In relative terms, Griese makes Chicago explosive

Brian Griese has an 86.0 passer rating -- a gaudy figure for a Bears quarterback. AP

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Bears fans spent the greater part of the last year pleading, begging and praying for Lovie Smith to replace Rex Grossman with Brian Griese. Turns out they were right.

A month into the season, after watching Grossman's wildly erratic quarterbacking for 22 straight games, Smith finally made the switch. And just like that, the Bears have a chance to finally put together a consistent season on both sides of the ball, something they haven't done since 1991 -- the last time they ranked in the top 15 in the NFL in both offense and defense.

"Since I've been here, the defense has had to pick up for the offense," Griese said.

No more.

It's only been four games, but Griese is delivering the sort of steady quarterback play that's been missing in Chicago since long before Grossman arrived. And it's giving the Bears some hope as they try to right a season that began with a 1-3 start and an overwhelming aura of hopelessness as Grossman grew more and more ineffective.

That the Bears reached the Super Bowl last year had everything to do with the world's greatest returner and one of the NFL's best defenses. But teams are developing ways to keep the ball away from Devin Hester -- he never touched the ball in the Bears' win over the Eagles Sunday -- and Chicago's defense is clearly not what it used to be. Pro Bowl safety Mike Brown and defensive lineman Dusty Dvoracek are out for the rest of the year and corner Nathan Vasher and defensive tackle Darwin Walker will miss several weeks. So this Bears team needs to find new ways to win. Hmm. How about by throwing the ball?

Enter Griese, the one-time Bronco, Dolphin and Buccaneer. With wins in two of his last three starts, Griese has given the Bears a shot of energy that could carry them back into the playoffs. The Bears go into this Sunday's game against the Lions only one game out in the NFC wild-card race and finally with a quarterback who's helping instead of hurting.

Griese's passer rating of 86.0 after four starts is higher than any Bears QB has had in 12 years, since Erik Kramer in 1995. He's the first Bears quarterback with consecutive games of 320 or more passing yards in eight years, since Jim Miller in 1999.

And his teammates are dazzled.

"Griese has done an outstanding job," Bears receiver Muhsin Muhammad said. "Leading us, being out there, having confidence in that position. His decision-making has been great. It's just been pretty wild, and I think it's kind of unexpected coming from the Chicago Bear offense."

Unexpected?

How about unprecedented.

It's hard to comprehend just how bad Bears quarterback play has been over the years. Here's a franchise that's ranked in the top 10 in NFL passing offense once in the last 26 years, a franchise whose top-ranked quarterback in history is Kramer at a pedestrian 80.7.

Think about these guys.

Will Furrer. Moses Moreno. Steve Stenstrom. Rick Mirer. Shane Matthews. Craig Krenzel. Henry Burris. Cade McNown. Kordell Stewart. Chad Hutchinson. Kyle Orton.

Grossman.

And now, finally, here's somebody who is accurate, efficient and productive. Griese has thrown three touchdowns in the final three minutes in the last two games. He's generated 90 points in four starts. He's cemented his hold on the job going into the second half of the season, and don't expect a dropoff in his performance. Griese has sound credentials -- a 41-35 career record, the 20th-highest passer rating in NFL history, and a beefy 63 completion percentage.

He already has more touchdown passes in his four starts (eight) than Grossman had in his previous 10 starts (seven).

Look for Griese to bring out the best in Bernard Berrian, Muhammad, tight end Greg Olsen and tailback Adrian Peterson as the season progresses. Where Grossman was most comfortable firing -- and usually misfiring -- down the field, Griese has the short-range touch to float the ball underneath the coverage and the mental capacity to use his outlet receivers when the mid-range options aren't there.

One more game with 320 yards or more and Griese will become the first Bears quarterback since Bill Wade in 1962 with three such games in a season.

It all makes you wonder why this didn't happen sooner.

By the Numbers

• Add passer rating to the list of NFL single-season records Tom Brady is on pace to break. Brady's 137.9 passer rating through seven games is on target to shatter the NFL single-season mark of 121.1, set in 2004 by Peyton Manning.

• Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia has thrown 209 consecutive passes without an interception since being picked off by Anthony Henry in the first quarter of the Eagles' win over the Cowboys last Christmas Day. Garcia is 99 passes from the NFL record of 308 set by Bernie Kosar over the 1990 and 1991 seasons.

• Playing in relief of injured Matt Schaub, Texans quarterback Sage Rosenfels became the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, joining Joe Montana, Kenny Stabler and Vinny Testaverde. Until Sunday, Rosenfels had never thrown more than four touchdowns in any of his six NFL seasons.

• Brady on Sunday passed for 354 yards on just 25 pass attempts, the most passing yards on 25 or fewer attempts in seven years, since Doug Flutie -- in his final game with the Bills -- had 366 yards on 25 attempts against the Seahawks at Kingdome in December 2000.

• Brady needed just 25 pass attempts to throw six touchdowns Sunday. The last time a quarterback threw six TDs on fewer pass attempts was 30 years ago, when Bob Griese of the Dolphins threw six against the Rams on 23 attempts.

Reuben Frank is a sports writer for The Burlington County Times in Willingboro, N.J.