Chicago gets by with Gould

Chicago Bears defensive end and resident philosopher Alex Brown reflected on the place Sunday’s 27-24 overtime victory over the Seattle Seahawks might warrant in team annals.

“This game right here, it’ll be an instant classic,” Brown said after the NFC semifinal. “Great game. Somebody has to win and lose, and unfortunately ... “

Brown hesitated. There are limits to sportsmanship.

“No, fortunately, Seattle had to lose.”

The Bears overcame their bad plays and some very good plays by Seattle, then made enough great ones to advance to the NFC championship game. They’re going there for the first time since 1988, the third and final time for the Bears of the Mike Ditka era.

The Bears led Seattle, 21-14, at halftime Sunday, fell behind when the Seahawks scored 10 points in the third quarter, then tied the score with Robbie Gould’s 41-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter before winning it with his 49-yarder in overtime. In the process, the Bears moved out from under a cloud of doubt that hung stubbornly over the franchise because of losses after the 2001 and ’05 seasons when the Bears were in the same spot -- at home after a first-round bye.

“It’s a monkey off our back to get that win,” said linebacker Brian Urlacher.

For some Bears, it was a gorilla they threw off. Lovie Smith proved he could coach a team to a postseason victory. Rex Grossman put aside the firestorm of criticism that had swirled about him since the season-ending nightmare against Green Bay, completing 21 of 38 passes for 282 yards and a touchdown despite severe pressure from a shifting Seattle front.

Grossman gave Bears fans what they wanted: a win and only a few Bad Rex passes. More important, he gave his teammates what they wanted: a leader not afraid to win a game.

Grossman’s seventh pass of the game was a strike to Bernard Berrian that went for 68-yard touchdown play in the second quarter. Grossman’s next-to-last pass was a third-and-10 completion for 30 yards to Rashied Davis in overtime to set up the winning field goal.

“Rex ... is not there to just manage the game; he’s there to win games,” center Olin Kreutz said. “And we think we need him to win the Super Bowl, so that’s why he’s here.”