Jeff Garcia?!?!? Really?!?!?!

OK, I touched on it a few posts ago, but now it appears that the possibility of Jeff Garcia to the Bears is, at worst, a 50-50 shot. At first I was mortified by this. My first thought was that it would be the crazy, over-the-top people that only listen to the guys on Around the Horn that thought this was a smart move. However, after I let the thought sink in a bit, and after a chat with a good friend of mine, I may be willing to change my stance on this. At least I am not quite as opposed to it as I was yesterday.

The easiest way to discuss this is essentially by starting with the statements my friend made. I will then state my response, with some more verbiage added of coarse. This may seem rambled, but it will ultimately make sense.

The first issue dealt with the age. Obviously Rex is a lot younger than Jeff Garcia. My buddy stated that he would rather go with the young guy than the old guy, all things being equal. Now, for 25 of the 32 teams in the league, I would totally agree. I always hate it when I see the Minnesota Vikings, the Washington Redskins, etc. go with the Brad Johnsons or Mark Brunnells of the world.

My view of this changes if you are one of the 6 or 7 teams that can conceivably contend for a title. If that is the case, I think that you have to have a different frame of mind. I don't think you can necessarily wait around for a young guy to "get it" because the window of time that you can win a Super Bowl is so small. Do you miss out on your shot at a title, or do you go out and get the veteran for a shot to win now. My contention was that I don't want to waste this team by waiting for Rex to flip the switch. He really did not get any better, decision wise, through out the season. He is so physically talented that he is going to make plays, but, even in the playoff games, he continually made mistake after mistake.

You look at the divisional game against Seattle. Rex's first pass was a deep post route to Rasheed Davis. This ball should've been intercepted. The ball went directly through Jordan Babinoux's hands, hitting both of them on the way. I think the Bears saw this and instantly started to tighten the reigns on Rex. He was allowed to make very few plays the rest of the game.

In the NFC title game, against New Orleans, Rex was again not allowed to go down the field very much, especially early. Now, obviously the weather had a little to do with this, but I think this was by design. On the one drive that Rex supporters will bring up, the touchdown was a bit mis-leading. This ball was just hing up in the air, for anyone to get. It just so happened that the defensive back, Fred Thomas, was one of the worst corners in the league this year. He turned one way, then back the other and still had a shot for an easy pick, that he of coarse missed. The ball then fell into Bernard Berrian's hands for the score.

Finally, in the Super Bowl, the two INT's Rex threw late in the game were just inexcusable. The first was just thrown up, without looking to see where his receiver was. The second came out of his hand wrong, due to the weather. The problem with this excuse was that the weather did not hinder Peyton Manning at all.

Now, do young quarterbacks make mistakes? Of coarse. However, most of them would have showed some signs of improvement. Maybe they play a little shaky early, but by the end of the year, they have at least cut down on the mistakes. Rex seemed to have learned nothing. He was doing the same things in January that he was in November.

Jeff Gracia is a veteran guy, who for the large part of his career, has made few mistakes, and headed some very productive offenses. Did he have his problems in Cleveland and Detroit? Yes, but I would ask how much of that was due to the lack of talent around him. Has anyone, in the recent past, won in either of those cities? The answer is, or coarse, no. Now, was Jeff great on these teams? Not at all. However, with talent around him, this guy has been successful.

What Jeff Garcia is is a savvy, veteran quarterback who completely turned the season around for the Eagles last year. He makes very few mistakes. He is, even at this age, dramatically more mobile than Grossman. He has larger hands than Rex, which should help on the super tricky center-QB exchange thing. He has a strong enough arm to make an offense work. He can read defenses. Is he a long term fix? Absolutely not. He may only work for a year or two. However, isn't it worth the "rental" of a veteran if it works?

Now, another thing we discussed was what if he makes the same mistakes Rex does? Well, I would contend then that you are no worse off. The rest of this team was good enough to win their division and make the Super Bowl, with minimal, NEEDED, contribution from Rex. He had some great games early, but they were in 20 point blow outs. In close game, did he make any of the key plays? I would contend no.

I would contend that you owe it to yourselves, to your players, and to your fans to try to fix issues with your team. Is Rex an issue with this team? Most definitely. Can he fix it? Maybe. My thing is that he showed little to no improvement. He's the same guy today that he was at Florida. He is exceptionally talented. He makes throws that only 3 or 4 other guys could. The problem is that he makes mistakes that some college kids wouldn't be making.

Now, yes, I know Rex won 15 games this season. But I would ask all you Bears fans: does that matter at all right now? He was one of the main reasons for the loss in Super Bowl XLI. Had he improved late in the year, the play calling might not have been so conservative. If he could've made another play or two, maybe the defense is more rested and would've played better. Maybe not. All I am saying is that he was more of a hindrance than a help in that game.

Ultimately, am I saying we should move on this and try to get Garcia? Not necessarily. What I am saying is that I am not totally against this anymore. Rex has given me no reason to think that next year will be any better, and I do not want to see this team get broken up a few years down the road with nothing more than a Super Bowl loss and a few division titles to show for it. I want a title and if Jeff Garcia gives the Bears a better shot at it, then I am all for it.