It was one week to the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941 when the Bears and Green Bay Packers met in the Playoffs for the only time,and on Dec 14,1941 the Bears beat the Pack 33-14 at Wrigley Field in a tie-breaker game for the NFL’s Western Division Title.A week later the Bears beat the New York Giants.also at Wrigley 37-9 to win the NFL Title. Since then,the Bears and Green Bay have never met in the Post Season. THAT will change next Sunday here at Soldier Field since the Bears ousted the Seattle Seahawks 35-24 in a game that was not that close to get past the NFC Divisional Round. Jay Cutler passed for touchdowns to Greg Olsen and Kellen Davis and also scored a pair on the ground in his NFL Playoff debut,and the Seahawks got three late cheap TD’s to make the final score closer than the game truly was.
The Eagles,Falcons,Ravens,and now Seahawks—all have played in the Playoffs like they are for THE BIRDS! The Cardinals didn’t even make the post season.The Field appeared to be in decent shape,but it’s still one handled by the Chicago Park District. Enough said!
Seattle won the toss and chose to receive so Lovie Smith didn’t have to defer(which he would have). Robbie Gould kicked off to Leon Washington who returned to his 24. Washington on a misdirection picked up nine.Marshawn Lynch was then hit for a two yard loss by Israel Idonoje.Matt Hasselbeck then threw an incomplete pass and Jon Ryan punted to Devin Hester to made a falling down fair catch at his 34. Matt Forte went off left tackle for five to the 39.On a second effort,Forte turned a possible no gainer to a three yard pick up to the right side.So after two Forte runs,Cutler on a play action got his buddy Olsen on a 58 yard fly pattern which caught the Seahawks flat foot. 7-0 Bears. The Seahawks started at their 24,and Hasselbeck found John Carlson for 14. He was knocked out at the 38 and badly shaken up and attended to for several minutes.When play resumed, Golden Tate caught a 13 yard pass to the Bear 49. Backup TE Cameron Morrah then missed a 20 yard pass and Justin Forsett was nailed for a one yard loss by Brian Urlacher.Morrah caught a ten yard pass to make it fourth and one and Ryan punted out at the Bears nine.On a second down, Cutler hit Johnny Knox at the 27,but the drive stalled and and Brad Maynard kicked to Tate who caught it at his 37.A three and out,helped by a nice Chris Harris pass break up and Ryan punted to Hester who was forced out by the kicker at midfield. A Cutler to Olsen pass along the sideline for 33 yards got the ball on the Seahawks 12.Earl Bennett took a Wildcat snap and went around left end to the three. Cutler almost threw an interception but Jordan Babineaux dropped it or he may have had a 99 yard pick six. Forte was stood up at the three leaving a fourth and one.Cutler,after a time out actually snuck for a two yard gain and a first down at the one.Forte went airborne and was downed by Earl Thomas for no gain.Chester Taylor then carried in untouched to make it 14-0 with 1:19 left in the quarter.The Seahawks again went three and bye bye,hurt by a holding penalty than nullified a first down. Ryan kicked out of bounds at the Bears 37.Cutler connected to Olsen for 22 and Taylor for nine to the Seattle 33.He then picked up three for a first down to the 30.Cutler stayed pretty hot with a first down pass to Bennett to the 11.Forte got a quick five to the six.Cutler then ran it in himself to make it 21-0 with 10-01 to go in the half. Is the rout on? Seattle got a first down thanks to a horrible pass interference flag,but three plays later Ryan punted again,to Hester who fair caught at his 21.Forte tipped a screen pass to himself and got 26 yards to his 47.Forte then got 11 more to the Seattle 42.After an incomplete pass,Taylor bolted around right end but a crack back resulted in a 15 yard penalty and a second and 25.Cutler hit Knox to get nine of those yards back.Cutler was then sacked,fumbled but J’Marcus Webb recovered. Maynard punted and Corey Graham downed it at the Seattle one. After picking up one first down,the Seahawks had to punt again and the Bears took over at the Seattle 44.The half ended 21-0.
The Bears received the second half touchdown and both teams had to punt on their first possession.On the Bears second series,they took over at their 30 and on their drive Cutler hit Brandon Manumaleuna with a pass and the TE’s knee hit Marcus Trufant’s head and he was laying on the ground for almost ten minutes before he was taken off.The Bears then got to the Seattle nine and Cutler,on another broken play scrambled to the right side for his second TD of the game to make it 28-0. Washington returned the kickoff 62 yards to the Bears 30,giving the Seahawks their best field position.Hasselbeck hit Brandon Stockley at the Bears 19. The Back Judge Lee Dyer called an illegal contact on the Bears on a pass that was five yards out of the end zone,yet the best the Seahawks could do was a 30 yard Olindo Mare field goal which drew gigantic boos as Seattle got the the board,closing the Bears lead to 28-3 which is how the third quarter ended. Cutler ran for 21 yards to his 43. Then Mike Martz got too cute by having Forte throw a halfback option pass which went right to Aaron Curry for an interception.An awful pass interception set up a first down at the Bears 17.Then they got a first at goal at the two.Two incompleted passes later, Hasselbeck hit Mike Williams with a quick pass to the left side and it was 28-10 with 11:21 to go. The Bears got that back when Cutler hit Davis who outreached two defensive backs and scored on a 39 yard bomb,but the Seahawks,against the Bears soft prevent defense scored two cheapies in the final 2:16. One a 3 yarder to Williams,set up by a pair of questionable pass interference flags,and one to Brandon Stokley from the 9 with 1:24 to play. The Bears recovered the on-side kick and Cutler took a couple of knees to kill the clock.
NOTES—Cutler was 15-28 for 274 yards,2 TD’s and no interceptions.He also rushed for 43 yards on 8 carries for two scores.His passer rating was 111.3…..Hasselbeck was 26-46 for 258 yards and 3 TD’s.He also had zero interceptions and a QB rating of 94.3…..Forte rushed for 80 yards on 25 carries…..Urlacher was the Bears leading tackler with 7 while Lance Briggs had 6 and D.J.Moore added 5…..The Bears are now 2-0 against Seattle in Post Season play,the only previous playoff meeting was in the 2006 Bears Super Bowl season when they beat the Seahawks 27-24 in overtime on a Robbie Gould field goal.
LES