Seahawk Shimmy Shakes the Bears

Shaun Alexander knew it was his turn. All day long, he waited to break a big play against Chicago’s stubborn run defense.

So he bounced around left end, skipped over a diving linebacker and broke into the open field before putting a nasty shimmy move on Bear safety Mike Brown at the five to clear a path to the end zone.

Alexander’s game-winning 25-yard burst carried the Seattle Seahawks to their best start ever, and it came with 58 seconds left in a dramatic 24-17 victory over the Bears on Sunday.

“I knew if I straightened the safety up, I’d have two ways to go,” Alexander said. “He was coming pretty fast, so I just made a little run at him. I took a step for the sideline, then I put the brakes on. He missed me.”

Alexander gained 101 yards in 21 carries, scoring twice. And the Seahawks (5-1) are off to the best start in franchise history.

“Everyone in the locker room can feel good about that,” Coach Mike Holmgren said. “Without picking apart too much about how we got there, that’s OK. Five-and-one is pretty good.”

The Seahawks have squeaked out one-point victories over NFC West rivals St. Louis and San Francisco. The Bears (1-5) lost for the 17th time in 20 games but didn’t go quietly.

Alexander’s gains of nine and 14 yards were huge on a seven-play, 72-yard drive to the winning score.

Seattle got a break when Bear rookie Charles Tillman was called for interference for coming over Koren Robinson’s back on an incomplete pass. On the next play, Alexander broke into open field and scored.

An angry Tillman told reporters he didn’t want to get fined for blasting the game officials, then let them have it anyway.

“It was a late call,” Tillman said. “It was a dumb call, a bad call, a horrible call.”

Seattle’s Marcus Trufant sealed the win when he intercepted a pass by Chris Chandler with 37 seconds remaining.