Last word on Grossman

Okay, I wasn’t going to go here. Enough already, on Bears’ quarterback Rex Grossman. Everyone is doing their analysis and critique, and I’m not piling on. A few of my friends were wondering what I might say today about the Bears, and I was thinking of a word or two about the overall picture, but we’ve hit saturation here in Chicago.

However….my friend Carmen sends along this little note about Rex Grossman not being an NFL quarterback at all, with that performance of interceptions and bad decisions, and then there was that fumbled snap…..

So here’s a thing or two. Yes, Grossman came up short (or long, a couple of times).

This was the Rex Grossman that the Chicago Bears and their fans feared.

When the Bears needed a clutch throw to catch up in the fourth quarter, their quarterback couldn’t connect.

Instead, Grossman threw a pair of interceptions, one that Kelvin Hayden returned for a touchdown, all but ending Chicago’s chance to win the Super Bowl at rainy Dolphin Stadium.

“A frustrating loss,” Grossman said. “There were definitely opportunities for us to take that game and we didn’t do it.”

Criticized all season for his erratic play and questioned all week before the biggest game about his up-and-down season, Grossman did little to quiet his detractors Sunday night in a 29-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Two fumbled snaps — one he lost, one he didn’t — and then the two underthrown fourth-quarter picks. Two throws that were pretty, well, gross.

“What can you say? In hindsight, I wish I had thrown it away,” Grossman said of the sideline pass he floated toward Muhsin Muhammad that Hayden returned for a score.

Okay. However…

Grossman’s stats weren’t bad — 20-of-28 for 165 yards. But the Bears had trouble manufacturing drives against Indy’s tough defense. Grossman did have a 4-yard TD pass to Muhammad in the first half, set up by Thomas Jones’ 52-yard run…

“My confidence never wavered. It was a matter of getting into a rhythm on offense,” Grossman said. “We just couldn’t do well on third-and-medium. We missed some crucial plays and that’s the difference in the Super Bowl.”

Look, I haven’t exactly been a Grossman apologist this whole season. But during this game, I refused to groan and criticize, and decided to give him the credit he deserves. I’m probably in a minority, but I want to point out the good in Rex Grossman.

He didn’t make excuses, but Grossman acknowledged the slippery conditions were a problem on his second interception and on the snaps he bobbled.

“It was a wet ball sliding right off my hands. The snaps were good,” Grossman said.

He holds himself accountable for his mistakes. He doesn’t blame anybody else. And he doesn’t make excuses, like the fact that they lost Cedric Benson and had to rely on Thomas Jones.

The Bears needed more than just the shifty running of Jones. They needed some big plays from their quarterback, and Grossman didn’t provide them.

He admits that.

“We came up short. The two interceptions definitely set us back,” he said. “It didn’t happen. … It’s extremely disappointing when you get this close to a world championship and you come up short. There is nothing else to say.

Except this. As his opponent Peyton Manning reminded everyone on ‘media day’ last week in Miami, Rex Grossman is a Super Bowl quarterback. Only two teams in the nation make it to the Super Bowl, and Grossman helped drive one of them there, bumpy ride that it sometimes was. He had Manning’s respect, and he deserves ours.

Rex Grossman and the Bears gave Chicago a great and thrilling season, and it has been a lot of fun. It’s been a blast, in fact. In his first full year without injury, Grossman has put up a great season, and Chicago has received the thrill of it all. Thanks, Bears. We hope to do it again, next year.