Grading the Bears

GAME BALL

Jay Cutler

After leading Devin Hester too far on his first 2 attempts of the game, Jay Cutler completed 21 of 25 passes for 247 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. On the Bears' three touchdown drives, Cutler hit all 10 of his passes for 136 yards.

GRADES

QB (4 balls):

Seattle rarely allowed Cutler to throw deep (he missed long to Devin Hester and Johnny Knox), but he took advantage of the available slant and out routes and let his receivers get the yards.

RBs (3.5 balls):

As everyone promised during the week, Matt Forte received the chance to pound the ball and got the max from his 21 carries. On the winning drive, Adrian Peterson slashed for key 9- and 3-yard runs.

WRs (4.5 balls):

Zero drops and several big plays for this crew. Hester shrugged off a tackle and regained his feet to race for the winning TD, Knox battled to hit the pylon for his score and Earl Bennett made several catches in traffic.

OL (2.5 balls):

Jay Cutler was knocked down too many times (on unchecked blitzes as well as missed blocks), but the line forged big holes up the middle on the final drive as Forte had his long run (11 yards) and Peterson went for 9.

DL (4 balls):

Mike Anderson and Anthony Adams had the only sacks, but Adewale Ogunleye and crew kept forcing Seneca Wallace to scramble in order to make throws. Tommie Harris (3 tackles) looked better than he had all year.

LBs (4.5 balls):

Lance Briggs' diving interception set up a key third-quarter field goal and he had a sack amongst his 7 stops. Nick Roach, who moved to the middle after Hunter Hillenmeyer hurt his ribs, chased Wallace in the end zone to force Briggs' INT and shoved RB Julius Jones to break up Seattle's final play at the 30-yard line.

Secondary (3.5 balls):

Charles Tillman's bad tackling allowed Seattle's only touchdown and several receivers found holes in the zone, but Tillman and Danieal Manning tag-teamed to force a fumble while Al Afalava and Kevin Payne broke up key passes late.

Special teams (3.5 balls):

Brad Maynard shocked the world with an 11-yard shank and Robbie Gould missed his first FG on the road since 2007, but both were perfect thereafter and the punt coverage was strong. Johnny Knox opened the game with a 53-yard kick return.

Coaching (4 balls):

Lovie Smith won his second-quarter challenge of Forte's fumble near the goal line - a decision that led to 7 points. Smith's defense mixed up blitz calls effectively while OC Ron Turner showed remarkable balance (26 runs, 29 dropbacks).