Gross(man) performance

MIAMI – Rex Grossman grasped desperately for the slick football on the soggy turf, with another Chicago Bears drive meeting its ugly demise and the offense entangled in a quagmire. It was a moment that captured Grossman’s evening, and one of several images that will haunt his off-season.

Grossman, under fire from fans and the media for his wildly inconsistent play, likely will bear the burden for Sunday’s 29-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI. In fact, there was a collective failure by Chicago’s offense at Dolphin Stadium. But, with his often sloppy passes, Grossman provided the most vivid images in the downpour, such as when his mistimed pass was intercepted by reserve cornerback Kelvin Hayden early in the fourth quarter and returned 56 yards for a touchdown.

Until that mistake, the Bears were within one score of taking the lead despite their awful offensive performance. After that, they were thoroughly defeated, and Grossman promptly threw another interception on Chicago’s next drive.

“It was a frustrating game,” he said. “My confidence never wavered. It was just a matter of getting into a rhythm as an offense.”

The Bears simply could not move the ball on the ground or through the air in the rain, buttressed only by rookie Devin Hester’s game-opening kickoff return for a touchdown and a 52-yard burst by tailback Thomas Jones to set up their second score.

“Of course, the (first) interception was a big play,” Bears Coach Lovie Smith said. “But we never got into a rhythm offensively.”

Grossman’s mistakes were crushing. He hoped to lob a ball to receiver Muhsin Muhammad down the sideline with the Bears still in the game – “I wish I would have just thrown it away,” Grossman said – but Hayden read the pass easily.

Indeed, trailing by 12, the Bears would need Grossman to help them win the game rather than merely try not to lose it. The predicament went true to form, as he was intercepted again a few passes later.

Even by his erratic standards, Grossman was having a miserable game. He threw a touchdown pass early, but the Bears could not test the Colts’ zone defense downfield at all. Grossman’s longest completion traveled 22 yards. During the Bears’ first drive after halftime, trailing 19-14, Grossman was sacked for an 11-yard loss, and on the next play – third and 12 – he could not handle the snap and fumbled, and the Bears had to punt. Chicago fumbled four times in all and lost three of them.