Bears Making Big Mistake by Not Starting Griese
I am going on record right now to say that Chicago Bears head coach, Lovie Smith, is making a monumental mistake by not starting veteran quarterback Brian Griese ahead of incumbent starter Rex Grossman – whom, I might add, is clearly a cut below Griese when it comes to running an NFL offense.
Not only I am calling Smith’s decision to stick by Grossman a major blunder, but I am also going to unequivocally add that Smith’s decision to start Grossman will cost the Bears a couple of games, and at the very least, possible home-field advantage in the playoffs. The worst-case scenario is that Smith sticks with Grossman too long and it costs the Bears an opportunity to make the playoffs altogether.
Now, don’t get me wrong – I genuinely like Smith and think he has done an absolutely masterful job in taking the Bears from doormats to legitimate contenders. However, I’ve got to call Smith on the carpet for this one.
Unfortunately for the Bears, Smith must be the only man in America who can’t see that Griese is infinitely better than Grossman. Not only that, but I’m fairly certain that if a poll of the league’s head coaches were taken on whom they’d rather have as their starting QB, Griese or Grossman, I think the decision to go with Griese would be nearly unanimous.
To be honest, Griese did absolutely nothing wrong in Tampa Bay except get injured. When the young Chris Sims stepped in and fulfilled much of the raw potential he has, the Bucs knew they had their quarterback of the future, hence, bye-bye Brian, whom the Bears should be thanking their lucky stars, decided to sign with them.
Why sign Griese to a five-year deal and tell him he’s going to have the chance to compete for the starter’s role, and then, when he clearly outplays Grossman the entire preseason, not give him the starter’s position?
I could get into a lot of statistical data showing each quarterback’s won-loss record as a starter in the NFL, which would probably be enough to justify starting Griese by itself, but I won’t. I’ll simply go by what I currently see – and what I see is a team that moves up and down the field efficiently with Griese at the helm and one that struggles immensely when Grossman is under center.
It doesn’t take that much of a genius to see this either. All I’m going to say is that, when week five rolls around and Smith is turning to Griese to lead his offense, I won’t say I told him so. I’ll just send him an e-mail of this column.
