Seahawks defeat Bears in OT

Seattle (7-5) leads the NFC wild-card chase and, despite its frequent struggles on the road has won three in a row in the regular season at Soldier Field

This one sure was dramatic.

Seattle took a short-lived lead late in regulation on rookie Wilson’s 14-yard pass to Golden Tate, only to watch the Bears’ Robbie Gould boot a 46-yard field goal as time expired to send it into OT.

The Seahawks (7-5) started with the ball on their 20, and it ended with one final flourish.

Rice hauled in a pass from Wilson and took a shoulder-to-helmet hit from Major Wright that appeared to knock him out as he lunged into the end zone. He stayed down for several minutes but eventually walked off the field.

That gave the Seahawks their only road win other than a victory at Carolina.

They pulled it out even though Marshawn Lynch was held in check with 87 yards rushing. He had a touchdown in the second quarter, but also fumbled on the game’s opening possession, leading to a score for Chicago.

Wilson threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns and was particularly cool down the stretch, sending Chicago (8-4) to its third loss in four games. Making matters worse for the Bears, the injuries mounted.

Linebacker Brian Urlacher (hamstring) and cornerback Tim Jennings (shoulder) were hurt on the winning drive. Receiver Earl Bennett (concussion) and safety Chris Conte (illness) left earlier in the game. The Bears had already ruled out return specialist Devin Hester (concussion) and guard Chris Spencer (knee) after they were injured against Minnesota. Throw in the torn ACL guard Lance Louis suffered against the Vikings, and the Bears were a short-handed bunch.

Even so, they had their chances.

Jay Cutler threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Marshall added 165 yards receiving, but the Bears came up short late in the game and in OT.

They were leading 14-10 when Adam Podlesh pinned Seattle on the 3 with 3:40 remaining. Wilson orchestrated a dramatic drive, capping it with a 14-yard pass to Tate that gave the Seahawks a 17-14 lead with 24 seconds left in regulation.

The Bears weren’t finished, though.

Cutler hit a leaping Marshall with the Seahawks’ Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas on him for a 56-yarder that put the ball on the Seattle 30. Gould then nailed a 46-yard field goal to send the game into overtime.

SEAHAWKS 23, BEARS 17 (OT)

Seattle 0 10 0 7 6 –23

Chicago 7 0 7 3 0 –17

First Quarter

Chi–Bennett 12 pass from Cutler (Gould kick), 8:33. Drive: 6 plays, 49 yards, 3:26. Key Plays: Hayden fumble recovery (Lynch); Thomas 5-yard defensive holding penalty on 3rd-and-10; Cutler 29 pass to Marshall on 3rd-and-12. Chicago 7, Seattle 0.

Second Quarter

Sea–Lynch 4 run (Hauschka kick), 2:15. Drive: 9 plays, 94 yards, 5:05. Key Plays: Wilson 18 pass to Tate on 3rd-and-4; Wilson 49 pass to Tate on 3rd-and-6. Seattle 7, Chicago 7.

Sea–FG Hauschka 31, :05. Drive: 9 plays, 49 yards, 1:31. Key Plays: Urlacher 15-yard horse collar tackle penalty; Wilson 20 pass to Baldwin on 3rd-and-4. Seattle 10, Chicago 7.

Third Quarter

Chi–Forte 12 pass from Cutler (Gould kick), 3:10. Drive: 11 plays, 94 yards, 6:46. Key Plays: Irvin 5-yard illegal use of hands penalty on 3rd-and-7; Branch 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty; Cutler 18 pass to Weems; Cutler 13 pass to Marshall; Forte 10 run. Chicago 14, Seattle 10.

Fourth Quarter

Sea–Tate 14 pass from Wilson (Hauschka kick), :24. Drive: 12 plays, 97 yards, 3:16. Key Plays: Wilson 11 pass to McCoy; Lynch 11 run; Wilson 13 run; Wilson 11 pass to Baldwin; Wilson 7 pass to Miller on 4th-and-3; Wilson 27 pass to Rice. Seattle 17, Chicago 14.

Chi–FG Gould 46, :00. Drive: 3 plays, 58 yards, 0:24. Key Play: Cutler 56 pass to Marshall. Seattle 17, Chicago 17.

Overtime

Sea–Rice 13 pass from Wilson, 7:33. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 7:27. Key Plays: Wilson 11 run; Lynch 14 run; Wilson 13 pass to Robinson; Wilson 5 run on 3rd-and-2; Wilson 12 run on 3rd-and-5; Wilson 12 pass to Baldwin on 3rd-and-10. Seattle 23, Chicago 17.

A–62,264.

Sea Chi

FIRST DOWNS 25 22

Rushing 11 7

Passing 13 11

Penalty 1 4

THIRD DOWN EFF 8-15 6-12

FOURTH DOWN EFF 1-1 0-1

TOTAL NET YARDS 459 358

Total Plays 71 59

Avg Gain 6.5 6.1

NET YARDS RUSHING 176 132

Rushes 32 32

Avg per rush 5.5 4.1

NET YARDS PASSING 283 226

Sacked-Yds lost 2-10 1-7

Gross-Yds passing 293 233

Completed-Att. 23-37 17-26

Had Intercepted 0 0

Yards-Pass Play 7.3 8.4

KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB 4-3-0 4-4-4

PUNTS-Avg. 5-39.6 5-41.4

Punts blocked 0 0

FGs-PATs blocked 0-0 0-0

TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE 1 71

Punt Returns 2-1 1-0

Kickoff Returns 0-0 4-71

Interceptions 0-0 0-0

PENALTIES-Yds 8-55 5-45

FUMBLES-Lost 2-1 3-0

TIME OF POSSESSION 34:35 32:52

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Seattle, Lynch 19-87, Wilson 9-71, Washington 2-8, Turbin 1-6, Robinson 1-4. Chicago, Forte 21-66, Bush 7-39, Cutler 4-27.

PASSING–Seattle, Wilson 23-37-0-293. Chicago, Cutler 17-26-0-233.

RECEIVING–Seattle, Rice 6-99, Tate 5-96, Baldwin 4-46, Robinson 2-17, Lynch 2-11, Miller 2-7, McCoy 1-11, Washington 1-6. Chicago, Marshall 10-165, Forte 3-30, Rodriguez 2-8, Weems 1-18, Bennett 1-12.

PUNT RETURNS–Seattle, Washington 2-1. Chicago, Weems 1-0.

KICKOFF RETURNS–Seattle, None. Chicago, Weems 3-65, Bennett 1-6.

TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS–Seattle, Wagner 9-2-1, Chancellor 7-1-0, Browner 6-0-0, Wright 5-1-0, Sherman 5-0-0, Branch 4-0-0, McDonald 2-1-0, Johnson 2-0-0, Jones 2-0-0, Mebane 2-0-0, Smith 2-0-0, Bryant 1-1-0, Lynch 1-0-0, Maragos 1-0-0, Robinson 1-0-0, Thomas 1-0-0. Chicago, Tillman 8-1-0, Urlacher 8-0-0, Briggs 5-0-0, Roach 5-0-0, Melton 4-1-0, Peppers 3-1-1, Wright 3-1-0, Idonije 2-1-0, McClellin 2-1-0, Steltz 2-1-0, Hayden 2-0-0, Paea 1-1-1, Bowman 1-0-0, Conte 1-0-0, Jennings 1-0-0, McManis 1-0-0, Wootton 1-0-0.

INTERCEPTIONS–None.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.

OFFICIALS–Referee Mike Carey, Ump Jeff Rice, HL Mark Baltz, LJ Tim Podraza, FJ Mike Weir, SJ Doug Rosenbaum, BJ Kirk Dornan, Replay Dale Hamer.

Time: 3:19.