Early Look At Bears-Seahawks
(WSCR) - The Chicago Bears take on the Seattle Seahawks Sunday in the playoffs. Both teams have improved since their last meeting, but how will things be different this time?
How can a losing team get within a step of the conference championship game? Well, win a weak division (the NFC West, which Seattle took at 7-9, the first under.-500 division winner). Then play an inspired game featuring loads of big plays against an undermanned opponent - albeit the defending Super Bowl champs.
Now, the Seahawks go back to Chicago, where they won 23-20 in October, their best game of the regular season, and if they do it again, the NFL has a 9-9 club one win away from the big game.
Seattle is brimming with confidence after outscoring New Orleans. Chicago is healthier than the Saints, has a much better defense, and has improved significantly since falling to the Seahawks, particularly the running game with Matt Forte.
Forte ran for 717 yards over the final nine games, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. He expects to carry a big load Sunday.
"I don't think we have a choice," Forte said. "We can't go out and do what we did last time and throw the ball 40 or 50 times and run the ball 10 times. We have to have a balanced offense."
AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner contributed to this story
