DENVER -- Coach Mike Shanahan made an emphatic point following the Broncos gut-wrenching 23-16 victory over the Rams that Brian Griese is his starting quarterback. What's uncertain by Sunday's actions is whether Griese will be finishing the season, or games -- for that matter -- as his starting quarterback.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Griese was all but gone as the starter. Shanahan told backup Steve Beuerlein to warm up along the sidelines. Griese was awful in the third quarter, just awful. He was four-for-seven for a net 28 yards passing, had two interceptions, a fumble and two sacks. Suddenly, a 16-6 halftime lead was 16-13 and the Rams had all of the momentum.

	Griese

Folks in Denver made fun of the story about Griese falling down face first in Terrell Davis' steep driveway during a party this offseason, but Griese's young career was suddenly sliding like a glacier from 5,280 feet of attitude before 75,710 booing Broncos fans at Invesco Field.

The Rams were driving, and Shanahan's thought was that if they scored, he'd go to Beuerlein. Despite a $39 million contract, Griese's short-term future was at the mercy of the best offense in football. The Rams drive stalled at the Broncos 20, and a mishandled snap by holder Ricky Proehl bailed out Griese because Jeff Wilkins missed the game-tying field goal with 10 minutes left in the game.

"Well, thoughts went through my mind in the third quarter when we were a little flat," Shanahan said of Griese's potential benching. "I felt we would have needed a spark. Brian had a quarter in there when things went flat, and he was really pressured. But then, all of a sudden when they missed the field goal, I said to him, 'It's yours, stay in there, get it done."

It'd be nice to say that Griese marched the Broncos down the field for the insurance touchdown without complication. Griese executed the drive, but he put Shanahan in position to be executed by the fans. In three downs, Griese didn't get a first down. Maybe that wasn't his fault, but Olandis Gary gained eight yards on a first-down pass and two runs produced only one yard.

The Broncos were fourth-and-1 at their 38 with 8:34 to go, and Shanahan decided to go for it with a three-point lead. He had to reach into his coaching bag of tricks and dig out a play from the middle of last season -- fake inside handoff to fullback Mike Anderson and a pitchout to rookie Clinton Portis.

Griese was lucky. The Rams pressured their defense to the inside. Portis was free to the outside, and even though he ran holding the ball in the wrong hand -- his right instead of his left -- the rookie gained 15 yards and the first down.

After a first-down sack, Griese hit tight end Shannon Sharpe for 14, receiver Rod Smith for 11 and receiver Ed McCaffrey for the 23-yard touchdown that gave Denver a 23-13 lead. He was saved, but he knew he had escaped his first benching of the season by luck.

"I'll keep my head on straight and continue to work," Griese said. "I think there was a lot of good things that we could build on. I had a bad quarter. At the same time, the mark of a good player and a good team is to come back from adversity. Adversity is part of the game. The good teams are able to overcome it."

But Shanahan made it crystal clear where Griese stands. He's got to win. Griese didn't make Broncos fans forget John Elway, but he played well enough to go to the Pro Bowl in 2000 and parlayed that success into a six-year, $39 million contract. Entering the season, Griese was 19-19 as a starter. He had never won more than two starts in a row. After his performance in the third quarter, Shanahan decided that having Griese 19-20 wasn't going to work.

	“	We still have confidence in Brian. The crowd was on him a little bit understandably. But the guys in the huddle never wavered. I was open on one play and the ball kinda sailed. He threw one to Dwayne Carswell and it slipped out of his hands. We knew the crowd was getting uneasy, but we told him that, 'we're with you, bro. ”
		— TE Shannon Sharpe, on QB Brian Griese

"I can't worry about somebody's confidence; I got to win a game," Shanahan said. "I have a lot of confidence in Brian. Brian is going to be our starting quarterback. But sometimes when you feel momentum change, sometimes you get smart. I don't do it every often. That's why I put him back in there."

Even after the fact, Sharpe was in denial.

"I don't think that's something he's going to do, not in the first game of the season," Sharpe said of Shanahan possibly benching Griese. "I don't sense it, but I've been wrong before. I think it's going to be something happening before Mike makes a switch like that. Mike doesn't strike me as a guy who's wishy-washy. He's been with the guy for three years. He didn't pay him all that money to make him a backup."

But Griese's ability to finish the game was out of his hands. It was on the bare foot of Wilkins, the Rams place-kicker. Had the ball been placed right, Wilkins would have tied the game and sparked a quarterback change.

It's too late in Griese's starting career to call this a wakeup call. Perhaps no player in football is under more pressure than him. Griese knows it. Teammate Rod Smith advised him in training camp to laugh off the pressure and not carry a frown.

After the game, Griese didn't hold his head low. His numbers were passable -- 18-of-27 for 202 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions. In some sick sense, this flirting with the sidelines brought Griese closer to his teammates.

"I'm fine," Griese said. "I played my hardest. I play my butt off. Whatever happens happens. I have a good relationship with my teammates. I'm going to play my heart out."

In many ways, Griese's game against the Rams was much like his career. He's a great "starter." He completed five of his first seven passes for 65 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter. His quarterback rating was a staggering 139.9. But for whatever reason, Griese can't stay on a roll.

He completed five of nine passes in the second quarter for 45 yards. His rating fell to 103.6 for the half. Still, pretty good. The Broncos led, 16-6. In the third quarter, Griese forced a few things that were unnecessary.

The Rams switched into more two deep-zone coverages in the second quarter. Griese kept forcing passes to Sharpe that weren't working. The Rams committed a linebacker to covering him short and a safety to catch him downfield.

One of Griese's interceptions came when he threw to Sharpe when he was covered by three defenders. Griese opened the second half with an interception that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Griese was two for his first eight throwing to Sharpe.

"We still have confidence in Brian," Sharpe said. "The crowd was on him a little bit understandably. But the guys in the huddle never wavered. I was open on one play and the ball kinda sailed. He threw one to Dwayne Carswell and it slipped out of his hands. We knew the crowd was getting uneasy, but we told him that, 'we're with you, bro."

Griese salvaged everything with his three completions to get the final touchdown drive. But he knows patience may be waning. It's one thing to start. It's more important to finish. At least, Griese finished 1-0 with a big victory over the NFC champs.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.