This is awesome news! Very pleased! The defense simply are not going to know whether to watch Cutler or Forte when anticipating the run, and that’s a very important distraction, especially when he also has a terrific arm.

Anyway, moment of the game for me was when James Harrison (a Linebacker, built for strength and small bursts of speed), intercepted a pass on the goal-line (stopping the Cardinals from scoring), but then ran it the whole way back down the field avoiding tackles and managing to stay on his feet for 100 yards – finally landing on his head in the end zone for a touchdown.

Here it is on Youtube:

I think he would make an excellent choice for any team though, check out his speed and strength:

With Benson now injured for the season I think the running game should improve now Wolfe and Peterson are carrying, Grossman will hopefully continue to play his good side out there (any failures attributed to him in the game against Denver were the fault of the Receiver’s and the Offensive Line failing to protect him, in my opinion), and Hester will probably continue to run through the opposing teams for the rest of the season like they don’t even exist. If I remember rightly last year it was when Hester was running in slop that he was able to really do a number on the opposing teams… Statistically the New York Giants are outplaying Chicago for the 2007 season, so this Sunday’s game could be a close game but if Chicago play like we all know they can (but have had trouble reaching) then they’ll win-out.

I’m really excited about Sunday… Go Bears!

As soon as the fans began chanting “Griese! Griese! …” my first thought was how that would effect the other players on the team, not about Grossman. I think there is far too much damage done to the confidence of the other players now for the Bears to force them to play with Grossman anymore… So I think it’s the right decision.

With time away, Grossman might sort his demons out, might get re-signed by the Bears during the off-season and come back next year, or the year after, a new man. If not? Good luck to the man – I just hope that a man the Chicago Bears spent four years training doesn’t become the next great Quarterback alongside names like Elway, Favre, Marino and Manning – if he’s not playing for the Bears!

I do still think this town is too touch on a Quarterback… A few minutes of playing Madden ’08 makes you realise if it’s difficult when you have almost a birds-eye view of the field, it must be supremely difficult in real-life. The tough thing too is that when you’re a Quarterback, you can screw up once and that’s it – the opposition might get the ball. If you’re pretty much any other player on offense, you get 3 chances to make the catch or the run for 10 yards. I know that sentence doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but what I’m trying to say is that QB is a massive-pressure position… I guess not being American I maybe don’t see a few of the failures as “failures” and have come to accept them as inevitable parts of the game – because I didn’t grow up through school and college having a coach shouting at me?

Ah well, I hope Brian Griese can handle the pressure and bring the Bears back on-track. It’s annoying because I’ve been playing with Griese as QB all season in Madden ’08 and we’ve kicked ass. ;)

The negativity towards Grossman in the Chicago TV Press has been brainwashing, and it seems that most of the locals have been caught up in the media attack. I’ve been one of the few (it seems) to support Grossman through everything, but even I have caught myself thinking that perhaps Griese would be the better option.

So let me state some facts:
Rex Grossman is entering his fifth season as a Chicago Bear.
In his first season as a full-time starting Quarterback (2006) he led the team to Super Bowl XLI.
The last time the Bears went to a Super Bowl before XLI was in 1985.
Has led the Bears for a 17-6 record.
Has the best regular season winning percentage of any Chicago Quarterback since 1961.

To answer the sentence of that discussion I heard this morning, I’ll point out that last season (that season when the Bears went to the Super Bowl – remember that?) the Chicago Bears were heavily reliant on Devin Hester. In the last game this season against Kansas the Bears won the game 20-10 and in my opinion it was pretty much the same thing we saw all last season; The Bears Defense were very good. Devin Hester provided both a kick return for a Touchdown and a kick return for good field position (that allowed Gould to get a 3-point Field Goal). I also noticed (and everyone else seems to have missed this) the Offense score a Touchdown and also the Offense drive for enough field position for Gould to get another 3 points. The offense did score points – if they didn’t we would have lost. To me, that seems very similar to last season – when we went to the Super Bowl.

We’re two games in people. It took 21 years for the Bears to return to the Super Bowl between 1985 and 2006 (when Grossman led them) and I don’t think that’s Rex Grossman’s fault – is it? Shouldn’t we be somewhat grateful that he was good enough to get them there last year – and probably is this year – too?

It’s tough – it really is – I wouldn’t be upset if this afternoon against the Cowboys Griese came out as starting Quarterback, but unlike most of Chicago I will support Rex Grossman if he does too. You’ve supported your Bears for the last 22 years haven’t you? Why not try supporting them while they have a QB who’s actually been to a Super Bowl with the team?

So what about Devin Hester? He’s a game-changer. I’ve already said what he did against Kansas in the last game and that seems pretty similar to how his season was last year. He was touted as an Offensive player in the 2007 preseason – but is that too much of a risk?

I know that if I am playing the Bears and see Hester as Wide Receiver, I’m going to hit him as hard as I can to try to take him out of the game (and out of the Special Teams). It’s an awful big risk to lose a kick returner like Hester when you have receiver’s like Olsen and Muhammad.

Is he really worth risking? No!

Before the season began I was excited about Hester actually getting the ball ahead of the opposition, giving him less players to run by, rather than returning as usual, starting behind the opposition and giving him them all to run by… Now, I just want to see him doing those amazing returns all season long, winning games all by himself if needed! Unless the Bears have a play they can run him in where he’s properly protected, they really need to be careful with Hester and Offense isn’t the right place for that.