Bears ahead at only time it really matters

Maybe the Bears went to Seattle figuring the Seahawks would be waiting to get beat.

The Bears made the Seahawks wait - and wait - and wait - and wait - and wait some more.

"It's a road game," Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said. "It's hard to go on the road and beat somebody."

Hard? Heck, for the Bears it was like they were trying to pass a kidney stone before they finally squeezed out a 25-19 victory at Qwest Field.

"Every win I've ever been a part of has been pretty," Bears head coach Lovie Smith said.

Pretty is relative, of course. This victory was like a parent's view of pretty. Have you ever heard a mother or father describe junior or sis as looking like a cartoon character?

Listen, winning ugly is like growing old: It sure beats the freakin' alternative.

Glance at Sunday's NFL scores and you see Detroit end its 19-game losing streak at home against Washington and perennially pathetic Cincinnati win at home over defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh.

How much do you think the Redskins or the Steelers would have paid to trade places with the Bears?

The Bears were expected to dominate on this day. As a Seattle Times headline said referring to the local head coach, "Jim Mora's challenge: Keep Seahawks afloat in a sea of injuries."

Mora almost did, too. The Seahawks didn't trail until a few minutes into the second half and led again with less than two minutes left in the game.

All that despite missing starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, blowing a couple of gimme field goals, losing a fumble that led to 3 Bears points and throwing an interception that led to 7 more Bears points.

Those developments alone should have made this game easy for the visitors if only the Bears didn't make Seahawks backup quarterback Seneca Wallace look like Cy Young.

Wait, that's what our baseball teams do with opposing pitchers. Let's say that the Bears made Wallace look like Steve Young.

It wasn't until the Bears' defense finally got a grasp of Wallace in the final minute that they could get a grasp of this victory.

That's all it took to win: A late stop by the Bears' defense along with some clutch throws by Cutler and a terrific, 36-yard, catch-and-run touchdown by Devin Hester.

Yeah, that's all the Bears needed.

Wait, did we mention Smith's challenge and a questionable reversal of an official's call late in the first half after Bears running back Matt Forte fumbled the ball away at the Seattle goal line?

Maybe it shouldn't have taken all that for the Bears to win this game. Maybe it shouldn't have taken so much drama. But the Bears will take it anyway.

"We have a good team and are going to wind up winning a lot of close games," said Bears captain/linebacker Lance Briggs.

The Bears will have to play better to win them against better competition, but they can worry about that later.

For now a 2-1 record and a tie for second place with the Packers is prettier than 1-2 and a tie for last place with the Lions.

In other words, beating the beat-up Seahawks in the final minutes was worth the wait.