Grossman Keeps Griese on the Bench

It seems reports of Rex Grossman's demise have been greatly exaggerated. The recently-embattled quarterback of the Chicago Bears, in danger of losing his starting job, apparently will live to play another day after posting a very respectable 114.4 passer rating Monday night against the St. Louis Rams.

Following a slow start, Grossman put together a 13-for-23 performance that netted 200 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, though, he didn't turn the ball over despite facing pressure early from the Rams' pass rush. He protected the ball, made a few nice plays when needed, and left the heroics for the Bears vaunted defense and special teams; more specifically Devin Hester, in this case.

So how did Grossman turn it around?

Simple. The Bears took the pressure off him by running the ball early and often. And when the Bears run the ball 30 times per game, Grossman generally plays well and the Bears usually win. Yes, Rex deserves the majority of the blame for his poor play of late. But as I mentioned last week, the coaching staff hasn't been helping him out much with the play calling.

Far too often recently the Bears have come out throwing deep to open up the running game instead of vice versa. But Grossman is at his best when the defense is being sucked in by the rushing attack. Monday night, the Bears let the game come to them instead of trying to press the issue, and it paid off. The Rams attacked Grossman early, but as the running game got rolling, they were put back on their heels. The play-action pass became much more effective. And there were actually several times when Grossman was able to stand in the pocket and survey the field almost pressure free.

The key now is for Grossman to build on this performance, and to build the confidence that he can make the big play when called upon. The Bears just have to be careful about asking him to do too much.

Getting Hester to add a couple TD returns each week wouldn't hurt either, though.