Bears overcome shaky QB play
INDIANAPOLIS -- Monday night's performance by Rex Grossman was one the Bears hoped they had seen the last of.
Grossman was intercepted once and fumbled three times in just 1½ quarters of action. He completed 9 of his 11 passes, but they accounted for only 59 yards, and he was sacked once, posting a passer rating of 51.1 in the Bears' 27-24 victory over the Colts, which featured sloppy play from both Super Bowl teams.
It was Good Rex and Bad Rex all on the same drive during the Bears' opening possession.
After short completions to Bernard Berrian and Cedric Benson, Grossman did something that critics have claimed he can't -- he stepped up in the pocket, used his feet to buy some time and fired a strike downfield for 27 yards to Berrian down to the Colts' 25-yard line. But three plays later, as he surveyed the field, Grossman allowed Colts defensive end Robert Mathis to slap the ball from his grasp, and it was recovered by Ed Johnson.
On the Bears' next possession, Grossman was intercepted at the Bears' 21-yard line by Marlin Jackson, who returned the pick 4 yards.
"I'm a pretty optimistic guy," Grossman said. "I don't feel like because I throw 1 interception in a preseason game that I've had a bad off-season."
The Bears' defense came to Grossman's rescue, stopping the Colts twice from the 1-yard line. On third down, Dusty Dvoracek stuffed a run by Joseph Addai at the line of scrimmage, and then Peyton Manning's pass at the goal line was low to Addai, who was blanketed by strong-side linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer.
Grossman's misery continued on the next possession when he dropped a snap from center Olin Kreutz at the Bears' 5-yard line, although the quarterback recovered for a 2-yard loss.
"The quarterback-center exchange -- we should be past that," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "Turnovers really hurt us."
The Bears were forced to punt, and the Colts took advantage of good field position to drive 46 yards and take a 7-0 lead on Addai's 4-yard run on a draw play on the first snap of the second quarter.
Even Danieal Manning's ensuing 72-yard kickoff return to the Colts' 19-yard line couldn't get Grossman and the Bears' offense going, as they settled for Robbie Gould's 32-yard field goal and a 7-3 deficit with 12:44 left in the first half. Those were the first points of the preseason for the first-team offense, which has struggled with inconsistency, a perplexing problem for Smith.
"It's hard to say (why) right now," Smith said. "It starts off with the center-quarterback exchange. We can't have those types of things happen, but they did. We will just go back to the drawing board."
Another long return, this time by Devin Hester after a punt, set up the Bears' first TD. Colts punter Hunter Smith outkicked his coverage, and Hester made him pay. After retreating 10 yards to field the ball on the fly, Hester weaved through traffic until tripping himself up after a 50-yard return to the Colts' 24.
After the Bears reached the 1-yard line, Grossman dropped another snap, but Kreutz recovered for a 2-yard loss, and two plays later Grossman scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a 10-7 lead.
"It is something we definitely need to fix," Grossman said of the center exchange. "We're not worried about it. It never happened in training camp. It is just a coincidence that it happened again against the Colts (as it did twice in Super Bowl XLI). We'll figure it out and it will be fixed."
Backup quarterback Brian Griese had his second straight impressive performance. After Ricky Manning Jr. ripped the ball away from the Colts' T.J. Rushing on a kickoff return, wide receiver Mike Has recovered for the Bears at the Colts' 24. Griese's 13-yard completion to Hester set up his 9-yard TD toss to Bernard Berrian, putting the Bears ahead 17-7 with 6:41 left in the half.
After the Colts tied it at halftime, Griese and the Bears reclaimed the lead on their first possession of the second half, with Adrian Peterson's 1-yard run giving them a 24-17 lead. Griese finished 10 of 13 for 131 yards and is now 16-for-20 in the preseason for 203 yards. Grossman is 17 of 21 for 109 yards. Both have thrown 1 interception.