should feel optimistic that the Bears are moving in the right path for success. I will be rooting on and hoping that all of this negative criticism is just a hang over affect of last year. After all is said, it is a brand new year and anything can happen even to the Chicago Bears in 2008.
