Season-ending injuries

The preseason has been rife with season-ending injuries. The two that are truly sad stories are those of Chicago Bears QB Rex Grossman and Philadelphia Eagles RB Corell Buckhalter. Both of these guys are having to sit out a second consecutive season while their teams try to move on without them. I feel that Grossman's loss will adversely affect the Bears more than Buckhalter's will the Eagles. Although Buckhalter has played a role in the Eagles' offense, Grossman was to be the centerpiece for the Bears offense, as he had fully recovered from a ruptured right knee ligament which sidelined him in Week 3 of the 2004 season, suffered a broken left ankle in the Bears preseason loss to the St. Louis Rams on August 12. He's expected to miss three to four months, which means he would most likely be able to return in the mid-December. This means that journeyman QB Chad Hutchinson, who was highly ineffective in his five starts last season, will be calling the signals for a 2nd straight year. This doesn't even include the fact that the Bears first-round pick Cedric Benson is still holding out and is in danger of not even suiting up in navy and orange for the 2005 season. Benson could be the one to jumpstart an offensive unit that finished 32rd in total offense last year (if he ever reports). If the situation doesn't change, the Bears offensive production looks to stay pretty much where it was last season, even with the offseason acquisition of former Carolina Panthers WR Muhsin Muhammed, and they will most likely remain in the cellar of the NFC North for the second straight year.

Buckhalter has gone down for the 2nd straight year with a torn right patella tendon in his knee, the same injury that kept him out of action for all of the 2004 campaign as well. Buckhalter's loss, while tragic to a team that has already lost two of it's receivers to season-ending injuries and a third receiver who is becoming more of a distraction day-by-day, the Eagles aren't a team that lives and dies by the run (this was evident when they did not retain the services of their then-most productive rusher in Duce Staley after the 2003 season). Brian Westbrook is clearly the starter with Ryan Moats and Reno Mahe backing him up, even though the Eagles again will lack a physically punishing back like Buckhalter. The Eagles should be able to continue to dominate the NFC East and are a favorite to move deep into the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year.