Week 16: Bears at 49ers on Fox Sunday at 3pm

[David]

God....that 2006 Superbowl....After the Hester return I thought for sure this team was going to win it. Basically the rest of the game was a huge kick in the balls.

 

I also thought we were in for a decade of dominance and Rex Grossman developing into a strong top 10 QB. I had this idea that he had a really good 2006, but looking at the numbers, jeez. 52% completion percentage, 23 - 20 TD to INT ratio. Oof, those were far more pedestrian (bordering on bad) numbers than I remember.

 

Also Cedric Benson. Holy moly did he blow chunks.

 

yeah, rex's thing was the good rex/bad rex thing where he had as many 100 qb rating games as peyton manning (or something like that) either at or among the league leaders...but obviously when he was bad, he was really bad...especially in the last game against green bay when afterwards he basically was like "horsefeathers it, it's new year's eve"

[Chocolate Milk]

God....that 2006 Superbowl....After the Hester return I thought for sure this team was going to win it. Basically the rest of the game was a huge kick in the balls.

 

I also thought we were in for a decade of dominance and Rex Grossman developing into a strong top 10 QB. I had this idea that he had a really good 2006, but looking at the numbers, jeez. 52% completion percentage, 23 - 20 TD to INT ratio. Oof, those were far more pedestrian (bordering on bad) numbers than I remember.

 

Also Cedric Benson. Holy moly did he blow chunks.

 

yeah, rex's thing was the good rex/bad rex thing where he had as many 100 qb rating games as peyton manning (or something like that) either at or among the league leaders...but obviously when he was bad, he was really bad...especially in the last game against green bay when afterwards he basically was like "horsefeathers it, it's new year's eve"

I was browsing through some of the 2006 season box scores (to settle a bet with a buddy) and that NYE game Rex was 2/12 for 33 yards and 3 picks. For contrast, Brad Maynard was 1/1 for 37 yards passing in the same game.

 

I guess I forgot how ridiculous bad Rex was.

[Banedon]

I guess I forgot how ridiculous bad Rex was.

 

I convinced myself at the time that Rex was going to get better. But then I always did that with Cutler too. So that's probably on me.

[Thed Hoyerstein]

And wasn't that 2006 Colts team like unbelievably terrible at stopping the run, like worst in the league or close to it?

 

 

aaaand I looked it up and they were -

 

The 2006 Colts run defense? Staggeringly bad – they gave up 173 yards per game on the ground and an eye-popping 5.3 yards per attempt. The only other team to give up more than 170 rushing yards per game since 2000 was the 2008 Detroit Lions (172 YPG) – who went 0-16. 7 times that year the Colts gave up more than 180 yards on the ground, including 3 games over 200 and 375 yards to the Jaguars. Their incompetence against the run made them one of only 4 teams to face a higher percentage of run plays than league average. Teams ran on the Colts 54.2% of the time, compared to a league average of 45.2%.

 

and the somehow figured it out for the playoffs

 

What the Colts defense did in the 2006 playoffs is truly remarkable. They didn’t end the season on a particularly good note going 2-3 in December while allowing 363 yards per game in that stretch. The big difference between December and the playoffs? In those 5 regular season games, the Colts managed only a combined 5 takeaways. Once the playoffs started, it was a different story with Indianapolis getting 13 takeaways in 4 games. Furthermore, they forced 21 punts in those 4 playoff games. In the entire regular season, they only forced 47. Key 3rd down stops and takeaways are the two biggest elements of a great defense and in the 2006 playoffs, Indianapolis’ defense managed to get both – despite struggling mightily from September-December.

 

From the article "The Worst Defense to Ever Win a Super Bowl: The 2006 Colts"

https://pick256.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/the-worst-defense-to-ever-win-a-super-bowl-the-2006-colts/

 

As soon as Bob Sanders came back from injury, the Colts run D immediately got better.... and then Sanders also made that huge hit on Benson to change the game.

[jersey cubs fan]

People, I implore you

 

stop

[Chocolate Milk]

I guess I forgot how ridiculous bad Rex was.

 

I convinced myself at the time that Rex was going to get better. But then I always did that with Cutler too. So that's probably on me.

I had a Rex Grossman jersey.

[David]

I guess I forgot how ridiculous bad Rex was.

 

I convinced myself at the time that Rex was going to get better. But then I always did that with Cutler too. So that's probably on me.

I had a Rex Grossman jersey.

 

Me too

 

It's still in the back of a closet somewhere

[Brian]

I got a Rex jersey for like $20 during one of his injury lost seasons.

 

I also saw an orange Orton jersey for like $15 on ebay and had my sister get it for me for Christmas one year.

 

 

on the other hand I paid full price for Vasher after pro-bowl right before his career nose-dived.

[David]

lol remember how freaking excited 90% of us were when we heard rex was taking first string practice reps late in 2005?

 

then he came out in at halftime of that cold atlanta game and immediately completed like a 20 yard pass to moose (this was after orton played one of the worst halves of football i've ever seen), and scored a touchdown off an INT + fumble if i remember correctly. i was horsefeathering amped and didn't care at all about the pick lol.

[Brian707]

lol remember how freaking excited 90% of us were when we heard rex was taking first string practice reps late in 2005?

 

then he came out in at halftime of that cold atlanta game and immediately completed like a 20 yard pass to moose (this was after orton played one of the worst halves of football i've ever seen), and scored a touchdown off an INT + fumble if i remember correctly. i was horsefeathering amped and didn't care at all about the pick lol.

 

 

I was at that game, it was like 3 degrees out. Soldier Field was crazy that night and thought Rex was going to lead them for a decade of dominance

[David]

lol remember how freaking excited 90% of us were when we heard rex was taking first string practice reps late in 2005?

 

then he came out in at halftime of that cold atlanta game and immediately completed like a 20 yard pass to moose (this was after orton played one of the worst halves of football i've ever seen), and scored a touchdown off an INT + fumble if i remember correctly. i was horsefeathering amped and didn't care at all about the pick lol.

 

 

I was at that game, it was like 3 degrees out. Soldier Field was crazy that night and thought Rex was going to lead them for a decade of dominance

 

[BigSlick]

Weirdly, Kyle Orton ended up having a pretty OK career, while Rex never had a completion percentage over 60%

 

Anyway, we've had a lot of really bad quarterback play in our history

[jersey cubs fan]

[BigSlick]

I will NEVER stop reminiscing about the 2005 and 2006 Bears

[UMFan83]

lol remember how freaking excited 90% of us were when we heard rex was taking first string practice reps late in 2005?

 

then he came out in at halftime of that cold atlanta game and immediately completed like a 20 yard pass to moose (this was after orton played one of the worst halves of football i've ever seen), and scored a touchdown off an INT + fumble if i remember correctly. i was horsefeathering amped and didn't care at all about the pick lol.

 

 

I was at that game, it was like 3 degrees out. Soldier Field was crazy that night and thought Rex was going to lead them for a decade of dominance

 

Same. I remember going to the bathroom at halftime and hearing them say Rex was warming up on the sidelines and everyone starting cheering and then when he came out on the field on the first drive the crowd was electric.

 

I also remember that feeling like the peak of the 05-06 defenses. Vick just had like no chance of doing anything, it was awesome.

[WrigleyField 22]

Weirdly, Kyle Orton ended up having a pretty OK career, while Rex never had a completion percentage over 60%

 

Anyway, we've had a lot of really bad quarterback play in our history

One year he was a pretty awesome end of season waiver wire pickup for me in fantasy though.

[minnesotacubsfan]

RE Super Bowl 2007: Tommie Harris and Mike Brown. Their injuries killed our D. Muthafucker

[minnesotacubsfan]

I will NEVER stop reminiscing about the 2005 and 2006 Bears

 

 

Guys, we might be causing irreparable harm to the Hoboken Squat Cobbler

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Harris was absolutely the lynchpin of that defense.

[Old Style]

Harris was absolutely the lynchpin of that defense.

Mike Brown seemed to set the tone from what I remember. When he was hurt the drop off was very noticeable.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Harris was absolutely the lynchpin of that defense.

Mike Brown seemed to set the tone from what I remember. When he was hurt the drop off was very noticeable.

 

 

Urlacher called the plays but Brown called all the audibles, setting up the secondary. Harris was having an all-pro year.

 

 

We got hosed

[Brian707]

Harris was absolutely the lynchpin of that defense.

Mike Brown seemed to set the tone from what I remember. When he was hurt the drop off was very noticeable.

 

 

Urlacher called the plays but Brown called all the audibles, setting up the secondary. Harris was having an all-pro year.

 

 

We got hosed

 

 

We did, but that SB was very winnable, especially after the Hester TD to open the game.

[Brian707]

People, I implore you

 

stop

 

 

Perhaps we should start a Bears nostalgia thread here?

 

I am just happy that the Bears are finally in the playoffs. I have been a STH since 2011 and this is the first playoff appearance since I got them. Plus the Bears are letting me buy up to 4 more tickets in a presale at 10am. So I could have 8 tickets for the first playoff game.

[David]

i'm mildly annoyed at lots of people (mostly people older than most of us) acting like this is the first time the bears have been good since the 80s.

 

one example

[tweet]

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[UMFan83]

Mike Brown seemed to set the tone from what I remember. When he was hurt the drop off was very noticeable.

 

 

Urlacher called the plays but Brown called all the audibles, setting up the secondary. Harris was having an all-pro year.

 

 

We got hosed

 

 

We did, but that SB was very winnable, especially after the Hester TD to open the game.

 

Yeah, blame the defense all you want but the offense did absolutely nothing all game. They did have a TD drive in the 1st quarter that was I believe 100% running plays, and a FG drive that was all of 14 yards long, but there was basically no offense the entire rest of the game for the Bears.