Losers of three straight, the Chicago Bears are trying to get back on the winning horse this afternoon against the rising Seattle Seahawks. Can you believe these two teams are actually still in the playoff hunt? They both need a lot of help to get there, but this game is too significant for either team to lose. Drop one more game… and you likely won’t see January.
(6-7) Seattle Seahawks at
(7-6) Chicago Bears
As it has been with the Bears in recent weeks, their defense has to step it up and keep these Seahawks from scoring anything more than six to nine points. Seattle’s young offense has been slowly improving behind Tarvaris Jackson, who is showing more talent and better decision making under Pete Carroll than he ever did for Minnesota. Marshawn Lynch is still beastly in the backfield, and he’s the type of runner the Bears typically struggle against. Chicago’s linebackers have to ensure they wrap him up and let the second defender come in for the strip or else they’ll see too many broken tackles and too many long gains. On the outside, keep track of undrafted rookie Doug Baldwin, who has emerged from nowhere to become Seattle’s best receiver. Charles Tillman is expected to play today, but I don’t envision him matching up one-on-one with Baldwin. It’ll be a committee effort in the secondary.
What casual NFL fans may not know is that Seattle’s run defense is pretty solid. Chicago won’t be able to bully them around on the ground, so Caleb Hanie has to… make throws??? That deserves a long, drawn-out, Darth Vader-like “NOOOOO!!!” Marion Barber and Kahlil Bell are going to get their carries, but Chicago can’t win unless Hanie gets passes to his wide receivers. Johnny Knox, Early Bennett and Devin Hester must show up. Corner Brandon Browner is extremely underrated and is beginning to make a name for himself in the secondary, adding to the ball-hawking skills of Earl Thomas. If that was bad enough, defensive end Chris Clemons is a monster coming off the edge. Mike Tice better have plans to take him out of the equation or Hanie’s in for another rough day.
The Odds:Chicago is a 3.5 point home favorite.
The Prediction:Uh… win? If this were in Seattle, I’d clearly take the ‘Hawks. In Chicago, I’ll lean towards the Bears.
How many heart attacks will Joe suffer?Answering this question would indicate I have a freaking clue about how this game will go. I do not.
Message to the Bears:Win. (Or start your Super Bowl run in Madden.)
Bear fans… just be ready if we lose. It could easily happen.
Keywords: Caleb Hanie, Chicago Bears, Doug Baldwin, Joe Anello, Marion Barber, NFL, Seattle Seahawks
