Rex shows his critics a thing or two

Facing a third-and-seven from the 23 -- a yard line that forever will be named after Devin Hester --Grossman dropped back to pass against a heavy rush. A man who entered the game with minus-17 yards rushing on 19 carries this season, Grossman started high-stepping up the middle of the field and didn't stop until diving forward 22 yards later.

With his job on the line, Grossman played with that kind of abandon. By the end of the game, he wound up with a 111.4 passer rating a week after producing a 1.3. He completed 13 of 23 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns and, just as important, never gave the ball away.

Offensive coordinator Ron Turner said that was the only play from Grossman all night that was completely unexpected.

''I knew he was going to play well,'' Turner said. ''He is a good player who was in a little slump. If anything surprised me, that run surprised me. How he played didn't, but that run may have.''

Grossman seemed a bit distant and defiant during his postgame interview. He wasn't in a playful or chatty mood with a media corps that had turned on him during his slump. One Bears official observed the young quarterback had received ''The Shoop Treatment'' in terms of the constant criticism last seen in these part concerning former offensive coordinator John Shoop during the Dick Jauron era.

In fairness, guys such as Terry Shea, Jonathan Quinn and Chad Hutchinson got it pretty bad in this town. too. The difference, of course, is that Grossman received his criticism while winning.

Maybe the treatment of Grossman was harsh, but it was also deserved, as evidenced by the fact the team was on the verge of pulling him in favor of backup Brian Griese, who received half the snaps with the first-team in practice last week.

''I'm just happy for my teammates and my coaches,'' Grossman said when asked if he felt vindicated by his performance. ''For my teammates, just allowing them to make plays and allowing them to have fun and move the ball as an offense. Obviously, I wanted to respond the way the coaches were backing me and everything like that.''

Bears coaches seemed to be backing Grossman against their better judgment considering how he was giving the ball away, committing 18 turnovers in the last seven games. The expectations for the Bears have been sky-high since their unexpected dominance early in the season.

Where once the issue was simply whether the young quarterback could hold up for an entire season, the concern recently has grown -- even as the Bears have continued winning -- into whether Grossman was the man to take them to the Super Bowl.

''It was relentless,'' offensive tackle John Tait said of the media scrutiny of Grossman heading into this game.

Center Olin Kreutz said there have been more problems on offense than just Grossman, but the young quarterback took all the blame and rolled with the criticism, simply saying he would get better.

''It says he's a pro,'' Kreutz said. ''All NFL guys go through that. When you are first starting, you hit a wall. Teams study and they know how to beat you, and you go through three or four weeks of hard times. But Rex is the starting quarterback of a Super Bowl contender, so he gets more criticism than a lot of guys. He's a great player, a great quarterback, and we believe in him.''

He's also on pace to become the Bears first quarterback to start all 16 games since Erik Kramer pulled off the feat in 1995. Only the Atlanta Falcons, who started Jeff George for all 16 games back in 1995, have a streak as long as the Bears.

But it's not just about staying healthy now for Grossman; it's about leading a team in the playoffs. There will be questions about whether he can do that now, regardless of how he plays in the final three games of the regular season against teams with 10 combined victories -- one fewer than the Bears have managed this season.

''It was a good win,'' Grossman said. ''It's tough to win on the road, and it felt really good to play well again and get out of a slump and play efficiently. That's what I tried to do from the get-go.''

It was also nice to put some of his critics on the run by proving he can run a bit, too.

''I think I consciously went into the game thinking that I may have to make a play with my feet,'' Grossman said. ''There have been a lot of circumstances where they had a better coverage, and they just covered our guys and I threw it away or something.

''On that particular play, I specifically looked for a hole to run in and was able to do that.''

It's that time of year when the offense has to pick up the defense a bit. It looks as though Grossman will be around to try and do it.