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Oak Park Journal photo of the Chicago Bears
Dan Peters Sports Editor
Oak Park Journal
| August 10, 2003
Rookie Grossman leads Bears to a last second stunning
win in pre season opener
New Bears quarterback Rex Grossman looked anything like a rookie last night as he rallied the Bears to a come from behind win beating the visiting Colts 20-18 in front of a large crowd in Champagne Saturday night. The weather was perfect for a football game. Temperature in the low 70's with very little wind. It was a night of new veterans and new rookies that led the Bears to their first win on the Pre season. Kordell Stewart a nine-year NFL veteran (Pittsburgh) was a little rough around the edges Saturday night in his first game as Bears quarterback. he used an impressive short passing game, but committed a key turnover in the first quarter. Stewart only played the first quarter, completing 7 of 8 passes for 29 yards. He electrified the crowd early on with a nine-yard scramble for a first down, but the 6-1, 218-pound Pro Bowler fumbled on his final play when he was sacked by Colt's tackle Montae Reagor. Running back Adrian Peterson, looked impressive as well starting in place of Anthony Thomas. Thomas had little practice during the recent training camp. The coaching staff wanted to see how the second-year
pro Peterson fared against the Colts' No. 1 defense. He fared very well
rushing for 36 yards on six carries. Peterson gained 15 and 14 yards on
back-to-back first quarter runs to set up the Bear's first points on Edinger's
29-yard field goal, which gave the
"I think we moved the ball the way we wanted to," Stewart
said. "You can't beat yourself up too bad because this was your first opportunity
to get out there and play and we only had a quarter to play. I think overall
we played well and we did some positive things."
Stewart's passing attack was a departure from from what the Bears have used in the passed few seasons. Head Coach Dick Jaron commented on this new passing attack: "You'll see a lot of different things with Kordell at quarterback just because of his different skills," Obviously he's very athletic. If we open up the offense formation-wise and spread out a defense, there are a lot of things that he can do with it and that we can do with it."
Veteran quarterback Chis Chandler also looked sharp in the second quarter. The 11-play, 78-yard touchdown drive was fueled by Chandler's uncharacteristic like 12-yard scramble on third-and-11. Chandler's 22 yard touchdown pass to Merritt put the Bears ahead 10-3. Merritt appeared to be wide open for several seconds before Chandler found him. "Their defense kind of busted," Merritt said. "We really couldn't tell what they were doing. I don't think they knew what they were doing either. I sat in the hole and Chris found me and it was just a great read by both of us." "Kordell was very efficient starting out, (but) I thought it was interesting that Chris Chandler out-rushed him," Jauron said. "I don't think anybody predicted that one." The Colts tied the score 10-10 on Jim Kubiak's 9-yard
TD pass to reserve running back Ricky Williams with :19 left in the first
half. After catching the ball, Williams out ran rookie cornerback
Charles Tillman and broke away from linebacker Mike Caldwell.
The Colt's were able to make an easy score when Merritt muffed a punt. He signaled for a fair catch but was knocked to the ground when teammate Todd McMillon and the Colts' Joseph Jefferson ran into him simultaneously. Officials ruled that there was no fair catch interference. This was surely one of the most controversial plays in the game. The game went into half-time tied at 10. The Bears held a slight time of possession advantage 16:42 to the Colts 12:78 But the second half belonged to the new Bears Rookies.......... The big play in the third quarter that pulled the Bears
ahead ...McMillion returned an interception 24 yards for a touchdown. Defensive
end Joe Tafoya pressured Kubiak a few yards deep in the end zone and the
appeared to try to force the ball out of bounds. McMillon intercepted
it and was able to sprint
"It looked to me like it was a screen developing that our line took away," Jauron said. "He had to pull it down and then he got in trouble and threw it up and Todd put it in the end zone. That was a big play." Rookie quarterback Rex Grossman engineered a clutch 14-play, 50-yard drive that led to Paul Edinger's game-winning 38-yard field goal as time expired. Grossman, a first-round pick from Florida, looked tentative at first, before he masterfully converted two-fourth down plays on the Bears winning drive. The 6-1, 222-pounder completed passes of 13 yards to Justin Gage on fourth-and-seven and 12 yards to Bobby Wade on fourth-and-10. "I wanted to establish something out of this game," Grossman said. "I thought I was a little bit sloppy in my first NFL game. That was nice to come down there and win the game. Even though it was preseason, it felt like a real game. "We were out there making plays when it counted most. The last drive was fun. I can't say everything else was exactly how I wanted it to go." The Bears running game was also more impressive than it has been in recent years producing 133 yards and averaged 6.3 yards per carry. Chicago averaged a league worst 84 yards on the ground in 2002. The Colts had a chance to narrow the gap, but kickers Mike Vanderjagt and Conway missed field goal attempts of 44 and 47 yards, respectively, on consecutive possessions. Looks like Indy will have a tough time deciding on which one of these two will make the regular season starting lineup. The Colts took an 18-17 lead when former Illinois star
Aaron Moorehead, the son of ex-Bears tight end Emery Moorehead, caught
a 13-yard TD pass from quarterback James MacPherson with 3:54 remaining
in the game. The Colt's elected to
This was a perfect test for Grossman, who led the Bears to the winning score after failing to guide the offense into enemies territory on his first six possessions. The former Florida star saved the best for last in completing 9 of 21 passes for 74 yards. "He started off a little bit slow," said offensive coordinator John Shoop. "He had some throws that he'd like to have back, had a lot of reads that he'd like to have back. But he competed. "When the game was on the line, I told him before he went out for the last drive, 'You've got a chance to win it or lose it, so why don't you win this sucker,' and he found a way to do it, so that was encouraging." Looks like the Bears made a great choice in selecting Grossman in the 2003 NFL Draft. He has the potential to become a great quarterback, judging from his poise and candor in the last quarter. He made a comment earlier in training camp that the NFL & College football were not that different. He later said that things seem to happen and develop much quicker in the big leagues. He handled the pressure like a pro. The huge crowd stayed to the very end of the game ... somehow sensing that the Bears would make an impressive comeback. The fans were not disappointed. The fans saw a few new veterans step up and play well, but most impressive was the new crop of rookie talent that played in the second half. The coaching staff will have some tough decisions in the next few weeks when they need to trim down the roster for the regular season. Lets hope they make the right cuts. Up Next for the Bears...The Denver Broncos at Champagne.
This will be the final game played here as the next "Home Game" will be
at the new "Soldier Field on September 29 against the Bear's arch rivals
the Green Bay Packers.
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