QUARTERBACK: A –
Rex Grossman nearly became the first Bears quarterback to throw for 250-plus yards in four straight games since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger as he ran his TD total to eight. Grossman also showed maturity with a throwaway in the red zone, then bided his time as Muhsin Muhammad worked free for a TD in the first quarter.
RUNNING BACKS: B +
What running game problems? Thomas Jones slashed and broke tackles on a 29-yard scamper in the third quarter and averaged more than 5 yards per carry. Jones (84) and Cedric Benson (23) gave the Bears their first 100-yard game of the season.
RECEIVERS: A –
Muhammad lost CB Marcus Trufant for a TD. Bernard Berrian’s 40-yard TD catch was against illegal contact and was one of two longer than 40 yards. Desmond Clark showed no effects from a week of missed practice with catches for 14 and 17 yards in the first quarter and 8 yards in the second, all for first downs.
OFFENSIVE LINE: B +
The run blocking on Jones’ TD run and a 29-yarder in the third quarter was perfect and the protection gave Grossman almost too much time to choose among receivers. Pro Bowl DT Rocky Bernard was rendered a non-factor and the O-line accounted for 114 rushing yards through three quarters.
DEFENSIVE LINE: A+
Tommie Harris sacked Matt Hasselbeck in the first quarter and chased him to the sidelines for a second-quarter interception. Harris collected his fifth sack in the fourth quarter. Rookie Mark Anderson beat all-pro LT Walter Jones for a sack. Alex Brown then beat Jones for a sack to open the fourth quarter. Anderson added another in the fourth quarter, his third of the season.
LINEBACKERS: A
Brian Urlacher saved a TD with an end-zone deflection of a pass and made a tackle for a loss on a blitz in the third quarter. Seattle may not have had MVP Shaun Alexander but the gap-filling by Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Hunter Hillenmeyer was a big part of holding the Seahawks to 77 rushing yards.
DEFENSIVE SECONDARY: A
Ricky Manning Jr. decided the game with two secondquarter interceptions to set up 10 Bears’ points. Charles Tillman was beaten for passes of 31 and 22 yards by Deion Branch and Darrell Jackson on Seattle’s first-quarter FG drive but recovered with Nathan Vasher and rest of the secondary when the game mattered.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Robbie Gould probably will miss a field goal sometime, but he ran his ’06 mark to 12-for-12 with boots of 36 and 20 yards. Brad Maynard averaged 36.7 net on three punts.
COACHING: A
Offensive coordinator Ron Turner stayed with a balanced game plan. Defensive coordinator Ron Rivera schemed to deal with the wide-receiver-intensive Seahawks and limited them to 17 completions.
