Struggling Bears lose 23-20 to Seahawks
By the end of the game between the Chicago Bears and the Seattle Seahawks, two streaks came to an end. Chicago (4-2) snapped their undefeated home winning streak while Seattle (3-2) ended their winless drought on the road. The weaknesses of the Bears seem to have not been improved since the start of the regular season. Poor pass protection, and not converting on third downs led to the Bears being defeated 23-20.
Chicago’s fourth combination of starters on the offensive line allowed Jay Cutler to be sacked six times. Three and a half of those sacks came from the secondary of Seattle’s defense—one resulting in a safety.
Lovie Smith and Mike Martz seem to have heavily gone back to the passing game. After combining for over 200 yards on the ground last week, running backs Matt Forte and Chester Taylor only had a combined 12 carries for 42 yards.
In addition to not protecting Cutler and the lack of rushing attempts, the Bears’ offense couldn’t convert on any of their 12 third downs. This is the second time this season that Chicago failed to convert on a third down, bringing their season total to 13-for-74 (17.6%) on third down conversions.
The only things that the Bears could really hang their hat on were the fact that Cutler didn’t throw an interception, and the play of the steadily improving Johnny Knox. The second-year pro finished the game with five receptions for 120 yards. Knox is on pace to be the first Bears receiver since Marty Booker in 2002 to have 1,000 yards receiving in a season.
The lack of conversions on third downs from the offense took its toll on Chicago’s defense. Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was 25-for-40 passing for 242 yards and a touchdown. This was Hasselbeck’s first career game where he had 40 pass attempts without being intercepted or sacked. This was the second time this season that the Bears’ defense allowed a team to rush for over 100 yards.
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Running backs Justin Forsett and the newly acquired Marshawn Lynch combined for 111 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Not only couldn’t the defense contain the running game of Seattle, but Charles Tillman and the rest of the secondary couldn’t slow down receiver Mike Williams, who had 10 catches for 123 yards (both game-highs).
The one thing that might have resulted in this below-average performance from the Bears’ defense was the absence of Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs. Although his replacement, Brian Iwuh, had a game-high nine tackles, the presence of arguably the best weakside linebacker in the league could have made a huge difference.
The Seahawks’ special teams seemed to have a slight advantage over the Bears. The Bears’ kickoff and punt coverage teams did a superb job on keeping Leon Washington and Golden Tate from breaking long returns. However, it was the punting of Seattle’s Jon Ryan that gave the Seahawks an advantage in the field position game—placing six of his 10 punts inside the 20-yard line.
Devin Hester had the highlight of the game late in the fourth quarter when he took a punt 89 yards to the house to bring the Bears within three points. Unfortunately, it was two miscues on special teams prior to Hester’s TD that were very costly to Chicago.
Early in the fourth quarter, Danieal Manning’s kickoff return for a touchdown was called back due to a questionable holding call on reserve linebacker Rod Wilson. Later in the quarter, Robbie Gould missed a field goal that could have brought the Bears within a touchdown midway through the final period.
Despite their overall inconsistent play, the Chicago Bears still find themselves with a one-game lead in the NFC North. The possible return of Briggs can help solidify Chicago’s defense once again. Too bad the same can’t be said for the offense. The play of the offensive line and the play-calling of Smith and Martz will dictate how far this team will go this season.
By
Clyde Speller
ProFootball-fans.com Chicago Bears Correspondent