[CBFF] (no subject)

[Thomas Shannon]

http://bloggeddrain.typepad.com/cbff/2007/02/its_the_line_of.html

It's the Line of Scrimmage, Stupid

by Tom Shannon

Over the past couple months I have, most of the time, let myself become
an unabashed Bear supporter and optimist.  I won't apologize.  This is a
fan forum and, in the end, that's what I am.  Seasons like this one are
times of pure joy and, with exceptions, not those for negative thoughts.
At least not too many.  But now that the season is over and things have
settled down, it may be time to be a bit more objectively, particularly
in the light of the Super Bowl loss.  Perhaps at the end we can think
rationally about what the team needs to continue to compete at the
highest level.

I spent the Super Bowl and the week after out of town and out of touch
with Chicago.  I was, therefore, very interested to see what the fan
reaction was through the magic of the Internet when I got back.  I was
pleased to see that the knowledgeable members of the mailing list
attached to this forum provided a nice discussion about the game and the
season and I'd suggest that the readers of this blog refer to that list
for a balanced view.  This was, however, not the rule.  Not
surprisingly, the analysis of the game in many of the email lists and
forums I belong to boiled down to "Rex Grossman stinks!".  This was less
often followed by "The defense stinks" and not much else.

Unfortunately, much of what was in the media wasn't a lot better.  But
while writers like Barry Rozner were taking the easy shots at
quarterback Rex Grossman, there were one or two veteran writers who
presented a more balanced point of view.  Among these, I think Brad
Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times succinctly hit closest to the mark.

"Grossman wound up 20-for-28 for 165 yards, including a four-yard
scoring toss to Muhsin Muhammad, but the Bears never took control of the
game with their highly paid offensive line. If it was going to be won,
it was going to be done in the trenches. Thomas Jones piled up 112
yards, but 52 came on one burst to set up the Muhammad score and stake
the Bears to a 14-6 first-quarter lead."

And there you have it.  In my opinion at least 80% of all professional
football games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage.  That was
never more true than on Super Bowl Sunday.  In "defense of the defense"
they were out on the field all day and the line simply wore down.  Even
considering that, they held the league's best offense to a score within
striking distance into the fourth quarter.  There's only so much you can
expect.  But there's no denying that the Colts won the battle with their
excellent offensive line.  They ran the ball very well.  Even
considering that they beat the Bears largely with many short, quick
passes, working their way down the field, there were times when it felt
like Manning had all day to throw and he always had a clean pocket.
Especially compared to Grossman's situation.  Against the Colts' front
four, Grossman never had much more than a pocket that was collapsing
like a paper cup.  The smaller, quicker Colt defensive linemen schooled
a veteran but aging group on the other side of the line.  Their front
seven, along with some safety help, almost totally stuffed the Bears'
"power" running game.

If I had to pick one problem the Bears had this year, one weakness that
was consistently exposed in Bear losses, it was the inability of the
interior of the offensive line to keep the pocket clean under pressure.
And no reasonable NFL observer could possibly deny one face about the
game.  Give a decent NFL quarterback a clean pocket and 95% of the time
he'll look like the greatest ever (early season Grossman).  Give one a
paper cup and 95% of the time he'll look like a dog (Super Bowl
Grossman).  Does Grossman get jittery in the pocket?  You bet he does.
But for those calling for Brian Griese, the first thing my friends in
Miami told me about him was that he got nervous in the pocket under
pressure.  For heavens sake, how many quarterbacks don't?

Let me be clear that the problems on the offensive line are only a
partial explanation, and certainly not an excuse, for Grossman's poor
performance at times this season.  They are not adequate to excuse the
two Super Bowl interceptions (particularly the first one) and there's
simply no explanation close to adequate for two fumbled snaps.  The
latter is a problem which Grossman had before this season, probably
resulting from his tendency to separate his hands as the ball in being
snapped.  It is certainly not a problem that should have been allowed to
linger, only to raise its head at the worst possible moments in the
season's biggest game.

That many NFL quarterbacks wouldn't have done a whole lot better under
his circumstances does not erase the clear fact that Grossman needs to
learn to remain more calm in the pocket.  But that is not reason to give
up on him as some reactionary fans might suggest.  This is particularly
true given, as Mike Mulligan of the Sun-Times so aptly puts it, the
"clown car of quarterbacks" that Bear fans have had to contend with over
the past decade.  But Grossman definitely needs to regain some of the
Tom Brady style "phone booth quicks" that he showed early in the season
with such confidence.  In order to do that, he just as clearly must have
at least some room to maneuver and step up into the pocket when the
opposition sends a blitz up the middle or is such that extra attention
must be paid to the rushers on the outside.

To this end, I think the Bears need to take a serious look at the
interior of their offensive line - Ruben Brown, Olin Kreutz and Roberto
Garza.  So often we focus on the offensive tackles when it comes to
quarterback protection because the defensive ends require so much
attention.  This is sad because it is arguably more important for the
line to keep the space in front of the quarterback clear.  Without it,
there's really no place safe for a pocket passer to go.  Of the trio
mentioned, Kreutz is clearly well established.  That means the Bears
should probably be looking at offensive guard in the offseason.  They
need to determine whether Terrance Metcalf has what it takes or not and
do something definitive about his situation.  They need to look very
closely at available free agents, something that rumor has it they are
already doing.  No reasonable team needing offensive line help can pass
up a left tackle because good ones are far too valuable.  But given that
a good one won't be available when the Bears pick in the draft (a very
good assumption) the Bears should probably be looking for a guard in the
early rounds.

We look so closely at skill positions and its so easy to heap all of a
team's problems on the players there.  We look at coaches and
coordinators and second guess their every move.  Out team loses and we
throw up our hands and and ask, "Why did he throw that?" or "Why didn't
Ron Turner go to the short passing game sooner?"  But for all of that,
football is still, at its root, a very simple game.  It's outcome is
almost always determined in the trenches.

"It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling
exception, is composed of others."
--John Andrew Holmes