The evening was inauspicious for some of the so-called skill position players expected to play significant roles in the future of the franchise.
Tight end John Allred, starting his third game, did not catch a pass. Running back Darnell Autry, making his second start in place of Raymont Harris, was totally ineffective with 23 yards on 12 first-half carries for a 1.9-yard average. He improved only slightly in the second half, finishing with 62 yards on 26 carries.
“I improved today but it’s still a learning process,” Autry said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do for the upcoming game.”
But the biggest disappointment in an all-around miserable game was the one area at which the Bears most needed answers. Or maybe they got them.
As promised, coaches inserted Rick Mirer into the game with time for him to make an impression other than what he showed–or failed to show–earlier this season. The results were not promising for Mirer’s future as the franchise quarterback of the Bears.
Despite excellent field position–the Bears’ 48 and 47 twice, and the St. Louis 48–Mirer managed nothing from some of the team’s best opportunities of the game, and only two field goals from starting points even deeper in St. Louis territory. He has yet to get the offense into the end zone.
His results were slightly worse than those of his brief fourth quarter against Buffalo: 1-of-7 passing for 8 yards, four more incompletions and one less yard than the Bills’ effort.
But Mirer chose a different unit of measure for the evening. “I think you measure quarterbacks by wins and losses and today we won the game, and believe me, I’ll take it any way I can get it, even if it means you don’t complete many passes or throw for a lot of yards,” he said.
Mirer was able to direct the Bears to a tying field goal after a poor St. Louis punt later in the quarter. His 20-yard scramble on third down picked up a first down and set up a 27-yard Jeff Jaeger field goal.
A Bryan Cox sack of Tony Banks forced a fumble recovered by Jim Flanigan at the St. Louis 7. But again Mirer was unable to lead the offense to a touchdown, running three plays before Jaeger put the Bears ahead 13-10 with a 20-yard kick.
Mirer, who played 10 snaps at the end of the Buffalo game, made his first appearance on the Bears’ second series of the second half with the ball at the Chicago 48. His first pass came back in his face and the Bears’ first two possessions behind him went three-and-out.
The third ended with Mirer’s fifth interception–versus no touchdown passes–on a poorly thrown ball in the direction of a stationary Curtis Conway. Mirer’s pass instead went directly to St. Louis cornerback Todd Lyght despite Conway having inside position on Lyght.
Mirer, though, was only slightly less productive than his predecessor on a disturbing overall game for the Bears’ quarterback position. Erik Kramer, who stands fifth all-time in franchise passing rankings for attempts, completions and touchdowns, and is sixth in yards, was 14-of-22 for 186 yards, all in the first half. But he was intercepted by cornerback Ryan McNeil in the second quarter to give the ball to the Rams at the Chicago 19. A missed field goal prevented the turnover from leading to any points.
