Bears' Grossman makes few mistakes, and comes up huge in overtime

CHICAGO — The pressure on Rex Grossman was more than a figure of speech in overtime.

Third down, the Bears needed 10 yards and Seattle linebacker Lofa Tatupu was coming around the edge of the Bears' line on a blitz with his eyes and bad intentions trained on the Chicago quarterback.

That's when Grossman stepped up in the pocket, and stepped into the moment by completing a 30-yard pass to Rashied Davis.

Robbie Gould's 49-yard field goal might have decided the game Sunday, but the completion to Davis is what won this game. The overanalyzed quarterback throwing to an unheralded player from the Arena League against a face full of defenders.

"He was throwing the ball out of a well," defensive end Bryce Fisher said of Grossman. "Everyone was pretty much on him. That's just a great play by him."

The Bears kicked the winning field goal four plays later and a city known for its wind could finally exhale.

See, Chicago had been waiting since Jan. 1, 1995, for another playoff victory, and this season the Bears had a championship-caliber defense and a quarterback they've needed antacids to digest.

When Grossman was good this season, he was great. He finished seven games with a passer rating better than 100, most in the league. It's just that when he was bad, he was awful.

And against Seattle, he was just good enough. He wasn't the best, wasn't the worst and while some of his decisions undoubtedly made Bears fans curse, for four quarters he avoided the kind of mistakes that would have cost his team the game. Then in overtime, he made the throw that won it.

"He knows how to bounce back from tough situations," Chicago coach Lovie Smith said. "He's been roasted the past couple of weeks."

It's a topic that got hotter as the weather grew colder. Grossman began December with three interceptions against Minnesota. He ended it with two picks in just one half of the finale against Green Bay. His rating that game wasn't shoe-sized. It was 0.

That was the last game he played before Sunday, the Bears' first-round bye giving Grossman plenty of time to stew on that performance. How long did those two weeks feel?

"It was 14 days," Grossman said without so much as a smile.

Laughter rippled through the room. It's worth noting that the laughter was no longer nervous.

Grossman passed for 282 yards and his only interception came on a ball wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad bobbled. He lost a fumble, but he also threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian that couldn't have been placed any better. But the performance was better than just good enough in the eyes of his teammates.

"He showed you why we think he's our quarterback," center Olin Kreutz said. "And why we've always wanted him to be our quarterback."

The last question Grossman heard in his postgame interview session was apparently the last thing he wanted to hear. Did winning a playoff game offer some validation for a player who is the most criticized player on a team that finished 13-3?

"I feel good we're going to the NFC Championship Game," Grossman said. "I'm not sure I even want to answer that question."

On Sunday, his overtime completion said enough.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com