This week just has the ominous feel of a last gasp. I can see absolutely no conceivable way - outside of Chicago just handing us the game like Dallas did - of the Seahawks winning this game straight. I keep imagining Chicago dropping in a couple bombs early, their defense placing their cleated foot on our necks and slowly stomping us into submission. I don't like making definitive statements about football games because they usually end up turning out completely wrong, but I think you'll have an excellent idea about how this game will turn out by the end of the first quarter. Make no mistake, the Seahawks will NOT win if they're down two scores after the first 15 minutes. They absolutely can NOT come back against this Bears defense, I don't care who they're missing. If the Seahawks can hang around, maybe keep it tied or within 3 or 4 points after the first quarter, I think we're still gonna lose by a touchdown or more. The only way we're winning this game is if we can somehow get some turnovers early, rattle their offense, and capitalize on every opportunity we're given - WITHOUT making any mistakes or giving away any turnovers in the process.
Look, everyone is boiling this down to whether or not Rex Grossman will struggle. If he struggles, that's supposed to be some magical elixir for our victory chances. He could still throw two picks and drop a fumble and I don't think it'll make much difference. I still don't know why nobody's focusing on Matt Hasselbeck's play. He was God-Awful against Dallas, especially in the first half. He hasn't put up a solid game of football all year from what I can remember. I don't recall at all this year watching a game and thinking, "Wow, Hasselbeck's really on fire!" I don't want to hear about the injuries, I don't want to hear about the line, and I sure as hell don't want to hear about learning new receivers this late into the season. All I want to see is Hasselbeck making the same quality decisions that he made last year.
My final thing about this game lies in my belief that I don't think the Seahawks have the capabilities to play The Perfect Game. Our D-Line still can't get pressure, we're hard-pressed to generate the kind of game-changing turnovers we got last year (though, it wouldn't look like that was true against Dallas last week, but that's not saying much; they're not the Bears), we're not getting the yards on the ground, and there seems to be some new flukey thing concerning our receivers and the fact that they're not catching the balls being thrown their way. I'm predicting a blowout loss to the Bears this week, plain and simple. It's going to be a LONG game Sunday.