Neither bad nor great , Grossman leads Bears to win

	Despite constant pressure from Seattle, Rex Grossman avoided enough mistakes to lead the Bears to the NFC title game. Todd Rosenberg/US PRESSWIRE
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CHICAGO -- A winter storm is bearing down on Chicago as Martin Luther King Day looms Monday, but that burst of warm air you felt swirling around the Windy City late Sunday afternoon was the local populace exhaling en masse.

Can you blame them? Consumed in recent weeks by the Jekyll and Hyde season turned in by Bears quarterback Rex Grossman, and conditioned to heartbreak in the playoffs, this city breathed a sigh of relief that only comes with survival. Forget about the endless "Good Rex'' versus "Bad Rex'' debate. In the NFC divisional playoff against Seattle at Soldier Field, "Good Enough Rex'' made an appearance, and it turned out to be just enough to help the Bears squeak out a 27-24 overtime victory.

Grossman -- the guy all of Chicago has had on the counseling couch for weeks now -- wasn't necessarily the biggest reason the Bears beat the Seahawks, advancing to the NFC title game for the first time in 18 years. But you can't say he was the reason the Bears lost Sunday -- because they didn't -- and that's absolutely all that Chicago asked of him.

The civic mindset went something like this: Just don't blow it, Rex. Don't give it away. Don't make it harder than it has to be. Take your win -- ugly or otherwise -- over the underdog Seahawks and move on. No questions asked, no lasting recriminations as long as Chicago gets to start making preparations for a visit from those Cinderella New Orleans Saints (11-6) next Sunday in the NFC Championship.

And by golly, Grossman did it. Barely. On this nasty, football-weather day in Chicago, he was good enough. And for that matter, lucky enough at times, deftly avoiding the nightmare scenario of Bears fans everywhere -- yet another loss at home in the divisional round, which would have been Chicago's third is six seasons.

Bears kicker Robbie Gould was the day's hero, connecting on two pressure field goals with the season on the line -- a 41-yarder into the wind that tied it at 24-24 with 4:24 remaining in regulation, and the 49-yard game-winner 4:58 into overtime. Grossman's role was considerably less pivotal.

But in the end against Seattle, he did make one big play with the game on the line -- connecting with receiver Rashied Davis on a 30-yard completion 3:30 seconds into overtime -- to set up Gould's pandemonium-producing 49-yarder four plays later.

"The most important thing is we won,'' said a slightly defensive Grossman in the post-game, proving he knew how low the bar of expectation was set for him this week. "I don't care how we do it. I really don't. This is the most unbelievable situation we are in now. We're in the NFC Championship, and we win one game we're in the Super Bowl. I'm two wins away from having a ring on my finger for the rest of my life.''

Grossman is a calamity in a football uniform. Watching him play quarterback is like watching the guy on the high wire. You know at some point he's going to start to wobble and lose his balance, and it's impossible to take your eyes off him.

Against Seattle, the sense of pressure on Grossman was palpable. With the specter of backup quarterback Brian Griese looming over him, he has endured quite the two weeks since he laid an egg at home in the first half against the Packers in the Bears' Week 17 loss -- a game for which he later admitted he wasn't entirely prepared for.