Capsule Preview | Seahawks vs. Bears, 1:15 p.m., TV: Ch. 13
Seattle vs. Chicago at Qwest Field
Kickoff: 1:15 p.m. TV: Ch. 13 Radio: KIRO (710 AM)
The line: Seattle by 5 ½
Key questions
1. How could injuries affect the Seahawks today? Let’s start with the defensive ends. Darryl Tapp and Baraka Atkins are hurting, and Tapp is a force on the pass rush. At running back, Shaun Alexander isn’t likely to play, so if Maurice Morris goes down, Leonard Weaver becomes the running back and Fred McCrary the fullback. Bigger than both of those is a less-than-100 percent Walter Jones, the prime protector of Matt Hasselbeck. It’s difficult enough to hold off the Chicago pass rush even with a healthy offensive line.
2. What is the Bears’ strength? With a low-output running game and a QB change this week, it’s clear that defense is still the Bears’ calling card, even if it hasn’t been a good year for that group, either. Still, the Bears lead the NFL with 37 forced three-and-outs and are third in the league in tackles for loss on a rush, with 30.
3. If it’s close, the advantage goes to{$326}: The Bears. Chicago has rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to win three consecutive road games, so it isn’t likely to be intimidated nor rattled in a tight game. Not that the Seahawks are strangers to comebacks. Hasselbeck has led them to victory 17 times in 89 starts when Seattle is trailing in the fourth quarter.
4. How much will the Seahawks be motivated from last season’s two losses to the Bears? The playoff loss burned for a while. The regular-season loss was one the Seahawks could forget about faster because it was in the middle of the season, albeit just before the bye week. The losses probably won’t be on the Seahawks’ minds too much, though, because the ultimate goal is to get a win toward taking the division rather than exacting revenge over the Bears. Still, the memory will be there.
5. Just how many false-start penalties do opponents have at Qwest Field? Since 2005, 63 - an average of three per game. That’s 20 more than the Metrodome in Minnesota, where opponents have committed 43 false starts in the same time period. Loudest stadium in the NFL? Look to the Northwest.
Notable
Seahawks: Seattle tied a club record in allowing only six first downs to San Francisco on Monday and limited the 49ers to only 173 yards on the night. Seattle gave up 76 yards in the first half, 45 of which came on a long completion to end the half. … K Josh Brown is fourth in the NFL with a career-high tying 12 touchbacks. … Holmgren is 14-4 all-time against the Bears. … The Seahawks are 33-11 in Hasselbeck’s starts when he has a 90-plus QB rating.
Bears: DE Mark Anderson has 16 ½ sacks in the first 25 games of his career. … WR Muhsin Muhammad is 301 yards away from 10,000 in his career. … Of WR Bernard Berrian’s 42 catches this season, 32 have been for first downs. … RB Adrian Peterson (no, not the super rookie in Minnesota) is seventh in the NFL in catches for a running back with 27. … S Adam Archuleta has the most sacks among NFL safeties since 2001, with 17. … The Bears trail Seattle in their all-time series, 6-3.
Injury report
Seahawks: LB Will Herring (hamstring) and S C.J. Wallace (knee) are out. RB Shaun Alexander (knee), DE Baraka Atkins (ankle), WR Deion Branch (foot), LB Leroy Hill (hamstring), T Walter Jones (shoulder), DE Darryl Tapp (shoulder) and OT Ray Willis (knee) are questionable. DT Rocky Bernard (groin) is probable.
Bears: DT Tommie Harris (knee) and CB Nathan Vasher (groin) are questionable. QB Brian Griese (shoulder) and S Brandon McGowan (elbow) are probable.
Last game Seahawks: Seattle shut out an opponent for the first time this season with its 24-0 win over the San Francisco 49ers on “Monday Night Football.” Hasselbeck completed 27 of 40 passes for 278 yards and threw a pair of touchdown passes. Morris replaced the injured Alexander at running back and rushed for 87 yards on 28 carries, and D.J. Hackett caught eight passes for 101 yards, including a touchdown. The Seahawks defense was also stellar, forcing and recovering two fumbles, sacking QB Alex Smith three times and stopping the 49ers twice on fourth down in Seattle territory.
Bears: Chicago will have to come out West for the second week in a row after winning at Oakland last week, 17-6. The Bears trailed 6-3 late in the game, and their season seemed doomed until QB Rex Grossman hit Bernard Berrian for a 59-yard TD pass. After a Raiders fumble, Cedric Benson ran in for the clinching score with 1:35 to play. Grossman replaced starter Griese, who was injured during the game, and threw his first TD pass since Week 2.
José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com
Who has the advantage?
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Seattle
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Chicago
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