Bears Overcome Seahawks Jerseys for Victory

I admit I thought this would be an easy win for the Bears...I mean not a blowout win, but it should have been taken care of by the 4th quarter. Instead we were treated to a nailbiter that went down to the final drive.

1st Quarter

Olindo Mare kicks it halfway through the end zone and Johnny Knox decides to take it out and goes 53 yards into Seattle territory. As expected, the Bears break out the run game and the Seahawks were of course expecting it. 3 and out and Robbie Gould with a 53-yard attempt that he had no shot of making...wide left.

Seahawks go on offense and debut their Night Safety jerseys.

A curious choice considering it was an afternoon game, but their Confuse & Score game plan paid immediate dividends after Julius Jones scored on a 39-yard screen pass. An assist to Charles Tillman on the play for not tackling, but going for the strip.

That put the Seahawks up 7-0 and the Bears quickly respond, mostly thanks to 31-yard and 19-yard completions to Earl Bennett. Cutler though gets hit or at least pressured in the red zone and floats one over Johnny Knox off his hands and into the Seahawks defender for the interception.

Seahawks march back down and finish the drive with a 46-yard Mare field goal. 10-0 Seahawks at the end of the first quarter.

2nd Quarter

Bears finish up their end of first quarter drive with a three and out, Maynard shanks a punt and Seahawks set up for another field goal. 13-0 now...time to start getting nervous.

The teams swap punts and the Bears then proceed to march it down the field and the 1-yard line before another red zone turnover. Dear lord. Lovie challenges and it does look look like Forte's shin was down before the ball was knocked free, but it's close. The refs give the Bears the call and Lovie's unoffical replay challenge record is now 2-48 for his career. Unfortunately though it's 3rd and goal now at the 1 and Forte gets stuffed. Bears take a timeout to think about it and decide to go for it. Play action works and Olsen is wide open in the end zone as Cutler gets crushed and driven to the ground(which is now a penalty in the NFL, although not called on this play). I'm amazed the Seahawks didn't sniff out the play action though. 13-7 Seahawks

Seahawks immediately march down the field to end the half and get in field goal range. Mare though misses the 43-yarder and the Bears are still within one score. Phew.

3rd Quarter

Seahawks stay in their Night Safety jerseys unfortunately. On their second play, Houshmandzadeh fumbles after a reception on the Seahawks 42. Bears get in the red zone, the biggest play being a 22-yard completion to Devin Hester and then score on a 7-yrd touchdown and nifty move by Johnny Knox. Mora taking a page from the Lovie Smith school of burning replay timeouts, foolishly challenges the play hoping Knox stepped out before reaching the pylon. I guess if he wins he gets a yard there and the points off the board, but doesn't seem like it's worth burning a timeout unless you're positive it's getting overturned. The play stands. 14-13 Bears.

Seahawks get the ball back and their offense basically consists of two 15-yard penalties by the Bears. Mare sets up for a chip shot 34-yarder and misses again. Sweet.

Bears go three and out but Maynard pins the Seahawks inside the 10. Connie Selleca avoids the safety but then tries to make a play instead of throwing it away and Lance Briggs makes an outstanding diving interception.  Bears go nowhere though including Cutler fumbling on third down, but Chris Williams is there to recover. Gould gets a far more comfortable 37-yard attempt and nails it. 17-13 Bears.

4th Quarter

The Seahawks finish up a drive that started with almost 6 minutes in the third including a ridiculous jump ball throw by Wallace that Houshmandzadeh came down with it. Mare gets another field goal attempt and put it through this time from 39. 17-16 Bears.

Bears go three and out on three straight rushes to Garrett Wolfe. Die Ron Turner.

Seahawks return the favor though with an odd 3rd and 1 reverse playcall to Deion Branch that ends up an 8-yard loss.

Bears get a first down, but Cutler gets nailed on the windup on third and 9 and fumbles. Chris Williams does not recover this time. Shit.  Seahawks get the turnover on the Bears 45, get a first down and Mare goes for the lead from 46 and it's good. Fuck. 19-17 Seahawks.

Bears get the ball with 5 minutes left. Forte gets the first two touches and runs for a first down. Then a 7-yrd completion to Earl Bennett and then two rushes to Adrien "Not That One" Peterson and they're in Seahawks territory and obviously in no rush to score. Then a seemingly innocent inside slant to Devin Hester - who does make a nice grab -  but the safety takes out the corner leaving Hester the rest of the field.  Bears go for two to force the extra point and make it. 25-19 Bears.

Seahawks now with less than 2 minutes and need a touchdown. I bet they wish they had one of those timeouts back. They end up driving to the Bears 30 and are left with a 4th and 2. Wallace tries to hit Jones out of the backfield, but Nick Roach flies over and hits him and he drops the pass. Game over. Bears win. Jersey burning party after the game.

The Good, The Bad and the Funny

Good

The receivers made plays and some really nice catches on less than ideal throws. Jay Cutler was 21 for 27. The defense continued to put good pressure on the QB and although they didn't get to Wallace much, they forced a lot of bad decisions and back foot throwing.

Bad

Forte averaged 3.1 yards per carry against a banged up, albeit inspired defensive effort. Cutler responsible for two more turnovers, plus two fumbles that Bears recovered. Seahawks moved the ball pretty well, especially on the ground. The tackling was terrible. More injuries including Hillenmeyer.

Funny

Neon green will never be a good choice for a football jersey. Never. I'm not sure if anyone else saw the pre-game, but as color analyst Ron Pitts (I think) was setting up the game, Dick Stockton looked all of his 67-years of age, nervously looking around the booth wondering if he's still on camera and probably wondering what game he was calling.

Parachat crowd grew by 400% to 4.

Video Highlights | Box Score

Lions next week who got their 2009 victory out of the way. I watched a bit of the game and the Bears should be able to pressure Stafford and make him look silly.