Remember when the Bears’ biggest problem was whether the quarterback would protect the football well enough to win?
Remember when the knock on Brian Griese was whether he could throw the deep ball?
As Griese broke down the second-most productive game of his 10-year NFL career Sunday, suddenly those seemed like the good ol’ days. Now the biggest test the Bears face after their 34-31 loss Sunday to the Vikings cannot be reduced to a single position or measured on a stat sheet.
“It’s a gut-check for us,” Griese said.
Give the steady veteran credit for a second straight gutsy performance that was good enough to give his team a chance to win.
Griese completed 26 of 45 passes for 381 yards, three TDs and two interceptions for a passer rating of 89.2. His completion percentage would have been much higher if Bears receivers hadn’t dropped at least five passes that were catchable.
In a fourth quarter when the Bears exploded for 14 points in a spurt of 1 minute 7 seconds, Griese completed 4 of 9 passes for 165 yards and two TDs. The first score came on a nifty 33-yard catch by Muhsin Muhammad, who finally looked in sync with Griese, and the second was an 81-yard TD pass to Devin Hester that will keep defensive coordinators up nights.
“They were playing the same defense they were early in the game, we were just more aggressive,” Griese said.
That showed in the throw to Hester that dispelled any notions that the quarterback known for his accuracy can’t let it rip deep if necessary. Griese complimented Hester for running “a great route.” But Hester simply blew by safety Dwight Smith as Smith did his best colonnade impersonation.
“For me, as a quarterback, I’d love to see him out there every play,” Griese said of Hester. “It’s hard in this league as an offense to go 10, 12, 15 plays and score a touchdown. You need explosive plays and you need to work the ball down the field and have a chance to score quickly.”
Scoring quickly with big plays requires risk for which Griese isn’t known but sounds willing to take. He didn’t brush off his two picks but justified them as part of the process for a quarterback who wants to make something happen, a theory that didn’t always work so well for his predecessor.
“The turnovers, when you try to be aggressive, which we need to continue to do, are going to happen,” Griese said. “It’s not a question of making stupid decisions. The ones that happened today were just trying to be aggressive on my part.”
That should improve with each game, as should the chemistry at least one offensive player noted still was lacking at times. Not that Griese necessarily agreed with that assessment.
“I don’t think so,” Griese said. “Obviously, we’re not where we want to be, but I don’t think it has anything to do with anybody’s attitude or anybody’s work ethic.
“We’re still early in the year. We have 10 games left.”
