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Dan Peters
Sports Editor
Oak Park
Journal
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Bears
Stumble, Then Rumble.. Stun Vikings 19-16
by Dan Peters
After two consecutive weeks of impressive play on offense and defense,
For three quarters Sunday it seemed the Bears "Preseason" Offense
showed up at the Metrodome Sunday. Thanks to the Bears solid
kicking game, the Defense was able to keep the Bears in the game for
three quarters.
Robbie Gould kept the Bears close, accounting for all the Bears points
(16) until Grossman’s fourth quarter comeback score... His first
professional touchdown in the fourth quater of a game.
Rex Grossman’s touchdown pass to give the Bears the lead and win has
shown he is the right choice for quarterback and is a turning point in
his pro career.. Rex Grossman has arrived..
"It says all kinds of things about his character, which is really no
surprise,” said offensive
Coordinator Ron Turner “It's just like him coming back from two
injuries. A lot of guys wouldn't have been able to do that. “He threw
the pick for a touchdown. But he knew, ‘Hey,
It was a bad play. Let's bounce back and go.’ Rex has a lot of
confidence. I don't ever worry
about his mental state, not one bit. “All good quarterbacks have to go
through a little adversity,” said coach Lovie Smith. “The defense gave
him an opportunity to get back on the football field and when we needed
the offense to step up, Rex led them down for that big score to win the
football game.”
The Bears defense made the big plays when it mattered most....
“Everyone on the defense was excited,” said middle linebacker Brian
Urlacher. “We were talking about going back in there and having to stop
them on a two-minute drive, which we did. We expected (the offense) to
score. Any time you've got No. 8 back there for this team, we have a
chance to win a game and he came through for us.”
Urlacher was impressed with how Grossman responded after throwing the
costly interception.“The guy’s confident,” Urlacher said. “I think to
be a good quarterback you have to have that. You're going to throw
picks in this league. There are a lot of good players. I'm sure he'd
like to have that throw back, but he didn't let it bother him. He came
back and made some nice throws at the end of the game and kept us in
it.
“We missed tackles, we missed sacks. We do all that stuff. It's just
the way the game goes. You're going to make mistakes. It's just how you
deal with them.”
Tommie Harris was in a playful mood in the Bears locker room Sunday
after the game. He held up can of underarm deodorant during post game
interviews. Winning "deodorizes" any stench that comes from playing a
mess of a game in the Metrdome, or as Ditka coined a few years ago,
"The Roller Dome" Minnesota has been a thorn in the Bears
schedule the past few seasons...but not today.
It was fitting that the first game-winning TD pass of Grossman’s career
came when and where it did. Nearly two years ago to the day, the
quarterback was lost for the season after tearing his ACL on a 6-yard
TD run with 2:00 left in a Week 3 defeat to the Vikings in the
Metrodome.
Sunday's game-winning touchdown came on the first play after the
two-minute warning against the same opponent in the same stadium.
Grossman’s parents and wife, who were at the game to console him two
years ago. Today, they celebrated with him at the Metrodome Sunday
before the Bears bussed to the airport for the trip back to Chicago.
Despite his two interceptions, coaches and teammates were
confident that Grossman would bounce back and rally the Bears to a
victory if given the opportunity.... And he did.
“That's what good players do,” Smith said. “They play the next down.
Rex had a couple bad plays before that, but you have to get into ‘the
now.’ Rex played that next down and really threw a great pass and
Rashied made a big play.”
The winning touchdown came on the same corner-post route that Grossman
connected on a 31-yard completion to Davis last week in the Bears’ 34-7
win over the Lions. Vikings cornerback Ronyell Whitaker playing
on Davis’ outside shoulder, Grossman made the play work by freezing the
free safety with a quick glance to his left.
“Rex does a great job of looking off,” Turner said. “He looked the
safety over and knew he had one-on-one with Rashied. We had great
protection. The offensive line and backs did a real good job
protection-wise and guys did a good job executing.”
“Nobody had to say anything to Rex,” said receiver Muhsin Muhammad. “He
knew he made a mistake, he knows what's on the line, he knows the
situation in the game, and he knew what we had to do. I have total
confidence in what he can do. He plays like a warrior, a real
courageous guy. When he's under pressure, you can tell how relaxed he
is out there. He doesn't panic.”
Under pressure from a slew of blitzes, Grossman completed 23 of 41
passes for 278 yards.
It does not get any easier for the Bears... They face the defending NFC
champions this Sunday... The Seattle Seahawks. Both teams are 3-0. If
the Bears can stir up some magic this next game, The rest of the NFL
best take notice... "The Monsters of The Midway" are back.
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