Bears on a hunt for consistency
Rex Grossman has played impressively since coming off the Bears' bench, but by his own admission, he's still got a long way to go.
His combined passer rating in the relief victory in Oakland and his complete game in Seattle is 92.2, which would put him seventh in the NFL. But in his first three games, Grossman's passer rating was a bench-worthy and league-worst 45.2.
Grossman's never had a problem playing spectacularly -- he did that several times last season.
The difficult task has been maintaining that level of efficiency. Grossman is on a mission for consistency, and he gets another opportunity in Sunday afternoon's 3:15 clash at Soldier Field against the Broncos.
"I want to maintain a level of performance that people can expect from me," Grossman said. "That's my No. 1 goal in my career right now, and this week's another week to go out and just play at a high level and stay there and stay at a version of that for the rest of my career."
Despite six productive quarters in his second go-around, Grossman's season passer rating stands at just 62.2, ahead of only the 49ers' Alex Smith among players with 140 or more pass attempts.
On paper, the Broncos have one of the leakier defenses in the NFL, but their nine-year veteran cornerbacks Champ Bailey and Dre Bly are among the best in the league.
The Broncos are No. 10 in passing yards allowed. In back-to-back games to start the season, they allowed 72 passing yards to the Bills and 53 to the Raiders, just the third time since 1970 a team has allowed less than 75 passing yards in consecutive games.
Bly, a two-time Pro Bowler, has 37 career interceptions, including 4 this season. Bailey, who has been to the Pro Bowl seven times, has 41 picks. He has just 2 so far this year, but 18 in the previous two seasons.
"They're very good," Grossman said. "You make sure you're that much more precise with the timing and the rhythm of the routes and where you place the ball. That becomes a little more important this week. But we faced a couple good corners last week in (Marcus) Trufant and (Kelly) Jennings.
"Anytime you play talented corners, you just have to make sure you protect the ball by throwing it to the outside and placing it where only your receiver can get it or it's incomplete. Don't give them anything that they can drive on and intercept, so it's something the receivers and I are conscious of, and we're going to do a good job with it."
The Broncos are third worst in the NFL in rushing yards allowed and second worst in average gain per rush allowed. But the Bears faced a similarly weak run defense against the Raiders two games ago and struggled to take advantage on the ground, needing Grossman's 59-yard TD pass to Bernard Berrian with 3:11 left to win it.
"We've got to be smart," said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. "Obviously we've got to make plays in the passing game. They play an eight-man front, so we're going to have to make some plays in the passing game. I've got a lot of respect for (Bly and Bailey). We'll just have to line up and see what we can do. We've got a of confidence in our receivers and in Rex, so hopefully we can make some plays."
Berrian, who leads the Bears by wide margins with 51 catches and 709 yards, missed Wednesday's practice with a toe injury, but he is expected to practice today and play Sunday.