I don’t really remember how much it hurt when I broke my foot a couple times before I was 10 years old. When I messed up my elbow playing high school baseball and had to have surgery, the initial popping sound was the worst part. There was discomfort but it was far from agonizing. It wasn’t until I was in college and playing rugby that I first experienced significant, sports-related pain. And that was in addition to suffering the worst break of all: I didn’t have even the beginnings of a decent story to go with the injury. I took a bad step during practice one day and twisted my ankle. And it hurt so much I was sure I was going to puke. The next season I banged heads with a teammate and eventually had to get a half-dozen stitches but that was also a ways down on the pain scale.
Kyle Orton’s second quarter injury didn’t happen the way most sprains happen – in fact it was downright weird. Most of the time people turn their feet on the way back down to the ground (and the end of a stride or a jump) and the combination of gravity and body weight do the damage. You could see a 300-pound lineman falling on a quarterback and making it difficult for him to breath for a while, but twisting his ankle? Athletes have always been encouraged to hide how badly they’ve been injured, at least from the other team. And surely Orton would rather have kept his pain to himself on this occasion. But it wasn’t surprising that he couldn’t do it. A field microphone picked up Orton yelling, if not quite screaming, in pain. His attempt to walk off the field ended quickly and after a short delay he was carted off.
If Orton misses a month with a high-ankle sprain (the best guesstimate I heard Sunday evening) it will make it tough for the Bears to stay atop the NFC North, but not impossible. So much will depend on the defense. I’m not quite ready to push the panic button, but a few more quarters like the second on Sunday and it will be time to contemplate major, major changes. The Bears went on to hold Detroit scoreless in the second half, generating just enough pass rush to knock Lion quarterback Dan Orlovsky at least a little off kilter. But next week’s foe, Tennessee Titan veteran Kerry Collins, will be much tougher to rattle.
Equal rations of highlights and low:
* Individually, the only defender who has brought it every quarter of every game so far has been defensive end Alex Brown. The rest of them come and too often go. Lance Briggs made a huge play late to both strip and secure the turnover that stuffed the Lions’ last, best chance to score on something other than a desperation heave. But where was he for the first three quarters?
* On the bright side for Rex Grossman on Sunday, no fumbled snaps! But defensive lineman deflected a couple of his passes like they always do and one became an acrobatic interception. Earlier a few of Orton’s attempts were also tipped at the line, so it’s tough to slam Grossman for struggling the same way. But the one thing Orton never does is go into complete retreat mode like his back-up did before throwing that ridiculous tight-end screen to a completely covered Greg Olsen for a loss of four. Grossman followed that effort with a wounded duck that did not land in the same zip code as any of his receivers. Fortunately when he absolutely had to, Grossman found the highly valuable Rashied Davis for a huge touchdown and for the only yards other than the last one on the game-winning drive that didn’t result from Matt Forte runs. That last yard was Grossman’s quarterback sneak.
* Analyst Tim Ryan did a great job of pointing out that the Bears’ final scoring drive was almost exclusively the result of a single play, well-executed time after time. Roberto Garza pulled back and over to the left side of the line and consistently sealed off big holes for Forte. And the rookie running back finally found his stride again after several sub-par weeks.
* Looking forward, Grossman will benefit from a week’s worth of practice with the first team. There is no denying he had some success during his second short stint as a starter last season and longer stretches of success during 2006. I do wonder, though, if the Bears will go with an ultra-conservative game plan against the best defenses they will face this year.
* The lousy field condition eventually favored the Bears. The biggest slip of a couple dozen stumbles caused by the atrocious turf was the one that led to the blocked extra point after the Lions’ first touchdown. I hope (although I’m far from certain) the Bears would have played tougher defense and thereby perhaps stopped the Lions short of field-goal range on that last drive if a field goal would have tied it. I’m not sure why I feel that way but I do.
* I wonder sometimes if the Chicago Park District, the folks who are responsible for the condition of the field at Soldier Field, could be more of a joke. And hey superintendent Tim Mitchell, don’t send out some pathetic flak to field questions about this latest Chicago Park District failing. Step up and face the music yourself. And while you’re at it, please make sure to tell us why in the universe the district should continue to look after this field.
A few more game notes:
* Luck favored the Bears in a variety of ways on Sunday. Lion quarterback Dan Orlovsky had star wideout Calvin Johnson wide open twice on bombs in the second half. He way underthrew the first then overcompensated and launched the second way out beyond where anyone could catch it.
* Devin Hester’s fumble on that first-half kick-off return was the Bears’ second-worst turnover of the season (Greg Olsen’s second fumble against the Panthers as the Bears were blowing that 17-3 second-half lead in Game 2 is still the worst). Devin, we understand that returning the football is a fickle business and that big returns are often very, very difficult to generate. But it seems like at least once every game you fail to protect the ball or return a ball you shouldn’t or make some other basic mistake. How about you first try to make sure that stuff doesn’t happen for a while? Then maybe we can find a way to get the big returns flowing again.
* Rod Marinelli lost it when officials decided well after the play to call a penalty on a horse collar tackle that brought down Hester after his best return of the day. Marinelli was arguing first and foremost that the call was made in part because a replay on the scoreboard made it clear that a penalty had occurred, which was obviously a no-no. He clearly was also hot about the lateness of the flag. Hecklers have long raked refs over the coals for “late” calls, suggesting that because the call was late the ref was unsure and shouldn’t have made it. But lateness shouldn’t matter even a little bit. The point is to get the call right, which the officials did on the tackle on Hester and on the intentional grounding call on Orlovsky later that was also flagged well after the play was over.
* As far as calls go, better late than never. And that goes for some careers as well. Did you see Ced Benson had over 100 yards and a touchdown as the Bengals finally recorded their first win of the season on Sunday? If Ced Benson’s career can be saved, Mr. Grossman’s resurrection should be a snap.
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Jim Coffman brings you the city’s best weekend sports roundup every Monday because he loves you. You can write to him personally! Please include a real name if you would like your comments to be considered for publication.
Posted on November 3, 2008