No Alexander Is No Good for Seahawks

Lance Briggs couldn’t hide his emotions Sunday night at Chicago. He smiled, he broke into a rap and even showed off his dance moves.

The Chicago Bears linebacker had reason to be giddy after his team showed how serious it was about contending for the NFC title with a 37-6 victory over the defending conference champion Seattle Seahawks, who were playing without injured Shaun Alexander, the league’s most valuable player last season.

Rex Grossman threw for 232 yards and Ricky Manning Jr. intercepted two of Matt Hasselbeck’s passes to lead the Bears.

The 37-6 score “just shows what we’re capable of, but we’re a lot better than that,” Grossman said. “They’re a lot better than they played tonight and we realize that.... We realize we may face them down the road at some point, and we’re glad we got the win.”

Grossman completed 17 of 31 passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and the Bears improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1991. Bernard Berrian had three receptions for a career-high 108 yards and a touchdown.

The Bears also got their running game going after three sluggish performances, with Thomas Jones rushing for 98 yards and two touchdowns. And the league’s fourth-ranked defense shut down the Seahawks (3-1).

“We definitely sent a message,” Briggs said.

With the Bears leading 10-3, Manning intercepted two of Hasselbeck’s passes in the second quarter to set up a field goal and touchdown. Hasselbeck completed 16 of 35 passes for 196 yards but had no touchdowns one week after tying a franchise record with five scoring passes in a 42-30 victory over the New York Giants. He was sacked five times; Tommie Harris and Mark Anderson had two apiece.

Maurice Morris carried 11 times for 35 yards in place of Alexander, who cracked a bone in his left foot last week.

“I always think Shaun Alexander would have made a difference,” Seattle Coach Mike Holmgren said. “He’s the MVP of the league. This is the most pressure I think Matt has felt in a while.”