Bears good as Gould

CHICAGO _ Seahawks linebacker Julian Peterson leaned against his locker-room cubicle and tried to match his words with his frustration level.

“It hurts because they know they should have lost that game,” Peterson said of the top-seeded Chicago Bears, who pulled out a 27-24 overtime victory Sunday in the second round of the NFL playoffs. “But they won. They got out by the skin of their teeth and I hope for the best for them.”

Actually, the Bears got by on the strength of Pro Bowl-bound kicker Robbie Gould’s right leg and a steady performance by roller-coaster quarterback Rex Grossman. The victory, viewed by a Soldier Field crowd of 55,525, propels the Bears (14-3) into the NFC Championship game against New Orleans next Sunday at Soldier Field.

“I talked to the team about finishing (Saturday night),” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “Last year we were in this position and we weren’t able to finish the season the way we wanted. We talked about all we’ve gone through this year and how it would be a shame not to finish the game on a high note.”

Seattle finished the season 10-8 and pondering a ton of what-ifs.

What if cornerback Jordan Babineaux had intercepted a poorly thrown Grossman pass on Chicago’s first series? How might that have impacted Grossman’s fragile psyche?

“That takes points off the board,” Babineaux said. Instead, the ball somehow was caught by Rashied Davis and the Bears went on to score a touchdown and take a 7-0 lead.

What if Seattle had delivered the knockout blow after forging its first lead, 24-21? Instead, Seattle wasted Pete Hunter’s interception early in the fourth quarter when Matt Hasselbeck was picked off on the ensuing play.

“A really, really bad play by me,” Hasselbeck said. “I should have thrown the ball into the third row.”

What if Seattle hadn’t failed on third-and-1 at its 16? A broken play resulted in a six-yard loss. What if Hasselbeck hadn’t bobbled a snap on fourth-and-1 at the 44? The miscue disrupted the play’s timing and Shaun Alexander was buried for a two-yard loss.

“If the snap was smooth I think I could have run for a touchdown because No. 55 (Lance Briggs) was in too tight,” said Alexander, who ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns. “I was actually going outside.”

What if Bears running back Thomas Jones hadn’t alertly batted down a ball waiting to be intercepted by Rocky Bernard? Seattle would have been a first down away from a potential game-winning field goal.

What if Seattle’s last three possessions hadn’t stalled at its own 44, 45 and 48 – again only a first down or two from being within kicker Josh Brown’s range?

“As good as we felt last week (after a 21-20 win over Dallas), it’s that tough this week,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said.

The Bears pulled even at 24 on Gould’s 41-yard field goal that barely snuck past the left upright with 4:24 remaining. Seattle misfired on two possessions and Chicago went three-and-out on its series, sending the contest into overtime.

Seattle won the toss and Alexander immediately picked up 10 yards on first down. However, Hasselbeck was hurried into an incomplete pass on third-and-2. Ryan Plackemeier, under pressure up the middle from Chicago’s Israel Idonije, managed just an 18-yard punt and the Bears took over at their 34.

“My fault,” Plackemeier said. “I should have kept my head down and trusted the protection.”

Chicago’s first two plays went nowhere, but then Grossman found Davis open down the seam for a 30-yard pass play to Seattle’s 36.

“I didn’t re-route the receiver and he got up behind me real quick,” Babineaux said. “The timing was all there for Grossman and my job was to throw that off.”

Said safety Ken Hamlin, who arrived too late to break up the play: “However it’s supposed to start, we shouldn’t let them get that play, especially on third down and medium to long distance.”

Chicago moved the ball to the 32 and Gould calmly delivered the game-winning field goal from 49 yards.

“I didn’t want to watch it,” Grossman said. “I saw the ball in the air and I kept following it and it was unbelievable. What a great ending.”

For far different reasons, Peterson thought it was an unbelievable ending, too.

“It was a tight game, but I thought we dominated them for the most part,” he said. “They made the plays when they had to. We didn’t.

“We had a couple of games this year where we straight-up dominated and blew the leads. That’s the way the season’s gone. Against Tampa Bay (in the regular-season finale) and in the post-season (win over Dallas) we’d been doing a good job of closing out games, we just didn’t do it today and it’s very shocking to me.”

Bears 27, Seahawks 24 (OT)

Chi—T.Jones 9 run (Gould kick)

Sea—Burleson 16 pass from Hasselbeck (J.Brown kick)

Chi—Berrian 68 pass from Grossman (Gould kick)

Sea—Alexander 4 run (J.Brown kick)

Chi—T.Jones 7 run (Gould kick)

Sea—FG J.Brown 40

Sea—Alexander 13 run (J.Brown kick)

Chi—FG Gould 41

Chi—FG Gould 49

A—62,184.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Seattle, Alexander 26-108, Morris 4-11, Hasselbeck 1-8. Chicago, T.Jones 21-66, Benson 12-45, Davis 1-9.

PASSING—Seattle, Hasselbeck 18-33-1-195. Chicago, Grossman 21-38-1-282.

RECEIVING—Seattle, D.Jackson 4-49, Branch 4-48, Engram 3-32, Heller 3-20, Stevens 2-18, Burleson 1-16, Alexander 1-12. Chicago, Berrian 5-105, Davis 4-84, Muhammad 3-38, Benson 3-24, T.Jones 2-6, Clark 1-13, Bradley 1-5, Reid 1-5, McKie 1-2.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.