There were no earthquakes in Seattle after any Marshawn Lynch runs Sunday. Bears defenders rarely allowed Lynch and the other Seahawks backs to even get started, let alone get in the open field.
Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck handed off 10 times Sunday. The Bears prevented the Seahawks from gaining more than 1 yard on seven of those handoffs, and held them to no gain or a loss on five of the handoffs.
It was an excellent team defensive effort, with tackles Anthony Adams and Tommie Harris getting penetration, ends Julius Peppers and Israel Idonije containing the edges, all three linebackers reading their keys and getting in the gaps, and the safeties crashing down with abandon.
The pass defense was nearly as good until the fourth quarter that didn’t mean anything. Until then, the Seahawks averaged 3.6 yards per attempt.
This was the result of aggressive corner play. Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings pressed the Seahawks receivers and challenged Hasselbeck’s throws consistently.
This is what else we learned after a second look.
Grading key: Grades are between 0 and 10 with 0 being complete failure and 10 being perfect.
Defensive line
Grade: 7
Considering Hasselbeck dropped back 48 times, the Bears didn’t get to him nearly enough. But the Seahawks called for a lot of quick passes.
Harris had both of the Bears’ sacks, plus a pair of quarterback hits. Peppers might have had two as well, but he was held twice by Russell Okung (a penalty was called once). Peppers did have a couple of pressures.
For his first sack, Harris came free on a twist with Idonije. On his second, he put a spin move on guard Mike Gibson, then pushed upfield. He also showed some of his old first-step quickness at times, and it was his most productive game of the season.
Linebackers
Grade: 8
All three backers caused the Seahawks problems by getting on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Brian Urlacher’s leadership and hard hitting set the tone as usual. He is seeing the field well, slipping blocks and making good pass drops. It’s late in the year, but the old man still has his legs.
Safeties
Grade: 7.5
Few big plays is a sign the safeties were doing their jobs. Chris Harris wasn’t around long, but he ran downhill about 18 yards to stone Lynch for no gain on one play. Danieal Manning and Major Wright both got to where they were supposed to be and tackled well.
Cornerbacks
Grade: 7.5
The cornerbacks would have graded higher if they hadn’t left three interceptions on the field.
Tillman had a great break on a ball in the third quarter but let the ball go through his hands. Then in the fourth quarter he let another bounce off his fingers on the goal line — this one landing in the hands of Mike Williams for a touchdown. Jennings actually caught a Hasselbeck pass, but it was negated because he committed pass interference on the play.
It was one of three coverage penalties by the cornerback duo, but considering the penalties only cost the Bears 17 yards, they were a small price to play for aggressive coverage.
Tillman flipped sides to line up against Williams, and he did a fine job of neutralizing Williams’ size advantage. The Seahawks tried to get him the ball virtually every way possible — on slants, on a deep ball, on a fade and in the corner of the end zone. Tillman defended everything well.
Nickel corner D.J. Moore had some nice blitzes but also gave up some cheap yards with loose coverage late in the game.
Quarterback
Grade: 10
Considering what was at stake and what kind of scrutiny Jay Cutler was under, you might say this was the game of his life. And he stepped up like a champion.
He was as accurate as he has been. Two attempts to tight end Greg Olsen seemed to slip out of his hands and fly over Olsen’s head, but other than that he was on the money consistently.
Cutler also scored high in decision-making. He was nearly intercepted on the goal line when safety Jordan Babineaux changed directions suddenly and got in the line of Cutler’s attempt to Johnny Knox. But it wasn’t a bad throw by Cutler as much as it was a great reaction by Babineaux.
Cutler even threw the ball out of bounds twice when nothing was there and pressure was coming — excellent.
He used his feet to create passing opportunities and to gain yards, including running for a pair of touchdowns.
Tight ends
Grade: 10
That was an All-Pro performance from Olsen. There aren’t many tight ends in the NFL who could be as effective in as many ways as Olsen was Sunday.
He outran safety Lawyer Milloy to catch the deep ball that started the avalanche. He created separation on short routes. He made Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry miss and gained 13 yards after the catch on a 22-yard gain. He wiped out Babineaux on Chester Taylor’s touchdown run. And he contributed in pass protection.
Olsen might have had two more touchdowns if he didn’t trip on his own feet on a 33-yard gain and if Cutler hadn’t overthrown him.
Running backs
Grade: 7
The backs accounted for 124 rushing yards and 178 total yards. Both Matt Forte and Taylor ran hard, especially Taylor. He had his best game since becoming a Bear.
In addition to scoring on a touchdown run, Taylor also enabled another touchdown, by Kellen Davis, when his cut block of Seahawks end Kentwan Balmer gave Cutler enough time to make the throw.
Forte averaged 4.1 yards per carry in the first half but dropped off to a 2.6 average in the second half. Taylor, meanwhile, was consistent throughout the game at 4.0 in each half.
Wide receivers
Grade: 8
They didn’t get a lot of action because this game plan was all about the tight ends and runners, but the receivers did what was asked of them well. And that includes making downfield blocks. Devin Hester in particular was a force in the run game.
Offensive line
Grade: 8
Even though the Seahawks’ pass rush was not very challenging, the Bears’ pass protection still deserves credit. It was not uncommon for Cutler to have four seconds to throw the ball.
You could pin only one of the sacks on the line — left tackle Frank Omiyale was too aggressive on Chris Clemons at the end of the first half, and Clemons took advantage with a spin inside. On Lofa Tatupu’s sack, Cutler was running toward the right sideline and should have thrown the ball out of bounds. On the second, Cutler held the ball for four seconds.
Center Olin Kreutz wasn’t showing his 33 years on a series of effective pulls. The right side of Roberto Garza and J’Marcus Webb played solidly, both on runs and passes.
Special teams
Grade: 7.5
Garrett Wolfe’s missed tackle opened up the floodgate for Leon Washington’s 62-yard kickoff return, but other than that the special teams were very good.
Hester had a fine return of his own. Nick Roach had two tackles and recovered a loose ball on an onside kick. Corey Graham downed two Brad Maynard punts deep in Seahawks territory and had a tackle.
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