A 40 yard Josh Brown field goal opened up scoring in the second half.

The first flag of the game (the first actual penalty anyway) was thrown on a bogus pass-interference call. There was contact, but it looked to me like it was just incidental contact within the first five yards. Bad call. Either that or I’m a partisan hack for the Seahawks

Grant Wistrom made up for the penalty with a sack of Grossman on the very next play. Then on third and 16, they Seahawks sacked him again.

The next flag thrown was a fifteen yard penalty against Chicago for “interference with the opportunity to make the catch” on the Chicago punt.

I guess the yellow cloth really did want to play in this game. The very next play was marred by yet another yellow hankie as Mack Strong moved too early.

Deion Branch and Shaun Alexander proved to be key players in the Seahawks drive. Branch managed to catch two good passes to get the Seahawks out of second and fifteen, and then Jerramy Stevens continued his catchless streak, leaving the Seahawks at third and ten on the thirteen. Shaun Alexander ran the ball in for a touchdown on the next play though, and the score moved to 24-21, Seattle. The Seahawks finally took the lead!

The color yellow made several more appearances, including one to end the third quarter. A “defensive” false start? On fourth and four? Leroy Hill gave away another set of downs to the Bears just as they were going for a 31 yard field goal attempt. The third quarter was certainly a comedy of errors. Ouch.

The fourth quarter opened with a false start, so the Seahawks got the yards back, but it was now second and goal from the 14. After a short run it was third and goal at the ten. On the next play, Pete Hunter intercepted the ball!

The Seahawks went from holding the Bears to a tie to possibly losing the lead again to having a former loan officer repossess the ball. Then Hasselbeck threw an interception!

My wife and I were baking cookies during the game. That was just about enough to make me want to toss them. NFC football, especially Seahawks football can be exciting, but sometimes it’s just painful to watch.

Bernard Berrian dropped the ball, pretty much ending the Bears drive. Then on a 49 yard field goal attempt for the Bears yet another penalty forced the Bears to punt. Instead of tying the game, the Bears remained three points down.

On second and 11 at the 6, Jerramy Stevens finally caught a ball to bring the Hawks out of their own end zone. Unfortunately Hasselbeck was sacked on the next play.

On the punt, Hester ran the ball back for a touchdown from the Chicago 40. The yellow hankie flew again! Ricky Manning Jr. threw an illegal block in the back for ten yards and the touchdown was called back.

The field appeared to tilt in the Bears favor. After what looked like a solid stop of the Bears with the ball about a foot and a half shy of the first down marker the chains came out as Fox went to commercial. While we were away watching advertisements the ground tilted and the ball rolled forward enough to change a foot and a half deficit into first down yardage! Ok, maybe the ground didn’t tilt, but even so that was strange!

The Seahawks managed to stop the Bears yet again. On fourth and eight the Bears had to settle for a field goal, tying the game 24-24.

Shaun Alexander and Deion Branch helped move the ball downfield for the Seahawks. Even so, the the clock wound down to the two minute warning with Seattle just shy of a first down inside the Bears 45. After the break the Seahawks went for it on fourth and one and Shaun Alexander lost a yard, because Matt Hasselbeck bobbled the snap!

The Bears went three and out and punted into the end-zone, giving the Seahawks the ball on the 20. Three runs by Shaun Alexander brought the ball to mid-field with 54 seconds to play as the Seahawks used their second time-out. On second and nine, Jerramy Stevens caught the ball again, to make it third and one, then another first down by Shaun Alexander to bring the ball to the Chicago 45.

Hasselbeck then nearly threw another interception going to Deion Branch, but it was incomplete. On the next play, Hasselbeck was sacked, and the Seahawks were out of timeouts. Chicago took a timeout, preventing the game from going into immediate overtime. With two seconds left, it was fourth and nineteen for Seattle.

Hasselbeck threw the ball away, and the game went into overtime. Seattle won the toss, and elected to receive.

Overtime!

Nate Burleson ran the kickoff back to the 30. Shaun Alexander ran for 10 on first down. On the next play, Seattle gave the ball to Maurice Morris, but the Bears stopped him for a loss of two. On second and twelve, Hasselbeck threw to Will Heller, for ten yards, third and two.

On third down, Ian Scott chased Hasselbeck down, and he threw the ball away. Plackemeir’s punt was short, and the ball changed hands with the Bears taking possession at their 34 yard line.

On third and ten, Grossman threw a bullet to Rashied Davis for thirty yards, moving the ball into Seahawks territory. The Seahawks managed to stop the Bears on third and 5, so the Bears tried for a 49 yard field goal. Robbie Gould’s kick was good, ending the Seahawk’s post-season run the same way that so many Seahawk victories during the regular season came… with a field goal to end the game.

The Saints will be playing the Bears in Chicago next week. It’s the Bears’ first playoff win since 1994!

The Seahawks go home. But wow! What a game.

Cross Posted to Perri Nelson’s Website.

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