The best way to unburden Rex Grossman is to balance the Bears’ offensive attack with an effective running game.
That is precisely what the Bears accomplished Sunday as Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson combined to account for 111 of the team’s 371 total yards against the Seahawks. Jones ran for 66 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns, and Benson contributed 45 yards on 12 attempts.
“It makes Rex’s job easier because he doesn’t feel like he has to make a great play or do all the work,” Benson said. “Running the football is what we do. I take pride in incorporating it in the game plan. As long as we continue to take pride in running the football, it will make it easier for Rex and hopefully we’ll end up in the big show.”
Grossman completed 21 of 38 passes for 282 yards and one touchdown. He turned the ball over twice on an interception and a fumble. But Jones and Benson provided viable alternatives.
“That’s always the case,” offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. “You have to be able to run the football. We ran the ball pretty well. When you do that, you can make plays in the passing game.”
Jones scored first on a 9-yard run midway through the first quarter to give the Bears a 7-0 lead. It marked the second time this season the Bears had scored a touchdown on their opening drive. The generally unemotional Jones threw his arms up to the crowd and jumped up and down in the end zone.
“I’ve been excited all week,” Jones said. “Just to finally get out there and to remember the bad feeling last year after we lost [to Carolina] … I finally had an opportunity to reverse that feeling.”
Late in the second quarter Jones scored on a 7-yard run on fourth down to give the Bears a 21-14 halftime advantage.
“The offensive line did a really good job on both of those plays,” Jones said.
Jones became the seventh Bear to rush for at least two touchdowns in a playoff game and the first since quarterback Jim McMahon in Super Bowl XX. The last Bears running back to score two TDs in a playoff game was Walter Payton in the 1979 NFC first-round game at Philadelphia.
Benson averaged 3.8 yards a carry, including a 12-yard run on which he kept churning his legs after tacklers tried to drag him down.
“It’s just finishing every run,” he said. “I’m just hungry, just taking advantage of the gifts I have.”
Sunday’s 27-24 overtime thriller was a far cry from the Bears’ 37-6 blowout win over Seattle in Week 4.
“We knew they weren’t going to come out as the same team as they did in the regular season,” Benson said. “This is what you would expect in the playoffs.”
