For the most part, Bears corners had it wrapped up
In retrospect, perhaps Seattle wide receiver Mike Williams wishes he hadn't shredded the Bears for 10 catches and 123 yards on October 17.
To avoid a repeat in Sunday's divisional playoff game at Soldier Field, the Bears schemed ways to take the Cover 2 chains off their cornerbacks and let them play press coverage against the Seahawks.
As it turns out, it's not nearly as easy to pile up catches and yards when you're wearing 198-pound Charles Tillman like five layers of wool clothing on a 19-degree day.
While Williams managed 2 consolation touchdowns in the fourth quarter, he and his mates did almost nothing when the Bears' 35-24 victory retained any suspense.
Through three quarters, the Seahawks had just 3 points and 111 total yards as the visitors couldn't replicate their October upset.
While Williams had 2 catches for 10 yards in the first three quarters, Danieal Manning broke up 3 passes and fellow cornerback Tim Jennings broke up 2 as they shadowed the Seahawks on slants, curls and every other imaginable route.
“We wanted to come and be a little more aggressive,” Jennings said. “We knew we could man up with their receivers, so we wanted Peanut (Tillman) with his bigger body on Mike Williams because he could be more physical.
“We played a lot of zone (the first time), but coach put us in a lot of man calls. (Success) just comes with being more aggressive.”
Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck wasn't so sure the Bears weren't a little too physical this time around.
While Tillman and Jennings combined for 3 penalties (Jennings' pass interference against Brandon Stokley negated a fourth-quarter interception), Hasselbeck thought they might have deserved more.
“They challenged us,” Hasselbeck said. “They came up and played real physical, real grabby, holding a lot but doing it in a way that they weren't getting called for flags.”
Tillman, meanwhile, came away more concerned that he missed out on 2 interceptions. The second one turned into Williams' touchdown with 2:16 to go. Tillman dropped and performed a set of pushups on the field after missing a pick early in the third quarter.
“No, I'm not satisfied,” Tillman said. “We're in the NFC championship. It's great. But for those two picks, those two plays, ahhhh! Just got to make the play.”
Hasselbeck's job against the corners became tougher once it became apparent the Seahawks weren't going to be able to run the ball.
If you throw out Golden Tate's 13-yard run, which was a swing pass that happened to be thrown backward, Seattle managed 21 rushing yards on 11 true rushes.
Marshawn Lynch, who controlled the Seahawks' win over New Orleans last week with 131 yards, rushed 4 times for 2 yards.
On his first carry, a second-and-1 smash off the left side, linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa stuffed the play by flinging his body at the point of attack and giving Israel Idonije time to track Lynch down for a 2-yard loss.
Two minutes later, the Bears had their first touchdown and well on their way to a 28-0 second-half lead.
“We're a downhill defense,” said middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. “We got in the backfield. They were in bad situations to run the ball.”