(Nov. 5, 2006) -- Maybe Rex Grossman's Monday night nightmare against Arizona wasn't such an aberration after all. The Chicago Bears quarterback was overwhelmed again -- this time by a better defense than he faced when his team made a miraculous rally to escape an embarrassing loss in the desert. And after the Bears' embarrassing (there is no other word), 31-13 loss at home to the lowly Miami Dolphins, these questions will be asked throughout the NFL: Was Chicago's 7-0 start legitimate? Did the Bears merely benefit from a soft schedule?
Certainly, it's hard to offer much of an argument on their behalf. The Dolphins intercepted Grossman three times (with Jason Taylor returning one 20 yards for a touchdown), and forced him to fumble. They pressured him constantly, and he responded with poor throws and lousy decisions in the pocket. It seemed that neither Grossman nor the rest of the Bears offense was right once the team's best big-play target, Bernard Berrian, left the game with a rib injury on Chicago's opening possession. The Dolphins forced two other fumbles as part of a defensive effort that looked a lot like what one would expect from Chicago's top-ranked unit. Of course, the Dolphins do have the fifth-best defense in the league, something that the Bears might have forgotten while perhaps looking ahead to their Week 10 showdown against the New York Giants.
Joey Harrington threw for only 137 yards and was intercepted twice, yet he did have three touchdown passes. Ronnie Brown allowed the Dolphins to maintain control by rushing for a career-high 157 yards on a career-best 29 carries. The way the Bears played against Miami, it's hard to see them being able to right themselves against a Giant team that has won five games in a row and might very well be a more legitimate powerhouse.
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