Bears forget Benson after he breaks a couple
Cedric Benson finally showed some big-play ability in the 10th game of the season, ripping off a TD run of 43 yards and then a 20-yarder that set up a field goal and helped the Bears to a 10-0 lead just over six minutes into the game.
It seemed Benson was well on his way to a career day, but he got just 9 more carries and finished with 89 yards on 11 attempts for a 8.1-yard average that boosted his lackluster average per carry from 3.0 to 3.3. The team that "gets off the bus running," was expecting a huge day.
"I stayed pretty mellow about it," Benson said, "but everybody on the sidelines was pretty amped, screaming out '200 (yards).' "
Had he gotten the 28 carries he had a week earlier, 200 yards might have been a possibility.
He never got the chance.
"How do I explain it?" said Bears coach Lovie Smith when asked about Benson's inactivity. "We probably should have given him the ball a little bit more."
Benson said he wasn't concerned with personal stats while the Bears were letting the 10-0 lead slip away.
"I just wish we could have finished a couple of those drives," he said. "We really could have sealed the deal. Then we probably could have run it some more."
The Bears had a chance to tie the game at 24-24 in the third quarter when Brian Urlacher recovered a Matt Hasselbeck fumble caused by Adewale Ogunleye at the Seahawks' 39-yard line. But on fourth-and-1, Benson was swarmed by the Seattle defense for no gain.
"They got good penetration," Benson said. "They've got a good defense. They just kind of won (on that play)."
The Bears' first-down mistakes in the second half -- a sack and a pair of false-start penalties in the fourth quarter -- cost Benson some carries.
"On two of them we (originally) had a run called," said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. "So now all of a sudden instead of first-and-10, it's first-and-15."
Sitting it out: Quarterback Kyle Orton was elevated to No. 2 on the depth chart against the Seahawks ahead of Brian Griese (sprained left shoulder), who had started the previous six games.
Wide receiver Mark Bradley, who has just 2 catches for 26 yards this season and no catches in the past three games, was inactive for the first time in 2007, leaving the Bears with only four wide receivers, including return specialist Devin Hester.
The other inactives were cornerback Nate Vasher (groin), who missed his seventh consecutive game, fullback Lousaka Polite, safety Josh Gattis, linebacker Darrell McClover, guard Josh Beekman and wide receiver Mike Hass.
Tidbits: Rookie tight end Greg Olsen, who was shut out last week after leading the Bears with 19 catches and 217 receiving yards over the previous four games, had a 7-yard reception on the first play from scrimmage and finished with a career-high 7 catches for 43 yards. ... The false start penalty on tight end John Gilmore in the first quarter was the 64th by an opponent in 22 games at noisy Qwest Field since the start of the 2005 season, the most in the NFL. Later in the game the Bears were whistled for 3 more false-start penalties, two on right tackle Fred Miller and one on tight end Desmond Clark. ... Adam Archuleta's first-quarter sack was the 18th of his seven-year career and the most by any safety since 2001. Archuleta is third among all active safeties in sacks.