The Chicago Bears (2-1) took down the Seattle Seahawks (1-2) today 25-19 at the Seahawks’ Qwest Field.  The Bears had little production throughout most of the first half, before they were finally able to get on the board with a 1-yard 4th down touchdown pass from Jay Cutler to TE Greg Olsen.  It was a good and gutsy call by head coach Lovie Smith, as it really put the momentum in the Bears’ hands heading into the half only down 13-7.  Two plays before the Cutler-Olsen touchdown, it looked like the Bears would be going into the half down 13-0. Running back Matt Forte had fumbled the ball on the 1-yard line, but Lovie Smith challenged the call for the Bears and it was overturned.

The Bears were going up against a depleted Seahawks squad, as seven starters did not play for them.  Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was one of those players out today, but the athletic Seneca Wallace filled in for Hasselbeck.  Wallace did a decent job filling in today, and was able to escape the Bears’ rush plenty of times to make some plays down field.  Wallace and the Seahawks made some costly mistakes today though, as they had two missed field goals along with an interception and a fumble both deep inside their own zone.

Early in the 3rd quarter Danieal Manning forced Seahawks’ receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh into a fumble, and Adewale Ogunleye recovered it for the Bears.  Later in the 3rd quarter, Bears’ linebacker Lance Briggs made a great diving interception on Seattle’s 14 yard line as Wallace forced a pass out of the end-zone.  The Bears really capitalized on the Seahawks’ mistakes, as both of the Seahawks’ turnovers turned into easy points for the Bears’ offense.

Jay Cutler had another solid game for the Bears, as he threw for 247 yards with three touchdowns and one interception on 21/27 (78%) pass attempts.  Cutler also lost a fumble, which was costly for the Bears.  They were up 17-16 with eight minutes to go, when Cutler coughed up the ball and the Seahawks recovered it on the Bears 39-yard-line.  The Seahawks were able to claw their way into field goal range, as Olindo Mare connected on a 46-yard field goal to put the Seahawks up 19-17.  Cutler redeemed that fumble in a big way though, as the first play after the two-minute warning sealed it for the Bears.  Cutler fired a bullet to Hester on a slant and as two of Seattle’s defenders ran into each other Hester was gone down field for a 36-yard touchdown.  Cutler followed that up with a successful two-point conversion pass to Earl Bennett and the Bears held off the Seahawks to get the win.

The Bears have now won two in a row and Jay Cutler has performed very well since his terrible debut against the Packers.  The running game for the Bears was more effective today, but Matt Forte has still not performed like he did all year last year.  He finished the game with 66 yards on 21 carries (3.1 avg).  Forte also did not finish the last few minutes of the game after getting his leg bent back.  It doesn’t seem to be serious at all but there has been no word yet on his status.  The Bears are taking on the Detroit Lions at home next week.

The Chicago Bears (1-1) are heading up to the Seattle Seahawks’ (1-1) Qwest field Sunday and are going for their second win in a row.  Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler had a very strong game last week against the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, as he lead them to a 17-14 win at home.  Cutler bounced back very well after throwing a career high four interceptions in the Bears’ opener at the Green Bay Packers.

The Bears’ running game has not gotten going yet, and Matt Forte has been very ineffective so far.  He is only getting 2.2 yards per carry and has a fumble through two games.  The 49ers’ Frank Gore was able to run all over the Seahawks’ defense last week though, so I think Forte will be much more effective this week.  The Bears passing game is looking good now that Cutler seems to have settled in.  He found a new talented receiver to go to as well, in the speedy rookie Johnny Knox.

The Seahawks’ quarterback situation, on the other hand, is not very good.  Their starter Matt Hasselbeck left in the Seahawks loss last week to the San Francisco 49ers with a broken a rib.  The cracked rib will probably keep him out of this game as well, so look for Seneca Wallace to start at quarterback for the Seahawks.  Wallace has been in the league for seven years now and this will be only his 13th start.  Wallace is a very athletic quarterback though, and is capable of making some big plays with his legs.

I think the Bears defense has been looking very good in the first two games though, even without their leader Brian Urlacher, and I think they will force the inexperienced Wallace into a lot of mistakes.  The Seahawks are tough at home but I think the Bears are the better team and are going to win this won pretty easily.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Bears  27, Seahawks 17

DE Alex Brown has really stepped up this season as he is living in the opposing backfield so far this year.  Brown has made 9 tackles, has 2 sacks and he has 3 tackles for a loss already this season.  He looks to have another big game Sunday against a Seahawks team that is having huge problems with injuries on the O-Line.

When the Bears selected Johnny Knox in the 5th round out of Abilene Christian they weren’t expecting much.  But he is proving to be a steal as he is turning into Jay Cutler’s favorite WR.  Knox has caught 8 passes for 152 yards (19.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  If Knox continues to play well he could establish himself as a legit #1 WR because the Bears don’t have one right now.

Last season Matt Forte bursted onto the scene as one of the better running backs in the NFL as a rookie.  But he’s off to a very, very slow start to the season.  The Bears are only averaging 64.5 yards rushing per game this season and that’s putting a lot of extra pressure on Jay Cutler.  Forte has carried the ball 38 times for only 84 yards (2.2 ypc) so far this season.  He has also caught 5 passes for 33 yards (6.6 avg) this year.  The Bears are even starting to use Adrian Peterson more in the offense so Forte better gets things turned around soon if he wants to continue being the Bears’ featured back.