This Sunday the Seattle Seahawks will invade the shores of Lake Michigan as they look to defeat the Chicago Bears, the NFC's best regular season team but one with huge question marks. The Bears are well rested, coming off a bye, and playing at home while the Seahawks are coming off of an emotional and phenomenally lucky victory over Dallas in which they did not play particularly well. Yet the 'Hawks remain the defending NFC champions and boast one of the NFL's top talents in running back Shaun Alexander. Let's break down this intriguing matchup:
Seahawks Offense vs. Bears Defense-
The key to the game for the Seahawks is the health of Shaun Alexander. He has been hampered by injuries all season and is playing far below 100%, but his tough inside running is critical for the Seahawks to move the ball against the vaunted Bears defense. Stalwart DT Tommy Harris' injury has dramatically weakened the Bears interior run defense, despite the presence of monster LB Brian Urlacher. If the Seahawks can take advantage of that weakness and stay in 3rd and manageable situations they could move the ball and have some success. But if Alexander is stuffed and Seattle faces many 3rd and long situations they are playing right into the Bears' biggest strengths; a ferocious pass rush coupled with an athletic and talented back 7 of ballhawks that generate preposterous amounts of turnovers and defensive scores. This was exactly what happened in Week 4 when the Seahawks, minus Alexander, were thumped 37-6 by Chicago in a game where QB Matt Hasselbeck threw zero touchdowns to two interceptions and backup RB Maurice Morris rushed for a paltry 35 rushing yards. The Bears have had the best defensive in the NFL all year and even without Harris they are still a force, so they have the significant edge here.
Edge: Bears
Bears Offense vs. Seahawks Defense-
The achilles heel for the Bears all season long has been the inconsistent (at best) play of Quarterback Rex Grossman. Dynamite against mediocre defenses and pathetic against strong ones, he has at times been both the best and worst passer in football. Luckily for him the Bears will look to win this game on the ground, as the Seahawks rank only 22nd in the league in rushing defense and the Bears' Thomas Jones rushed for over 1200 yards this season. Seattle's pass defense has been better, at 16th leaguewide, but their secondary has been devastated by injuries and the Bears solid group of recievers should be able to get open. Muhsin Muhammed is a solid possession guy and Bernand Berrian can catch the home run ball, and the Bears look to get the ball to TE Desmond Clark over the middle on big third downs. The question is whether the Bears Rex Grossman can get them the ball. If he comes to play and the Bears should have no trouble with the Hawks. If he struggles again his season could be over. Its more of a gut feeling with Rex but for this game I give the edge to the Bears.
Edge: Bears
Special Teams: The Bears special teams unit is top-notch, with some of the best kicking and punting around in Robbie Gould and Brady Maynard and dynamite return threat Devin Hester. The Seahawks' Josh Brown is a solid kicker but punter Ryan Plackemier is mediocre, and they have no one who can return the ball like Hester.
Edge: Bears
Intangibles: The forecast is for a light wintry mix in Chicago with the wind whipping off the lake. It could be tough for Seattle to adapt to such conditions. The Seahawks are dramatically better at home than on the road, and Soldier Field is a particularly hostile environment. Mike Holmgren has been through this before and the Seahawks are the defending NFC champs, but they lost three of their last four games to limp into the playoffs and don't even really deserve to be in this game after last week. Lovie Smith has been pulling the right strings all season and will continue to do so this week.
Edge: Bears
Final Prediction: Bears 37-14
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