On Rex and Big Z

The Hopeless?

Well, it's that time of year again. Week 3 has passed in the NFL and the world thinks they know everything there is to know about every team in the league. Except last year at this time, the Bears had outscored their opponents by something like 468-3 and people were talking about 16-0. Seriously. Deadspin is, well, Deadspin, but they've cast their vote. I have been a Rex defender (and a Lloyd Carr defender - I may be the most hated man in America), but it's getting tough. Until you really think about the illustrious history of Chicago Bears' quarterbacks.

Check out the list of the Bears' leading passers here. I would venture a guess that most people can't remember the first names of most of those guys. Here's some help. KORDELL Stewart. JIM Miller. CADE McNown. SHANE Matthews. ERIK Kramer. DAVE Krieg. STEVE Walsh. JIM Harbaugh. MIKE Tomczak. And the one everybody probably remembers, Jim McMahon. Here's the problem: Mr Grossman was supposed to be the future of the franchise. Remember 2005? Rex was ready to go for the last four games of the season and Orton was still the starter for two of those, leaving Bears fans up in arms. What was Lovie thinking, right? This Grossman kid could throw for 250 yards in a hurricane! Turns out he's not so good in bad weather. Or against average or better pass defenses. Or when he's not in the shotgun. Combine these scenarios, and we're talking about 70-80 percent of the time. There were even very good Rex moments last night. The first drive after the Cowboys made it 17-10, Rex threw about three darts in a row, and I thought he was ready to roll. But he wasn't. It was a bad day for the Bears.

When you throw in the fact that Donovan McNabb had a great day, times are tough. McNabb needs to be himself. That is, a one-man team with no help who gets blamed for everything and run out of Philadelphia. Then the Bears can pick him up and he can come back to his hometown, save the day, and the Bears win five Super Bowls in a row, while Rex goes and coaches some high school team in Georgia (an aside: This is probably Rex's next step. The media has devoured him. I can't think of any way for him to stay in the NFL and be productive. It's really, really sad. he's not that bad of a QB.).

Many of you read that last paragraph and thought, "Wow. This guy is delusional." Unless you're a Bears fan. This is an actual, viable plan to most of us. I feel bad for Rex. There's no way any normal human being could put up with this much crap and still go out there every week. He must be pretty tough mentally. He hasn't had a single confrontation with anyone in the media (and Jay Mariotti works in his city), he hasn't lashed out on camera, he hasn't blamed anyone but himself, you could go on and on. I wish him well in whatever he decides to do. He needs to think about himself for a minute and get out before things get even worse. That said, I've seen a lot of Brian Griese. Remember, I'm a Michigan fan. Brian Griese was a great QB in college. In the NFL, he's been great to bad, depending on the week. Read those last two sentences again, everybody.

...And the hope!

The Cubs, meanwhile, are playing like it's June all over again. Z appears to be back. The final home game of the regular season yesterday was a beautiful thing to watch. People know this is a playoff team, and I think they can beat any team in the NL. Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, and Marshall has to be the playoff rotation. Marquis should be elsewhere. Maybe the bullpen, maybe a beach somewhere, but certainly not in the rotation. Are they a team of destiny? Probably not, but I don't see how they'll lose to any of the other NL playoff teams. San Diego is a fairly similar team, Arizona is inconsistent and has a weak back end of their rotation, and the Mets don't appear to be playing the same sport as their opponents lately.

While they haven't clinched yet, it seems certain. The Brewers are back, though. This should be a great rivalry for the next 3-5 years. And it's nice to see Craig Monroe get another postseason appearance.