Seahawks at Bears preview

The NFL has thoughtfully given me two fantastic playoff games Sunday to snap me out of my Earl of Boykins funk.

The first is Seahawks at Bears (Sunday, 11 a.m., FOX). Seattle, of course, barely squeaked by Dallas last week after that botched hold by Dallas QB Tony Romo. Some have asserted that Romo dropped the ball because it was one of the special untouched “kicking” footballs. To which I say: no kidding. The whole point of the kicking footballs was to make field goals more difficult. The slick ball didn’t make a successful try impossible, but it had the effect it was designed to have.

Anyway, who cares about the losers? The Seahawks did some good things last week but, frankly, were unimpressive. Shaun Alexander was back to his playoff ways with a 2.9 yards-per-carry average, though he made some key conversions. It’s clear that Matt Hasselbeck has to carry this offense, and he connected on a mere fifty percent of his passes last week.

The Bears, though, are hardly better at quarterback. They’re just better everywhere else. There are some stats I bring up all the time, and this will be no exception: the Bears outscored Seattle and gave up fewer points. With Devin Hester fielding punts and kicks, you have to give them the edge on special teams, too.

So really, the only way the Bears can lose is with one of those 1.3 or 0.0 rating games out of quarterback Rex Grossman. The real disaster, though, would be bringing in backup Brian Griese, which would immediately seal Chicago’s fate. Griese’s lack of playing time is a huge reason Bears coach Lovie Smith has impressed me so much this year. He knows Grossman’s not a great option, but he also knows that the Bears have no other choice. When the backup has come in this year, he’s played like, well, Brian Griese. If you like a passing game that advances the ball in two- and three-yard chunks, then gives it up with spectacular 79-yard interception returns, Griese’s your man. Otherwise, you have to go with Grossman.

But Chicago really won’t need much from its offense considering how well the defense has played and considering how shaky Hasselbeck still is. (Hasselbeck’s got guts, no question, but he looks like he came back too soon.) And the Seahawks will have to be a pass-first, second, and third team. Chicago’s defense, though not quite Baltimore-quality, excels against the pass. Grossman may eventually cost them rings, but not this week. Chicago wins.