BEARS 17, Raiders 6: Turns Out We Do Need Grossman

It was just like BEARS fans had wanted all season long. The backup came storming in off the bench and pulled his team ahead to victory.

Except it wasn’t quite what the fans wanted, because they wanted it to happen when Brian Griese was the backup. Instead, when Griese was injured in the second quarter of Sunday’s game, Grossman reclaimed his old job and, with the BEARS trailing 6-3 in the fourth quarter, threw a bomb to Bernard Berrian that put them up for good.

What gives me hope more than a win over the pitiful Raiders is the specter of the return of Good Rex. Griese had a better record than Grossman as a starter this year (2-2 vs. 1-3), but he was not going to take this team to the playoffs.

After all, he had three interceptions in each game against the Lions, often throwing into heavy coverage in the second game. And had the BEARS bothered to beat the Lions just once, they would currently have the same 5-4 record and would be in the thick of the playoff race.

Furthermore, were it not for two minutes of brilliance against the Eagles, Griese would have the same 1-3 record as Grossman.

There’s never been a doubt that Good Rex was better than Griese. But the conventional wisdom also held that Griese was better than Bad Rex, at least until Griese got the starting job. Now, it’s an open question, but also a moot one, because this team does not make the playoffs unless they get seven Good Rex starts in a row.