Seahawks vs Bears: 8 Things We Learned from Chicago's 38-14 Loss

Another week, another Bears loss. That's what has happened every week since Jay Cutler went down, and the misery continued at Soldier Field today, with the Bears losing to the Seahawks 38-14, in a tough physical battle.

WR Johnny Knox was carried off on a stretcher in the first quarter and taken to a hospital. He will undergo surgery to stabilize a vertebra in his lower- to mid-back.

It was a tale of two games. The first half belonged to the Bears, as they went into the locker room at halftime holding a 14-7 lead. If it hadn't been for a leverage penalty against Corey Graham, it would have been 14-3.

But momentum shifted at the half, and the adjustments made by Seattle head coach Pete Carroll and his staff had the Seahawks coming out like gangbusters on their way to a relatively easy victory.

So Seattle holds on to their very faint playoff hopes at 7-7, while the Bears Wild Card hopes faded into the sunset.

On a crazy day in the NFL when the Packers lost their first game and the Colts won their first, let's take a look at what we learned from this Bears loss. Hey, it's what we do.

Seahawks Made Necessary Adjustments at Halftime

The Bears finished the first half with a seven point lead, but Seattle came out and hit quickly, shifting the momentum from the Bears to the Seahawks favor.

It took Seattle only 1:58 to score a TD to start the third quarter, then 50 seconds later they had a pick-six and suddenly they led the Bears, 21-14.

The Bears just never seemed to regain their rhythm after that, and everything went the Seahawks way.

Credit Pete Carroll and his coaching staff for making the necessary adjustments at halftime. They recognized that Caleb Hanie had been moving the pocket at will, and they shut that down in the third quarter.

On his first roll-out of the second half, LB K.J. Wright sniffed it out and forced Hanie to throw an interception which went for a pick-six.

Carroll and his staff out-coached Lovie Smith and his staff. Sure, Smith had a good game plan but they failed to adjust at the half and Seattle did. Game over.

Kahlil Bell Does a Little Bit of Everything

Watch the man return kicks; watch him catch touchdown passes and watch him run the ball.

Hey, when we kick and pass, we'll have more fun!

No, he's not the Fridge reincarnated, but he and Marion Barber give the Bears a nice one-two punch running the ball.

Bell was the better running back for the Bears today. He deserved to get more touches than Marion Barber. Not only is Bell making plays in the run and pass games, he's picking up blitzes well.

Bell finished with 15 carries for 65 yards, a 4.3 average. He also led the team in pass receptions with five for 43 yards and a touchdown. He also returned a kick for 25 yards.

Barber had just 33 yards on 11 carries on the day.

It Was an Injury-Filled, Hard Hitting Contest

Both teams suffered injuries as there was some hard hitting going on at Soldier Field on Sunday.

But the most significant belonged to the Bears.

The Bears lost WR Johnny Knox to a lower back injury. Knox left on a stretcher and was taken to the hospital as a precautionary move in the first quarter.

Knox took a vicious shot from Seahawks defensive end Anthony Hargove while diving in to try and recover his fumble after a perfect 17-yard throw from Caleb Hanie. He didn't get the fumble recovery and he didn't return.

Knox will undergo surgery and is out for the season.

Chris Conte was also injured just before halftime and did not return. Brandon Meriweather replaced Conte at free safety for the Bears' final few defensive plays of the first half.

The secondary already was without starting safety Major Wright who has missed the last two weeks due to a shoulder sprain.

Devin Hester was also hit hard on a return and re-injured his bothersome ankle.

Seahawks WR Mike Williams broke his ankle in the third quarter.

Tim Jennings Had a Bad Third Quarter

Tim Jennings did not play well in the third quarter. He failed to wrap up Seahawks WR Golden Tate on a 33-yard reception, although Charles Tillman knocked him off the play.

Next, Jennings got beat on a 43-yard pass in one-on-one coverage against Ben Obomanu.

Then, Jennings was called for pass interference late in the quarter while matched up against Tate. Jennings has generally played solid football all year, so it was surprising to see this unfold.

Jennings allowed an outside release in Cover 1 and that's especially bad in that coverage scheme because there is no help out there on the sidelines when you get beat in press-man.

His feet were too slow at the line of scrimmage, allowing Tate to get outside and now Jennings is trailing the play with no help.

Is Lovie Smith Losing the Team?

Say what you will about the game-managing abilities of head coach Lovie Smith, but one thing you could always count on was that he was in charge of his football team.

Well, with the events leading up to Sunday and the game itself, it is a fair question to ask if Smith's team isn't as disciplined as it should be.

The team clearly has to know that he, GM Jerry Angelo and Mike Martz have to share in the responsibility for not having an adequate backup QB on the roster. That has to simply burn the defensive guys.

Then, the whole Sam Hurd thing was a huge distraction during the week. While you can't blame Smith for Hurd's drug dealing, it just seems as if the team is making a lot of dumb mistakes as if they are not properly prepared.

From the Barber brain cramp last week, to Graham not understanding how leverage works, this is a team in disarray.

And fair or not, Smith has to share in that blame.

All of that "aw, shucks, we know we got to play better" stuff works well when his team is winning, but when the players need a kick in the arse, is Smith the guy to do it?

Jerry Angelo Needs To Go!

I have not been a supporter of GM Jerry Angelo, although I have not written that he should be fired in quite awhile. After all, the Bears had a good year last season, and the Cutler trade and Julius Peppers signing both were good moves.

But this horrible run of Bears losses has made me once again take note of how little overall skilled talent there is on this roster.

Besides Cutler, Matt Forte, Peppers, Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Devin Hester (returning punts, not as a WR) and Charles Tillman, this team has very few difference makers.

Angelo's bad drafting has put the team in a big hole. Angelo failed to properly evaluate the backup QB position and he hasn't found a replacement to Mike Brown in how many years?

They have needed a No. 1 wideout forever. They bring in Cutler but don't surround him with the talent he needs yet he makes lemonade out of rotten lemons. But when he gets hurt, the charade falls apart.

Angelo hasn't found a LT to protect his QB's blind side. He allows Smith to hire Mike Martz, even though the offense he put together doesn't match the talent. And there are no young studs to eventually replace the aging defense.

But perhaps even more egregious is the fact that the Bears haven't made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons.

Angelo has got to go.

Caleb Hanie Is Not an NFL QB. Time To Move On.

When NFL analyst, @MattBowen41, tweeted "I don't see the talent. Time to move on," that was simple but to the point. And I agree.

Just when Hanie looked like he was improving in the first half, he once again reverts back to his bad ways. In short, it was an inexcusable evaluation mistake by Angelo, Smith and the coaching staff to have this guy for four years and not know that he cannot play the position.

Look, injuries happen in the NFL and QBs usually do not go an entire season without missing some time.

Except in Green Bay, where for whatever reason the QB never seems to get hurt enough to miss a game, this is a violent game and you'd better have depth at the QB position.

In the offseason, the Bears will have their choice of a number of veteran QBs who can, at least, play the position better than Hanie. One of them is Kyle Orton.

Hanie finished 10-of-23 for 111 yards, one TD and three INTs for a QB rating of 33.3.

Yes, it's time to move on.  

One Trend Ended but Another One Held Up

The Bears had been 3-0 this season when the defense scored a touchdown but that trend came to an end on Sunday.

The Bears scored a defensive touchdown late in the first quarter when Peppers sacked and stripped the ball from Seahawks QB Tarvaris Jacskon. Israel Idonije jumped on the ball for a TD.

The Bears are now 14-2 since 2005 when they score a defensive touchdown and 17-5 since 2004.

However, another trend continued on Sunday. When the Bears score first, they have a 41-24 record over the last eight seasons.

But when the opponent scores first, the Bears are now 29-32 over that same span, including 2-4 in 2011.

Note: Information was used from Michael C. Wright's ESPN.com Bears Report to compile this slide.

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