Bears - Seahawks: Game of the Week
The Bears host the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday in a prime time matchup on Sunday Night Football. It's by far the toughest test of this young season so far and it might very well be the toughest test of the year. Let's take a closer look:
Bears Defense vs. Seattle Rushing Offense: With star runningback Shaun Alexander set to miss the contest, the job of running the rock will belong to Maurice Morris. He's pretty solid, but he's no MVP. In addition, they seem to miss Steve Hutchinson a lot, as even with Alexander in the lineup they were middle of the pack in rushing. Advantage? Bears.
Bears Defense vs. Seattle Passing Offense: This will be a good test for our new and improved secondary. Knowing that Morris won't be able to run the ball, the linebackers will probably aid in rushing the passer or stepping back in to coverage. With Seattle's prevalence for 3-step drops and running four-receiver sets, I don't expect the Bears to sack Hasselbeck much, but I do suspect they'll be in his face all night. Advantage? Seahawks.
Bears Rushing Game vs. Seattle Defense: Sooner or later, the Bears runners are going to get untracked. It's not likely to happen this week, though, as Seattle has the 2nd best run Defense in the league. A lot of it is teams abandoning the rush with a large deficit to overcome, but still. Advantage? Seahawks.
Bears Passing Game vs. Seattle Defense: Seattle's pass defense ranks in the bottom third of the league. Rex Grossman has a passer rating of 100.9 that ranks 5th in the NFL, and his receivers are catching everything in sight. Advantage? Bears
Special Teams: Robbie Gould has been perfect this year, and Maynard is spotting it like a puppy on white carpeting. Devin Hester has been both outstanding and awful at times, but he's still a threat to run it back every time he touches it. Seattle? Decent across the board, but no match for Chicago. Advantage? Bears
Bottom Line: Seattle is going to have to alter their offense significantly with the loss of Alexander, and running new schemes against a defense like the Bears will be an exercise in futility. Grossman should be able to continue to pass up and down the field, with the only concern being the running game. Nevertheless, I'll say Bears 24-10.