Earlier today I read our very own Michael David Smith's five steps to the Bears beating the 8-0 Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and though MDS gives some stellar advice to our Monsters of the Midway, I'm not sure he can help them. You see, it's hard for me to have any confidence in the team when Rex Grossman is lining up under center.
While the Bears haven't officially ruled out the possibility that Kyle Orton may play on Sunday, he's not going to, and even Grossman has said he'd be "shocked" if he didn't start on Sunday. Now whether or not Orton ever really thought he had a shot at playing this week, I don't know, but the Bears weren't going to stop him from saying so because they wanted the Titans to have to prepare for both quarterbacks.
Grossman will play on Sunday, and it's because of this I have no confidence in our Bears this weekend. Sure, all the signs are there that this could be a trap game for the Titans. They're undefeated and they're coming in to play a team that just lost it's starting quarterback, and they have a bigger game against division rival Jacksonville next week. So it could be easy for the Titans to get caught looking ahead, but even if they do I still think they'll get by the Bears.
Now we've been way too hard on Grossman during his career here in Chicago, and at this point it's unfair for us to boo him for performing up to our expectations for him. I mean, do you expect him to come out and throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns? No? Then why boo him when he doesn't do it?
Still, even if Rex does have just a mediocre performance, you know at some point he's going to make a turnover that shoots the Bears in the foot. It's just what he does.
Now I hear that the Bears defense will be the reason that the Bears win this game, but I find that logic seriously flawed. Why does everyone still think that the Bears have a strong defense? Am I the only one that saw the team give up 64 points at home to Gus Frerotte and Dan Orlovsky in their last two games?
Sure, Kerry Collins hasn't been tearing it up as quarterback for the Titans, but it's not like mediocre quarterbacks having huge days against the Bears is a rarity. Frerotte threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns, Orlovsky threw for 292 and two scores, and Brian Griese lit the Bears up for 407 yards and two touchdowns back in week 3.
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So even if the Bears run defense is somehow magically able to stop the Titans ground game, they'll probably just get picked apart via the air.
So, no, I don't share MDS's optimism for the Bears this weekend, and I don't think they're going to hand Tennessee it's first loss of the season. It won't be entirely Rex Grossman's fault -- well unless he has an epic Rex day -- but he sure isn't going to help much either.
