Preseason scores aren't supposed to matter, but there was afairly significant result at Soldier Field on Friday night: SteveWalsh 1, Erik Kramer 0.
Walsh was his usual efficient if unspectacular self to takeRound 1 of the Bears' quarterback derby in an unlikely 18-15come-from-behind victory against the Carolina Panthers.
Kramer's effort could be characterized as persistent, if notvery good.
Ironically, it was forgotten man Shane Matthews who played hero,driving the Bears 79 yards in eight plays to erase a 15-7 deficitwith a 13-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Johnson with 3:49 left.Matthews and Johnson connected on the two-point conversion to tiethe game.
Kevin Butler hit a 51-yard field goal with 1:52 left to providethe winning margin.
Fortunately for Kramer, the opinion of the 50,300 fans at thegame won't be a part of coach Dave Wannstedt's final decision.Kramer was booed off the field no fewer than five times, but Walshgot a big ovation when he was brought back in for a couple of serieslate in the game, and Matthews was greeted as a conquering hero.
"I'm not going to win a popularity contest going out there with aperformance like that," Kramer said. "It was an extremelyfrustrating evening. It was tough, especially when you arecompeting for the No. 1 job and want to do well."
Walsh completed 9 of 14 passes for 99 yards with one touchdownand one interception. He directed the Bears' first two series of thegame, both lasting 10 plays.
Kramer completed 5 of 15 passes for 45 yards and no touchdownsor interceptions. He struggled in his six series, goingthree-and-out on four occasions. He played three series with thefirst team, the longest lasting seven plays.
"I feel relaxed and calm and comfortable," Walsh said of hisfirst-quarter performance. "In practice, I know Erik is going tohave his days. I just have to go out and play my game."
Walsh said he was not pleased that he was ineffective when hecame back to play with the second team, but he spent a long time onthe bench between appearances.
Walsh led the Bears from their 26 to the Panthers' 25 on theteam's first possession before seeing a pass meant for MichaelTimpson wind up in the arms of Carolina's Shawn King. The pass wasbehind Timpson, but it was catchable. Timpson bobbled it into theair, where King snatched it. The Panthers drove for one of theirfive field goals after that play, but Walsh was far from finished.
On the Bears' next possession, he directed a 10-play, 67-yarddrive that lasted just over six minutes. It was capped by a 31-yardTD strike to a wide-open Jeff Graham, who caught the ball at the 12and ran it in untouched as the Panthers scrambled to recover fromtheir blown coverage.
Wannstedt said Kramer will start next Monday against Cleveland asplanned.
"The shame of the whole thing was that we really put an emphasisthe last week or two on our play-action game, we protected it well,we had guys open for big strikes and we did not get the ball tothem," Wannstedt said. "That's the best thing Erik does is throwthe ball and throw it accurately. He was pressing a little bit forwhatever the reason was."
NOTES: Jack Trudeau played the first half at quarterback forthe Panthers and was replaced by rookie Kerry Collins, who played allbut the final nine seconds of the third quarter before Frank Reichtook over. Carolina running back Tony Smith broke his left leg when he wastackled in the third quarter. There were 16,644 no-shows. SUMMARY, PAGE 27
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