Seahawks vs. Bears: Why Chicago Can't Afford to Take Seattle Lightly

At this point, the spiraling Chicago Bears shouldn't take any team lightly. They are simply in no position to do that. In fact, if anything, Seattle should be concerned about taking the Bears too lightly.

This Bears team couldn't score in a brothel. The defense is still solid, and the special teams play is good, although we could really use a Devin Hester-to-the-house special this weekend.

Look, with Caleb Hanie at quarterback, and Matt Forte injured, the offense is as stagnant as the economy.

Will Marion Barber be trusted to carry the rushing load this weekend? The Bears almost have no choice, as teams need to have two backs these days to be successful.

What offensive coordinator Mike Martz has to do is run a lot of play action, and three step drops with quick passes and short screens.

But they must throw the deep ball if they are going to keep Seattle's safeties off the line of scrimmage. Oh yes, and it would be nice if Barber held onto the ball and recognized game situations.

The surging Seahawks are playing well, having won four of their last five. Here's why Chicago shouldn't take them lightly.

Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch

Although the Bears run defense has been solid since Week six, they will get tested against the hard, determined running of Seattle's Marshawn Lynch.

Lynch doesn't gain all of his success from speed, so the fact that the Bears have agility and athleticism in the front seven may not help them as much against the Seahawks RB.

He wears down defenses, and his punishing running style, if Seattle sticks to it, could be a challenge, especially if the Bears don't wrap up.

Chicago is taught to strip the ball, but Lynch is hard to bring down at initial contact. so that strategy could result in missed tackles and big gains for Lynch.

Lynch has rushed for more than 100 yards in five of the last six games. He has scored at least one touchdown in the past six games.

The Bears stopped Lynch in both games last season. They will need to stop him again to win this game.

Seattle's Safety Pair Solid

If the Bears are going to have success on Sunday, they will need to throw the deep ball occasionally, to keep the Seahawks safeties off the line of scrimmage.

Seattle's strong safety, Kam Chancellor, is a 23 year old with great size and four interceptions. 

Free safety Earl Thomas is another young guy (22) and is second to linebacker David Hawthorne (88) on the team in tackles, with 84. 

He is explosive and aggressive. And while he isn't tall, Thomas hits hard and throws his body around without concern or hesitation.

If the Bears don't have a passing game on Sunday, it will make the safety job much easier for Seattle.

Seattle DE Chris Clemons

Clemons is a force to be reckoned with on the edge rush, with nine sacks and three forced fumbles this season. If I was Seattle's defensive coordinator, I would do what the Bears do with Julius Peppers, and move him around on Sunday.

That way, he could line up occasionally over Bears right tackle Lance Louis, who has not been very good of late.

Of course, left tackle J'Marcus Webb is not that good either, so the Seahawks could have a dominating day against the Bears offensive line unless Martz keeps a tight end in to chip.

Seattle ranks 13th in total defense as defined by yardage allowed. And while they rank 23rd in sacks, they are tied with Chicago, among other teams, for fifth in interceptions.

The Bears Can't Score

Since Jay Cutler went down, the offense has struggled mightily. If they score two touchdowns on offense, they better call Tim Tebow, because that would be nothing short of miraculous.

Unless the defense gets a "pick-six" or Devin Hester runs one back for a TD, this figures to be low scoring affair, so the Bears cannot afford to take any team lightly, especially Seattle, who just came off of a 30 point performance against the lowly Rams.

Seattle's passing offense isn't very good, and despite the fact that the Bears give up lots of yardage, the fact that QB Tarvaris Jackson has thrown more picks that TDs is to the Bears benefit.

But in the past two games, the Seahawks have scored at least 30 points (vs. Rams and Eagles) and Jackson has not had an interception. 

So their offensive arrow is pointing in the opposite direction of the Bears, who have averaged 11 points per game since Cutler went down.

Seattle's Defense Above Average vs Run and Pass

Much of this has to do with the players we've already mentioned, DE Chris Clemons and the safeties. But just to reiterate the point, Seattle ranks better than average vs. the pass, at 14th on the season.

Against the run, Seattle is a very strong 11th. And the run game is where the Bears figure to make the most noise, considering what they have (and don't have) at the QB position.

The run stuffers on Seattle's defense include Hawthorne, who leads the team with 88 tackles. LB K.J. Wright came up big last week vs. the Rams, with eight tackles He also had a forced fumble vs. the Eagles the week before.

CB Brandon Browner recorded his fifth interception last week vs. the Rams. Browner is an undrafted rookie who last played in the CFL. It has been 14 years since an undrafted rookie intercepted five passes in a season (Sammy Knight in 1997).

Browners's 94-yd interception return in the Seahawks win over the Giants in Week 5 was the longest in Seahawks franchise history.

Seattle Is 4-1 over Last Five Games and Bears Have Lost 3 in a Row

The fact is, while the Seahawks record may be worse than the Bears, they are tending in opposite directions.

Since Cutler got hurt, the Bears are 0-3. Meanwhile, Seattle has won four of the last five games. I'd have to say right now they are the better team.

The Bears are at home, which is likely the main reason why they are the favorite over Seattle. Still, the Bears are currently in no position to assume anything after the way they've played over the last three games.

One can't help but also wonder if the Sam Hurd drug arrest will cause a distraction for the team. Further, how will Barber respond to the awful events over the fourth quarter and in overtime last week against Denver?

Revenge Factor

For those of you who buy into the whole vengeance thing, the Seahawks look to avenge a Divisional Round Playoff loss last year that ended their season at the hands of the Bears in Chicago.

The Bears jumped out to a 28-0 lead before winning 35-24.

Meanwhile, Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley blitzed Cutler aggressively in Seattle's regular season win over the Bears last season, and Hanie can expect the same treatment come Sunday.

Will the Bears have enough energy to muster up a solid performance following last week's demoralizing loss? Or will Seattle, riding the crest of consecutive wins and with its playoffs hopes on life support use the revenge factor as motivation to get fired up?

So, there you have all the reasons why the Bears shouldn't take Seattle lightly. That said, however, my prediction for the game is Bears 19, Seahawks 17.