Bears – 25

Seahawks – 19

A week after beating the defending Superbowl champion Steelers, the Bears looked to get on a roll with a tough match up in Seattle.  After falling behind 13-0 early in the game, the Bears got on track and battled back for a victory.

With the running game struggling again, Jay Cutler stepped up and threw 3 touchdown passes while completing 21 of 27 passes for 247 yards.  He finished with an excellent quarterback rating of 126.4 after overcoming an early interception off a tipped ball.  He saved his best for last however, as Cutler completed 5 of 5 passes for 60 yards and a game winning touchdown to Devin Hester during the 4th quarter.  Seattle got the ball back and had enough time to move the ball into Bears territory, but the Bears defense made the necessary plays to force a turnover on downs, sealing the victory for the Bears.

The Bears got good play from their receivers again today as Devin Hester and Earl Bennett both had productive games.  Hester took a throw from Cutler late in the 4th, broke through two defenders, and sprinted to the end zone for the 36 yard game winning score.  Greg Olsen as well was able to find the end zone to record his first touchdown of the year.  Johnny Knox also found the end zone again.  Hopefully both Knox and Olsen can continue their success throughout the season.

On defense, the Bears still have some room for improvement.  Seneca Wallace was consistently able to find wide open receivers with ease on third downs, allowing for easy conversions.  The Bears pass D needs to step up their game a bit if they want to become a force this season.  In addition, the defense needs to learn to wrap up the ball carriers.  Too many times Bears players were trying to strip the ball as the runner ran right through the tackles for extra yards.  Turnovers are great to have, but sure tackling is a necessity.  On that note, the Bears did force 2 turnovers via a Daniel Manning strip and a Lance Briggs interception.  Manning’s forced fumble came at a crucial point early in the third quarter as the Seahawks looked to expand their 13-7 lead.

Offensively, the line is simply not getting the Job done as they fail to open holes for Forte to run though.  They shouldn’t take all the blame though.  Matt Forte has not looked like the same back as he did in his rookie year.  In the limited times where he found some brief daylight, he seemed sluggish to accelerate and make progress.  Although he struggled to run the ball, he quietly finished with 106 total yards.

After a tough start to the season, the Bears should be very happy to come out 2-1 since things could have been a lot worse at this point.  Next week the Bears take on the Lions in Chicago as they look to improve to 3-1.