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Seahawks at Bears

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Get ready, PFT faithful, for our first-ever Live Blog doubleheader.  We'll do the Seahawks-Bears game first, and then we'll open up a separate Live Blog for the Pats-Chargers.

The biggest questions in the early game are whether the presence of Shaun Alexander will make a difference for the Seahawks, as they return to a field where they lost by 31 without him, and whether the Rex Grossman who plays like Jim McMahon will show up today -- or whether it will be the Grossman who plays like Cade McNown.

We're getting the feeling that the Bears are going to blow the 'Hawks out of the water.  Or the air.  Or wherever in the hell it is that a seahawk spends the majority of its time.

Nice vest, Troy.

Mike Strahan is going to be eating at Subway a lot more often than he used to.

Looks a little foggy in Chitown.

Pam Oliver looks like she's ready to go hunting for something.  Something with bigger teeth than her.

Did Chris Myers call the Seahawks defending Super Bowl champs?

Great looking two-tone field.

Why not re-sod the whole damn thing?

Leroy Hill looks mad that he didn't make the Pro Bowl.

First down Bears.

And another.

Bears should run the ball until the Seahawks bring nine men to the box.

These FOX camera angles are making us loopy.

That ball should have been picked off.  Nice catch by Davis.

Touchdown Bears.  Kornholio just called and asked if we can call this one.

Jordan Babineaux could have completely changed the complexion of this game if he'd picked that ball off.  Now, Grossman will have far more confidence, since he not only got away with an ill-advised throw, but the thing led to a score.

Anybody out there?

The girl with the "F--K DA EAGLES" shirt just sent in an e-mail.  She says she now wants to "F--K DA SAINTS."

Seahawks have good field position.

Man, we hate those black zebra pants.

Who the hell was Hasselbeck throwing it to?

Good point from a reader -- Aikman called Grossman's completion to Davis in one breath a "great throw by Grossman" and then in the next breath explained it should have been intercepted.

Peanut misses an opportunity of his own.

Nice punt by guys whose name we don't know how to spell.

Bears pinned deep in their own end.

Are we the only ones who think that Steve Young specifically asked for permission to mention that he has a wife in that Samsung commercial?

Hello, Toronto.  (Just got an e-mail from someone north of the border. . . .  We have a feeling that we'll soon be regretting that we did that.)

A reader tells us that the "F--K DA EAGLES" girl has been hired to be T.O.'s new publicist.

Another reader says that the FDE girl be wearing a "F--K DA STRAHAN" shirt next weekend.

Wow.  Grossman actually looks like a real quarterback today.

Rexy got jacked up.

That tuck rule thing has to go.  That was a fumble.

'Hawks have it again.

A reader asks:  "Does Joe Buck have anything to say about his network showing a girl wearing a 'F--K DA EAGLES' shirt?  Maybe he'd speak up if she pretended to moon someone."

Hello, London.  Bugger Da Eagles!

Wow.  Nice throw from Hasselbeck.  Vasher came a looong way from the corner on that blitz.

Seahawks in the red zone.

First quarter over.

Great play by Burleson.  Touchdown 'Hawks.

Why would the Bears run Cover 2 from inside the 20?

Looks like Burleson has borrowed Martin Gramatica's Hamburglar mask.

The dude in the UPS commercial really needs a haircut.  (A reader says the guy looks like Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein.  He looks more like Balki to us.)

Is Troy Aikman holding a pen or a magic wand?

Grossman never would have made that throw if Babineaux had intercepted that ball in the first quarter.

The Big Show is wearing Costanza's Gore-Tex coat.

Several readers are complaining about Joe Buck's continuous references to baseball.  FOX needs a play-by-play guy who handles only one sport.

The problem with Grossman is that you never know when he's going to crumble.  And it'll probably happen in the Super Bowl.

Urlacher swatted that ball away as if it were a glob of poo.

A reader is confused as to whose country it is. 

Always nice to see a guy like Urlacher slowly drop a loogie.

Rex is getting reckless.

A reader thinks that Joe Buck's undershirt says "F--K DA URLACHER".

Seahawks have the ball on their 24.  MVP catches a short pass for a first down.

Chris Myers talking about cleat length.  Joe Buck prefers to talk about schlong length.

[Editor's note:  We have not, nor will we ever, suggest that Joe Buck is gay.  We just think he's a little too metro and, well, fancy to be a play-by-play guy.]

That dude with the Urlacher Pro Bowl jersey is well padded.

Good call on the D-Jack no catch.

Hester nearly hands the ball back to the 'Hawks.

A reader says:  "You'd think Joe Buck would be an expert in the measurement of things less than an inch long."

Moose was coming forward while in motion at the snap.  That rarely gets called.

Ced-Ben getting some carries.

We've seen ankles get twisted a lot worse than Mark Bradley's just did.

The sock puppets said a few minutes ago that it's 32 degrees.  But some of the players and the zebras are dressed like it's in the single digits.  What a bunch of pussies.

Punt time for Bears.  Grossman hasn't look very accurate since delivering on that bomb.

Why would MVP not be in the game at the start of a drive?

Darrell Jackson just plain sucks.  Catch the ball, guy.

Joe Buck's apparent effort at self-deprecation regarding not knowing the difference between 1/2 and 5/8 and 3/4 is being interpreted by many as evidence of mental retardation.

Hester almost turns it over again.

Great play by Julian Peterson.  Grossman thought he was invincible after throwing that touchdown pass.

Under the screwed-up tuck rule, Rex's arm might have been coming forward.

Says a reader (and we're paraphrasing a bit):  "Joe Buck's lack of knowledge regarding lengths of less than an inch shows that he has never worked with tools at any time in his life.  Which really isn't a surprise."

(A reader responds:  "But he works with Aikman every Sunday.  Doesn't that count?")

MVP gets the ball closer to the end zone.

Aikman said MVP likes to wait for the hole to develop. 

Troy says split backs is a passing formation?  WTF?

MVP scores; Grossman picks his nose.

Maybe Buck doesn't know his inch fractions because he uses only the metric system.

14-14.  Good fame so far.

Squib kick backfires on 'Hawks.  143 ticks to the half.

Oh, man.  Jim Kelly in that Miller Lite commercial implicitly claims credit for Frank Reich's comeback.

Best line ever:  "Worky work.  Busy bee." 

Nice play with the quick throw thing.  Bears already in business.

Nice mittens, Matt.  Do your pants have footies in them, too?

Holy crap, he's wearing oven mitts.  Is he a hand model?

First flag of the day comes with 80 seconds left in the half.

Good morning, China!  It's 3:00 a.m. local time. 

Should be a flag on that.  Ball hit an ineligible receiver first.

No penalty.  Thomas Jones was the first one to touch it.

Rex picks his nose again while talking to the ref.

The Seahawks weren't in a short yardage defense.  Nice call.

Maybe the Big Show was having flashbacks to Super Bowl XXXIII.

Several readers are asking what the nipple on Lovie's coat is.

Why even call that last play?  How freaking stoopid.

Halftime.  21-14 Bears.

Sean Payton has a big wire sticking out from the back of his head.

FOX takes advantage of the halftime audience to try to counter the fact that the Pats-Chargers game on CBS will carry folks into its primetime slate.

Chris Myers' hair spray is doing its best to hold the fort.

Third quarter begins.  'Hawks moving nicely so far.

First playoff game with no penalties since the Snow Bowl.

Seattle already over the 50.

Joe Buck acknowledges that it's becoming an Urlacher love fest.

Why in the hell did the 'Hawks run a sweep on third and one?

Does Josh Brown have a chin?  His helmet might be more secure if he put the strap in his mouth.

Devin Hester is too indecisive with the ball today.  We have a feeling he could blow the game for the Bears.

FOX is running commercials suggesting that "Stephen King" is a big fan of 24.  The problem?  It's apparently not the same guy who has written all those best sellers.  (Poke around the Entertainment Weekly web site and judge for yourself.)

Thanks to the dude who pointed that out to us.

Long third down for the Bears.

Stoopid.  Stoopid.  Stoopid penalty on the Bears for bumping into Nate Burleson as he was waiting for the punt.

A reader says that the car driven by Jack Bauer in 24 was once owned by John Voight.

Seahawks start near midfield.

MVP runs out of bounds more than any Seahawk since Franco Harris.

Deion Branch?!?  He's still on the team?

We haven't seen a single Seattle fan in the stands.

Another one to Deion.

Troy talks about "the hole" in the two deep defense.  There isn't just one.

Hasselbeck never should have thrown that one.

Jerramy Stevens has two "r"'s in his first name in the event that he ever drops one of them.

Holy crap.  MVP is the man when he wants to be.

And the Seahawks are leading the Bears, 24-21.

A reader says it's the same Stephen King.  He apparently slums it up with EW.  (Must be another consequence of when that van ran over him.)

Yeah, Ron Rivera will be a head coach in 2007.

Taco Bill wonders whether, with the Bears losing, Rex is on a short leash.

Based on the last two plays, he apparently isn't.

Nice tackle by Peterson to keep Berrian short of a first down.  Bad spot by the zebras.

Field goal try coming.

Nice camera work, guys.

Huge penalty against Seattle.  What an idiotic move by Hill.

Fourth quarter.

Bernard Berrian flinches like a nervous moyle.

Wow.  Why even through short of the end zone in traffic on third and goal?  To make the field goal shorter?

It just occurred to us that the Saints are going to the Super Bowl.

Or maybe not.  Bears have the ball back already.

Chris Farley's mom is at the game, wearing her "nice" winter coat.

Ugh.  Joe Buck makes an excuse for Bernard Berrian, but he should have caught that one.

Rex is rolling out the "chuck and duck" offense.

Maybe that's not a cut on Grossman's finger -- maybe he just dug into a blood booger.

Stevens goes down instead of trying to get the first down. 

Great play design and/or play calling, Mike.

Hester chucks the ball into the stands after a touchdown that will back wiped off the board.

Why do we have a feeling that American Idol will generate record-setting ratings again?

What a chicken sh-t tackling effort by Ken Hamlin on Benson.  Wrap the guy up!  He doesn't have a pipe in his hands.

Another failure to wrap up, this time by Hunter.

Benson looks to be short, but we suppose the refs will give it to him.

Holy crap.  Bears get the first down after a measurement occurring during the commercial break.

Why didn't the Big Show challenge the spot?

Gould sneaks one in -- tie game.  24-24.

A reader suggests that the fix is in -- the score is 24-24 so FOX can find yet another way to pimp the season debut of 24.

A reader suggests that the facial hair on the cowboy who points out to his buddy that the referee isn't a jackass but a zebra isn't a moustache but a dirty sanchez.

'Seattle crosses midfield.  MVP gets close to the line on third down, but doesn't get it.

A reader raises a good point.  If the game goes to overtime, with the bracelet on Tank Johnson's ankle start beeping?

Two minutes left.  Fourth and one for the Seahawks.

No dice.  Bears hold.

Bryce Fisher makes a nice play, but it left loopy when he hits the ground.

More crappy tackling from Seattle defensive backs.

Great job by Thomas Jones breaking up the interception.  The last time we saw such a head's up play from an offensive player, the team was Ohio State and the guy was Maurice Clarett.  And things have worked out well for him.

Great run by MVP.

A reader wonders what Hasselbeck will scream after the coin toss if this one goes to overtime.

MVP keeps showing up.  Another first down.

A reader notes that Troy Aikman likes to say "there's no question."  He just said it again.

Nice catch by Stevens, and good move to get out of bounds.

First down for the MVP.

Time for Josh Brown to fasten his mouth strap.

Ballsy move going deep for Branch.  Too bad he was double-covered.

Tank Johnson tripped up Hasselbeck with that ankle bracelet.

Overtime.

Joe Buck says of Tank Johnson "with all he's been through" -- as if none of it was his own damn fault.

Why in the hell did the Bears take a time out?  (Lovie really deserves a big-money extension.)

Says a reader:  "We want the ball and we're gonna score.  Signed, Al Harris."

Hasselbeck wasn't on the field this time around.  'Hawks win the toss.

A reader says Hasselbeck was out there for the coin toss at the start of the game.

Here we go with the fifth quarter, which is theoretically impossible.

MVP rips off another 10 yards.

Here's a radical idea, Seattle.  Give the ball to Shaun Alexander on every play.

Crappy kick by Seattle on a near block.

Bears start from the 34.

Mike Holmgren looks like the blueberry girl from Willie Wonka.

Bears offense has gone AWOL.

Aikman says that the quarterbacks aren't taking risks in overtime.  Right before Grossman chucks one deep on third and 10, and connects.

Good call.  Benson was down before ball was out.

Maybe FOX paid extra so that the teams will be tied at 24 right up until it's time for 24 to start.

Here we go.  Gould's gonna miss it.

We're wrong.  Gould nails it.  Bears win.  Bears win.  Bears win.  24 premieres tonight.  Bears win.

Okay, folks.  Time to take a "break" and then fire up the second blog.

A reader points out that Robbie Gould likely was nervous when Ricky Manning Jr. approached him after making that kick.