Grossman effort pleases Smith

SEATTLE -- The Bears' brain trust wasn't giving out such classified information yet, but indications are that Rex Grossman, whose starting status was on a week-by-week basis, played well enough in defeat Sunday afternoon to keep his job.

"I was definitely pleased with how Rex played," coach Lovie Smith said. "He gave us a chance to win. Rex did a good job today."

Grossman's 86.1 passer rating wasn't nearly as impressive as the 106.0 Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck turned in, but the Bears' quarterback made more than enough big plays to offset a fourth-quarter fumble he lost while scrambling to make a play.

"We had a shot to go deep on that play, and they did a good job covering it," Grossman said of his only turnover. "I saw a crease and I was trying to run into it and either throw the ball to Adrian Peterson or run it.

"The guy from the back side (defensive end Patrick Kerney) came and knocked it out. That was a big play in the game."

The Seahawks turned the takeaway into a field goal and a 30-20 lead with 3:31 remaining.

As much as that dimmed the Bears' chances, Grossman finished the day contributing some big plays.

He had passes of 41 yards to Muhsin Muhammad (71 yards on 3 catches); 36 yards to Rashied Davis, which set up Robbie Gould's 48-yard field goal with 13 seconds left; and a 23-yarder to Bernard Berrian, who caught 9 passes for 102 yards.

"I thought Rex played a great game," Bears center Olin Kreutz said. "I thought he handled the crowd noise well. It's a tough place to play, and he made throws with that arm that hardly anyone can make."

Grossman, who was benched after playing poorly in his first three games, rescued the Bears in Week 10 when his replacement, Brian Griese, suffered a sprained left shoulder.

Grossman finished up Sunday with 266 yards on 24-of-37 passing, easily his best game of the season.

As well as he played, he still didn't know if he had won his job back.

"The only thing I can think is we just got beat," he said. "It feels real bad, and we've got a lot of disappointed guys in this locker room right now.

"At this point, I can't answer your question."