A solid performance allowed the Chicago Bears to take a 14-7 lead into halftime against the Seattle Seahawks, but an awful third quarter has Seattle leading 24-14 early in the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon. The Bears played well in the second quarter as they took the lead, but totally faltered in the third quarter after a deflating mistake by Caleb Hanie.
Seattle quickly tied the game at 14-14 early in the third quarter on Marshawn Lynch's second touchdown of the day, but things quickly unraveled from there. Following that touchdown, pressured Hanie threw the ball directly to Seahawks defensive end Red Bryant, who easily returned the interception for a touchdown to put Seattle up 21-14.
That play essentially took all of the air out of stadium and slowed Chicago's offense to a halt. They've essentially done nothing since that play, allowing the Seahawks to get quality field position and convert those opportunities into scores. A short field led to a Seattle field goal, pushing the lead to 24-14, and a touchdown early in the fourth quarter has pushed the lead to 31-14.
It's been a stunning turn of events for a Bears defense that actually looked quite good in the first half. Seattle has had little troubling scoring since then, particularly given the kind of field position that they're getting on each possession. The Bears have the ball now early in the fourth, but it would take an unforeseen offensive explosion to make this game competitive.
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