Bears, Seahawks Set for Unexpected Playoff Reunion

The Seattle Seahawks were barely competitive in their nine losses -- a record number for a playoff team -- during the 2010 season. Their average margin of defeat was 21 points. Their closest loss was 15. Twice they were pummeled by at least 30.

But they did have one signature win over a playoff team.

Guess who?

"They have a losing record? I don't see it like that," Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "I see that they're undefeated right now. They're 1-0 in the playoffs and that's how we're looking at it."

They're also 1-0 against the Bears, having stormed into Soldier Field on Oct. 17 and leaving with a 23-20 victory. The Bears (11-5), champs of the NFC North, and Seahawks (7-9), who won a battle of attrition and ineptitude in the NFC West, have a rematch at the same site in Sunday's conference divisional round. The winner will play for a berth in Super Bowl XLV the following week.

That Seahawks came to the Windy City and beat the Bears just three months ago has to be a blessing for Smith and his troops. If Seattle's shocking ambush of the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints -- one of the biggest upsets in NFL history -- didn't get all of Chicago's attention, the Bears can always go back to the tape and see how Matt Hasselbeck methodically moved his offense and how the Seahawks' blitz packages thoroughly confused quarterback Jay Cutler in that last meeting.

"What was that? October? We feel like we've gotten better defensively; as a team, as well."
-- Brian Urlacher
Bears Middle Linebacker "What was that? October?" Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher asked. "We feel like we've gotten better defensively; as a team, as well. We're protecting the ball better on offense, we're stopping the run on defense. Just feel like we've gotten better every week and that's what you got to do in this league."

For sure, much has changed for the Bears in that time. They'll have outside linebacker Lance Briggs for this game. Briggs, who mans the critical weakside in the Tampa 2 scheme, missed the first meeting with an ankle injury. Hasselbeck threw for 242 yards and a touchdown.

More significant, though, are the changes the Bears have undergone on the offensive side of the ball. The Seahawks loss marked the return of Cutler after missing a game with a concussion suffered in a nine-sack debacle against the New York Giants. Cutler threw for 290 yards in the last game, but completed less than 50 percent of his passes and was sacked six times.

The next week, he was worse. Much worse. Cutler was intercepted four times in a second straight home loss, this one to woeful Washington with cornerback DeAngelo Hall getting all four picks. Cutler also was sacked another four times, as the Bears fell to 4-3.

Through his first six games, Cutler had seven touchdowns, seven interceptions and was sacked 27 times. "We made some changes," Cutler said.

The most pronounced were personnel moves to the offensive line and some tweaked protections to combat blitzes, but the Bears also have leaned more on tailback Matt Forte, ranked 10th in the league in yards from scrimmage (1,616 yards). Cutler has thrown about the same number of passes per game, but after being sacked 27 times through his first six straights, the Bears have given up just 23 sacks over the last nine.

The mentality of offensive coordinator Mike Martz, though, has not changed.

"We're always on the attack. We're always pushing the ball downfield. We're always looking for holes and bubbles in the defense where we can take advantage of stuff," Cutler said. "There's never really a time where we're going to sit back and grind it out, we're always going to be looking for something."

Seattle did not win much this season, but the Seahawks did take out the Bears in Chicago

What they'll be looking for from the Seahawks is uncertain, especially after last week's blindside to the Saints.

Seattle blitzed extensively in the first meeting against the Bears, mostly with defensive backs, but the Seahawks have scaled back their blitzes later in the season.

In that first game, Seattle rushed for 111 yards, one of its better outputs during the season for an offense that was one of the worst running teams in the league (just 89 yards per game). Then came a 149-yard outburst on the ground against the Saints, including that now legendary "beast mode" performance from tailback Marshawn Lynch, who became the first Seattle back this season to pass 100 yards in game.

And then there's Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who despite missing the regular-season finale with an injured hip -- when Seattle faced rival St. Louis for the NFC West title -- still passed for 279 yards and four touchdowns against New Orleans. The game marked the 35-year-old Hasselbeck's 10th career playoff game and his fifth postseason victory.

Cutler, meanwhile, will be playing in his first playoff game since high school. The only other quarterback in the league's 12-team postseason field to make his playoff debut was Kansas City's Matt Cassel.

Anyone see how that worked out?

"This team is a pretty veteran group. A lot of the guys have been to the playoffs, been in the Super Bowl," Cutler said. "Obviously we know the importance of this game and if we lose, we're out. I think everyone's aware of that. But we're not going to change anything we do."

A lot has changed since the last time the two played.

Who would have thought they'd be playing again?