Playoff Preview - Bears vs. Seahawks

If you've found your way to this blog, then you probably know what's at stake for the Bears and Seahawks when they meet this Sunday at noon at the Spaceship. But let's take a moment to focus on what's at stake for me on Sunday. With the Illini basketball team bumbling around and the Cubs stuck in neutral, this may be my last realistic chance to see one of my teams win a championship for a while. So I'm hoping the Bears will consider my needs when they take the field, and now - on to the preview.

The Bears will win if...

They follow George Costanza's strategy and do the opposite of everything they did in their Week 6 loss to Seattle. This would include: giving Matt Forte more than 8 carries; successfully converting a third down at some point; and blocking Seattle's defensive backs when they blitz. It would also help matters if our big money defensive end would get his name called in a sentence that doesn't sound like "Russell Okung has completely taken Julius Peppers out of this game."

The Seahawks will win if...

You may have heard something about this game being Jay Cutler's first playoff appearance. Sometimes when he throws an early interception, it leads to others, and the Seahawks would be greatly helped if they are facing the turnover machine that the Redskins saw in Week 7. Also, if it's a close game that boils down to a battle of wits between the coaches, the Bears may be in trouble. Pete Carroll may be a slimebag - while at USC, he was the John Calipari of college football - but he's a good coach. Just getting this Seahawks team to the playoffs, even via a watered-down NFC West, is evidence of that. Lovie Smith, on the other hand, is noteworthy for his baffling use of timeouts and replay challenges. Let's hope the Bears play well enough to take this factor out of the equation.

Prediction

Two years ago, the Arizona Cardinals were the champions of a weak NFC West and the #4 seed in the NFC. Some experts called them the worst team ever to make the playoffs. After they won their Wild Card Weekend game, they advanced to face the #2 seed Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, where they were a double-digit underdog. But Jake Delhomme threw five picks, Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald put on an offensive clinic, and the Cardinals advanced to the NFC Championship Game.

There are quite a few parallels between that game and this Sunday's game. For example, I could certainly see Cutler playing the part of Delhomme. But the 2010 Seahawks are truly the worst team to ever make the playoffs (the 2008 Cardinals outscored their opponents by one point on the season; this year's Seahawks were outscored by 97 points), Matt Hasselbeck isn't Warner, and Mike Williams isn't Fitzgerald (his performance against the Bears in Week 6 notwithstanding). As long as the Bears follow the formula that allowed them to win seven of their nine post-bye-week games (balanced offense, opportunistic defense, big returns on special teams to help win the field position battle), they should be able to dispose of the Seahawks. If not, it's going to be a long winter.

Bears 30

Seahawks 13