Updated Mar 8, 2011 - 10:00 am

Slow start buries Seahawks offense

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Bears cornerback Tim Jennings (26) breaks up a pass intended for Seahawks wide receiver Ben Obomanu (87) during the first half. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching)

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CHICAGO – Matt Hasselbeck's fourth-quarter pass bounced off the chest of cornerback Charles Tillman and into the waiting hands of Mike Williams, turning a sure interception into an easy touchdown.

The ease of that score was an ironic reminder of just how bad the Seahawks struggled offensively for the majority of their 35-24, season-ending loss to the Bears on Sunday. For most of the day Seattle's offense was so futile that it could score touchdowns only when Chicago almost literally handed them over.

It all came undone early, as the Seahawks punted on their first eight possessions, failing to gain more than 36 yards on any of them. By the time they got on the board with a third-quarter field goal, Chicago had already scored 28 points.

"We started slow, we looked slow," said quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. "Maybe it was the conditions, maybe just a combination of all those things."

Hard to blame Hasselbeck for the slow start. He completed 26 of 46 passes for 258 yards and three fourth-quarter touchdowns. Several of his incompletions were drops.

"There were some plays we could have made, where Matt put the ball close enough," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said, later adding that the snow that picked up significantly in the second quarter might have been partially to blame. "The snow challenged you a little bit. There was a lot hanging; that maybe was a bit of a distraction."

Seattle's first touchdown didn't come until the 11:21 mark of the fourth quarter, and even then it took another gift to get it. Aaron Curry intercepted a wobbly pass from running back Matt Forte, giving the Seahawks a short field that led to a Williams touchdown, his first of two scores.

The running game that finally came alive in Seattle's last two games was non-existent, as the Seahawks managed just 34 yards on the ground, their lowest total since a Week 12 loss to Kansas City. The early deficit, along with several third-and-long situations, forced the Seahawks to rely heavily on the pass. Seattle ran just 12 times total, and only four in the second half.

Marshawn Lynch, who averaged 103 yards in the Seahawks last two games, had two yards on four carries.

"They were down 28 points," Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "(That) pretty much took him out of the game."

Seattle was further limited by injuries to their only two tight ends. John Carlson left in the first quarter with a concussion after he was upended and landed hard on his head. Cameron Morrah, Carlson's replacement and the only other tight end on the active roster, was slowed with turf toe in the second quarter.

"We have a big giant call sheet," Hasselbeck said in reference to the amount of plays that are available with a full compliment of tight ends. "It took it down to just like a corner of it."

Injury update

Carroll said both Carlson and Marcus Trufant will remain in the hospital overnight after each sustained a serious concussion. Trufant's injury came in the third quarter when he hit his head on the knee of tight end Kellen Davis. Carlson and Trufant were both carted off the field.

"It seems like, with both of those guys, all the indications are OK," Carroll said. "It didn't look to be anything (more than) a concussion.

Turning point

With Chicago deep in Seattle territory and threatening to take a 14-0 lead, Jordan Babineaux let an easy interception bounce off his hands. He had room to run had he caught the ball, but instead Chicago retained possession and Chester Taylor scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, capping what could have been a 14-point swing.

Key stats

Seattle sacked Cutler three times on Sunday, compared to six in the first meeting.

"We didn't pressure like we did in the first game," safety Earl Thomas said. "We just sat back. If you look at our games, when we sit back we're vulnerable. We didn't get the pressure we wanted on the quarterback and he took advantage of that."

Cutler ran for a career-high 43 yards and scored on touchdown runs on six and nine yards.

"When he scrambled he made plays," Thomas said. "That's a credit to them."

They said it

Hasselbeck: "I think we really believed we were going to win ... and as unlikely as it may have seemed to a lot of people, I think we really believed and we were excited. We just couldn't overcome some of the things that happened."

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Slow start buries Seahawks offense
Matt Hasselbeck's fourth-quarter pass bounced off the chest of cornerback Charles Tillman and into the waiting hands of Mike Williams, turning an sure interception into an easy touchdown.

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  Cliff Hanger wrote...

  Win a few

  Lose more. That’s our Hawks!

  January 16, 2011 7:05 pm

  274392

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  Scoutem wrote...

  hanger

  Surprised your not saying told you so dick, I mean Cliff. Real hard as a fan to constantly double guess and be against a team as young as the Hawks. But with your comments it is clear you have no class and most be a joy to be around w/your great attitude. Enjoy your 2 friends. Hope to meet you some day

  January 16, 2011 7:15 pm

  274399

  0

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  333 wrote...

  Cliff Hanger

  Never Win. Never Lose. Never Try Just Blog. That's our Cliff.

  January 16, 2011 7:40 pm

  274403

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• 

  Newton wrote...

  Hope John Carlson is Doing Better.

  The fix was in. An early start,cold weather, also a cold Crapy field to play on. Thats old time home field advantage. Time of the Season to get healed up. It was a Fun Start to Petes world of football.

  January 16, 2011 8:47 pm

  274416

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  jerry47 wrote...

  carrol

  maybe you went up against a better team,wheather and stuff come on learn to play football, we won against them earlier because we pressured the quarter back, today he called his wife checked on the kids and blew his nose before he had to throw the ball, we had nobody that can catch a ball, and if they could the ball was over thrown by twenty yards, okay i'm done thanks

  January 16, 2011 9:46 pm

  274426

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  C"mon Man wrote...

  Congrat's to Da Bears

  Was I the only one screaming pass interfearence in the second half?

  January 16, 2011 11:11 pm

  274432

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  The_foundation wrote...

  All she wrote

  First of all I am glad to hear all John Carlson had was a concusion. One of my best friends is paralyzed and that fall he took was pretty scary the way he came down on his neck. I was listening to 950 on my way to work today and Hugh Millen was talking about the defense and who should be replaced. He said that he thinks Aaron Curry has the lowest FBI that's (football IQ) for you rookies on the team and rates him a 3 out of 10. I hope you Aaron Curry lovers read this and don't post a single (next year Curry is going to break out) comment because if you do you certainly do not understand football. Now to Hasselbeck. I kept my mouth shut last week because I said I would. But this game showed yet again that Matt doesn't have what it takes to will this team to victory.I understand that our recievers were terrible. I understand that we dropped passes. But lets look a little closer at the performance and compare it to Aaron Rodgers performance. When Aaron Rodgers feels pressure he can run, get outside of the pocket, extend the play and turn a negative into a positive. He has the arm strength to fit the football into tight windows that Hasselbeck could never dream of. He has the arm strength to stretch the feild which in turn helps out his running game. Matt doesn't do any of these things. I understand that Matt played good against the Saints twice this year. But there were also games that he played absolutely terrible. Terrible. He threw more picks that touchdowns again and didn't play a full season again! Is there anyone out there who can see the light and is calling for Hasselbeck release?

  January 17, 2011 8:26 am

  274475

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  jabailo wrote...

  Preparation?

  The Seahawks knew they were going to be playing in Chicago in winter with snow, but they seemed to make no adjustments at all! They threw the ball like it was 55 degrees in Qwest Field. The last time anyone got sucked into a loss like that were the Germans heading into a second front with Russia. Did they even try to practice on different field conditions? Or go for shorter passes? Or slow the game down to account for the snow? Nope...they just went out and played like the sun was shining. I think this actually would have been a good game to put Charlie Whitehurst back in because his slow, methodical style may have won this game rather than the brilliant but temperamental MH type of playing. But hey, I don't get paid millions to coach a team.

  January 17, 2011 9:37 am

  274513

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  Scoutem wrote...

  Hasselbeck

  Foundation. I can understand this kind of post. I think MH would be a little beter with some wheels. However, it's the Charlie lovers and "Hassel suck" things I am bothered by. I mean with the info you state Marshawn Lynch should be replacede n sucks as well? He really only had maybe 2 real good runs? Don't consider that most times as he was getting the ball there was 1-2 defenders hitting him. Kinda the same w/MH in alot of the games. Where would A-Rogers go they are everywhere, and we have nobody that can go deep. Matt wasn't the problem Sunday the line (both) were. Matt put the ball for them to make a play, also did you watch any of the pre game? They showed the last meeting how MH minupulates the D w/check downs etc.. Charlie n a Rookie wouldn't be able too. With that all said of course I kinda agree with some of this analysis. A fleet footed QB could help, and of course they need to draft or get a guy here to compete.

  January 17, 2011 1:22 pm

  274610

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  The_foundation wrote...

  Scoutem

  I am not saying Charlie should be our guy. I just wanted to see him play this year so we could cross him off our list on who our next franchise QB will be. After all we did trade two picks for him and gave him 8 million dollars. I hope it wasnt just to hold a clip board. To be honest there is not way to tell what Aaron Rodgers would do with this team. I do know that we have players like Branch who sucked with Seattle then goes somewhere with a good QB and lights it up. Hous was rediculous in Cinci then comes to HasselBECK land and sucks it up. It has something to do with our QB. Lynch runs hard, and would be much better if we had a QB with a strong enough arm to stretch the feild. I am not talking about just throwing long bombs and fly routes. I am talking about a 15 yards out or a 20 yards post. Don't you see other teams running all of these routes that Seattle never does. Iti s not because our coordinator doesn't know about the routes it is because our QB can't throw them. Yeah Matt can manipulate a defense. He might be the smartest guy on the field. In fact he probably is but he doesn't have the talent anymore. He is washed up and finished. When everyone else is playing bad we need a QB that is good enough to lift the team up and lead us to victory.

  January 17, 2011 2:03 pm

  274626

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