"I was just [mad]," McKie said. "I don't know, man. We're just killing ourselves. It's simple to see. Nobody really is doing it to us. It's what we're doing to ourselves."
The Seahawks had a hand in pinning a 30-23 loss on
The most memorable play from the defeat that dropped the Bears to 4-6 might have been Grossman's fumble—a result of not protecting the ball while defensive end
But to say Grossman's blunder is the reason the Bears lost the game would be inaccurate. The fact is, the much-criticized quarterback, starting his first game since Week 3 against the Cowboys, played a solid game.
Yet the Bears still dropped to 4-6 and virtually out of playoff picture, again.
"I'm sure the chance of us going is pretty slim, but it's still a chance," cornerback
Despite being sacked five times, Grossman completed 24 of 37 passes for 266 yards with no interceptions and a passer rating of 86.1, good enough numbers to at least keep him as the starter going into next Sunday.
The problem was
The Seahawks quarterback looked like one of the league's elite, picking apart the Bears' defense by completing 30 of 44 passes for 337 yards with two touchdowns and a passer rating of 106.
Hasselbeck, sacked twice, kept the Bears' defense on its heels most of the day, even picking on the Bears' best defensive back, Tillman.
"When you give up over 300 yards passing, you don't like that," coach
Having nickel back
"Hasselbeck is a great quarterback," Manning Jr. said. "He did a lot of things out there to buy himself more time, buy the receivers time. He knew what we were in a lot.
"They just played a great game. And despite that, we were still in it."
The Bears pretty much were—the Seahawks didn't nail it down until they recovered an onside kick with 13 seconds left, following
Grossman's turnover led to Josh Brown's 46-yard field goal that gave Seattle a 30-20 fourth-quarter lead and left the Bears needing two scores to catch up. Thanks primarily to their own mistakes, they were playing catch-up most of the game.
The first blunder came in the second quarter on an unnecessary-roughness penalty on special-teamer
Then, after
Finally, there was
Such miscues spoiled a good effort by
Benson had 73 yards on his first five carries but ended up with just 11 attempts for 89 yards. Afterward, offensive coordinator Ron Turner acknowledged Benson should have had more touches.
But Benson was smiling after the game, sounding optimistic that the Bears still had something to play for, even though a 4-6 record makes them a playoff long shot.
"We can't get down on ourselves," Benson said. "Of course, it hurts now at the moment. Got a long way to get back home. ... You've got to be positive."
vxmcclure@tribune.com