BEARS 23, Vikings 13: Griese Pool Heats Up

It seems like I’ve written this game recap before. Let’s see -- defense is Super Bowl caliber, team will go only so far as Rex Grossman can … yeah, we’ve definitely been here before.

So it’s true that at one point in the third quarter, Grossman had as many interceptions as completions, with three of each. So it’s true that BEARS receivers had only two more catches (six) than did BEARS defenders (four interceptions). So it’s true that Grossman’s passer rating on Sunday looked more like an earned-run average.

I still say Brian Griese is not the answer. Griese may actually be a better pure quarterback than Grossman. But the problem is, Griese has not spent the last 12 games working with the first-team offense. And it has shown in his rare mop-up duty this year. The only solution is to fix Grossman -- which should be possible, considering that he looked like an All Pro for the first five games of the season.

But then again, I might be biased. As longtime readers know, before the season I set up a pool on when Griese would supplant Grossman as the BEARS starter. Believe it or not, this pool was a hot topic of discussion in the bars and parties as was at with my friends this weekend. And I have the entry that pays if it doesn't happen.

As a service to those in the pool, I’m posting all the picks that are still alive at the end of this recap. But first, some random thoughts about Sunday’s NFC North-clinching victory:

-- Hey, guess what? Sunday’s victory clinched the NFC North. The way this town wants to tar and feather Grossman, you’d think they were 3-8 right now. The BEARS are in the playoffs, people, and they only need three wins against four sub-.500 teams to clinch home-field advantage.

-- Home-field advantage will assure the BEARS a spot in the Super Bowl, even if Rex Grossman’s grandmother is playing quarterback. For one thing, Tony Romo and Drew Brees aren’t going to look like Hall of Famers while trying to throw through 17 feet of snow into a minus-40 wind chill at Soldier Field in January. For another, the second-best team in the league -- Dallas -- needed a last-second field goal to beat a Giants team that the BEARS beat by 18. And the BEARS got them when the Giants were riding high on a five-game winning streak, whereas Dallas played them with turmoil ripping the team apart. Advantage, BEARS.

-- None of this excuses Lovie Smith’s empassioned defense of Grossman. Before Sunday’s game, he said he had never seen such criticism of a quarterback who had gone 9-2. Excuse me? Was he here last year? Because I’m guessing Kyle Orton has seen something similar.

-- I’m starting to think the real starter controversy should be Cedric Benson over Thomas Jones. And I want to like Thomas Jones more than Benson. I really, really do.

-- It looks like the extreme cold made footing difficult for the defenses Sunday, as if the ground were frozen, judging by the multiple missed tackles on both sides. It makes sense that the defense would suffer more than the offense, because it’s easier to run than to chase. An offensive player knows which way he’s going to juke and can shift his momentum accordingly, whereas a defender has to be poised to go in either direction and must simply react to the offensive player. You can’t do that without proper footing.

-- Here are the Griese pool picks. For the unitiated, the deal is that if Griese starts the game you have, you win the pot.

Dec. 11 at St. Louis (MNF) -- GLENN
Dec. 17 vs. Tampa Bay -- KEVIN
Dec. 24 at Detroit -- MARK
Dec. 31 vs. Green Bay -- DON
Any postseason game -- PAM
Griese does not start -- KEVIN

Good luck to everyone still in it!