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The Bears, who were down 13-0 several minutes into the second quarter, now were down 19-17 with about five minutes to go against a beat-up and confounding Seahawks team.

It shouldn't have been so awful early. It couldn't remain this way late.

It didn't.

Jay Cutler already had manufactured a few five-minute drives in his short time here. But this time he didn't even need four minutes. Nor did he need a third down. ...

On second-and-7 from the Seattle 36, Cutler threw high to Devin Hester, who cut, leaped, grabbed the ball, regained his balance and sprinted the rest of the way for what turned out to be the winning score. ...

I am still so not used to this. But I'll work on it. ...

Cutler was 21 of 27 for 247 yards and three touchdowns. He has engineered fourth-quarter wins in his last two starts. Game ball to Josh McDaniels. ...

Game ball to Olindo Mare, as well, for channeling his inner Jeff Reed. ...

Third down, Cutler to Greg Olsen, repeat as necessary. ...

Especially when the offensive line can't seem to outmuscle anybody. ...

This was supposed to be a no-fooling-around type of game. No reason to get tricky. The Bears needed to take the ball and jam it down the crippled Seahawks' throat. Make them quit. Kill their will. But the offensive line and Matt Forte couldn't run. Again. The Bears had no rushing first downs until the fourth quarter. Fix this. Lovie Smith believes the Bears are a running team that can pass the ball. Is he talking about Walter Payton's Bears? ...

Forte looks like he's doing the Cedric Benson tap-dance thing too often when looking for a hole. ...

Bad coaching decision: Robbie Gould shouldn't have been asked to try a 53-yard field goal when he never has kicked one over 50. The Bears had fourth-and-5 at Seattle's 35. Even an incompletion in the end zone would be better than giving the Seahawks possession at their 43. I mean, a backup quarterback, a lost left tackle, a lot of questions -- the last thing you want to do is give this team yardage. ...

Good coaching decision: David Hawthorne ripped the ball from Forte's arms at the 1 and recovered the fumble to kill another Bears drive in the first half. But no. Smith challenged and got the call overturned when Forte was ruled down by contact. Can you say turning point, boys and girls?

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