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© Oak Park Journal photo of the Chicago Bears
Dan Peters Sports Editor
Oak Park Journal
 Forte dives for an early score and
only Bears Lead
Photo by Scott Krause
Bears come up short, Cutler on the run again Lose 23-20 to Seattle by Dan Peters The Chicago Bears showed some great offense on the 1st drive of the game..both teams opened the game with 80-yard touchdown drives. Matt Forte’s six-yard scoring run gave the Bears a 7-0 lead after Hester had drawn a 58-yard pass interference penalty against Lewis at the Seattle 23. It would be one of the only bright offensive drives of the game. After that it became “offensive” again as Jay Cutler was sacked six times today. He was playing his 1st game back after sitting out a week with a concussion sustained 2 weeks earlier against the Giants. Cutler was in trouble much of the game, and he completed just 17 of 39 for 290 yards. He missed last week's game with a concussion after being sacked nine times by the Giants two weeks earlier.  Photo by Scott Krause “It’s protection and we’ve got hot routes, so it’s on everybody,” Cutler said. “It’s on 11 guys. As I’ve said earlier, it takes 11 guys to make a play happen and a few times today we had some breakdowns.” The Bears offensive line again showed more holes than a normal piece of Swiss cheese, allowing the Seattle defense to force Cutler out of the pocket and nearly make some bad passes. Luckily for him the passes were not intercepted. “You have to be ready each week to play your best ball, and we didn’t play our best ball today,” said coach Lovie Smith. “None of us looked good today. We got our butts beat.” “Offensively, we didn’t get anything done,” Smith said. “Third downs on the offensive side of the football, we can’t reach the place we’re trying to go until we can take care of third downs.” Seattle quaterback Matt Hasselbeck hrew for a season-best 242 yards and one touchdown. One Bright Spot...came in the closing minutes when Devin Hester ran a punt back 89 yards, equaling an NFL record with his 13th kick return for a touchdown. Most of the fans missed the exciting play as they were either heading for the exits or were already in their cars. The task next week won't get any easier as the Redskins and McNaab are up next. The Bears will then get a needed bye and lick their wounds and hopefully have everyone rested and healthy for what will be a tough stretch of games in November and December. “There was an emphasis to run the ball. We tried to run the ball a little bit,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “Couldn’t do that. It’s just not as simple as you look at what happened the week before and you say well you just do that every time. It’s a little more than that. “We didn’t get a lot done with the running game today. Last week we got something going early with the running game, which allows you to do it a little more. But again, today, yes, after getting beat like that, wish we had run it a little more and maybe we would have gotten a little bit more production from it. But on a day like today, I don’t know.” “I felt fine physically,” Cutler said. “There was never any concern with that. I felt fine out there playing. We didn't get it done today. It's very simple. We've got to get back and look at the film and see exactly what happened.” ''I feel like we did miss an opportunity, and we can't get that game back,'' safety Danieal Manning said ''I don't want to take anything from [the Seahawks], but we beat ourselves.'' Bears coach Lovie Smith was diplomatic at his news conference. ''You have to be ready each and every week to play our best ball, and we didn't play our best ball,'' he said. ''I did a terrible job in getting the team ready,'' he said. ''We weren't on the same page,'' left tackle Frank Omiyale said. ''We pride ourselves on hitting and tackling, and I don't know if we did that like we're accustomed to and what the fans here are accustomed to,'' Tinoisamoa said. Though the Bears scored on the opening possession, their defense quickly conceded a six-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that encouraged the Seahawks. ''This is not something we've done,'' Hasselbeck said. ''We haven't gone on the road, played the early game [well] and had emotion and had the passion and energy.'' |
