Hasselbeck came up short

CHICAGO – Saw a handful of Bears’ fans tailgating two hours before kickoff in short sleeves, despite wind chills in the low 20s. Saw Seahawk cornerback Pete Hunter, a loan officer a few weeks ago, make a key interception.

Saw Seattle botch several third- and fourth-and-short plays in the fourth quarter and in overtime. Saw rookie Ryan Plackemeier shank an 18-yard punt in crunch time. All mildly surprising developments.

But I never thought I’d see Rex Grossman outplay Matt Hasselbeck in a thrilling NFC divisional playoff game Sunday at Soldier Field.

On the biggest stage of the season to this point, Hasselbeck was ordinary in a contest that begged for late-game magic. Hasselbeck and the Seahawks offense were afforded three chances to break a 24-24 tie, two in the closing minutes of regulation and one in overtime.

They came away empty all three times and the Bears finally figured out how to win a game that it appeared neither team wanted to seize – a 27-24 triumph greeted by a collective exhale of relief from 55,525 nervous Bears’ fans fearful of a repeat of Chicago’s home playoff flop in 2006.

Meanwhile, on the Seahawks sideline it was business as usual. They have been so many things this season: Dominating in a 3-0 start. Gallant in playing through a myriad of injuries. Sub par in December losses to the 49ers and Cardinals. Lucky in last week’s escape against the Cowboys.

Through it all, they teased their fans with flashes of brilliance that made it seem as if they were on the verge of something big. Or at least something bigger than elimination in the second round against a Bears outfit that was ripe for the taking.

“We had opportunities,” Hasselbeck said. “We didn’t take advantage of all of them. It felt like we were maybe one play away.”

That play was eventually made by Chicago and the much-maligned Grossman. His 30-yard pass to Rashied Davis set up Robbie Gould’s game-winning 49-yard field goal in overtime.

“We never lost confidence (in Grossman) and that’s all that matters to us in this room,” Davis said.

Seattle had decided edges in playoff seasoning after last year’s Super Bowl run and the comfort of knowing kicker Josh Brown had already made four game-clinching field goals this season.

“We felt comfortable, man,” left tackle Walter Jones said. “It was one of those deals where whoever made a play was going to win the game. They came down and had that great catch (by Davis) and that was their opportunity to kick the winning field goal. It could have easily gone our way.”

But the Seahawks couldn’t get into position to summon Brown. They had decent field position, timeouts and a quarterback who has thrived in pressure-packed situations before.

“Once it got late in the game and it was tied up, we were trying to get inside the 35-yard line to make it a field-goal game for us,” Hasselbeck said. “That was the mindset. We weren’t able to do that as an offense. That’s our fault. We have to get that done.”

It put a punctuation mark on a tumultuous season for Hasselbeck. His passer rating of 76 was the second lowest of his career and the worst since his first season in Seattle in 2001. He injured his knee in October and missed four games. When he returned, he struggled to find his comfort zone behind a patchwork offensive line and group of receivers, units impacted by injuries.

“I’m proud of the way we stuck together through a very difficult year,” he said. “That wasn’t the case last year. Things came easy for us. We got all the good bounces. It was just fun, no one got hurt and if somebody did get hurt, the backups stepped up and had career years.

“Last year we probably took it for granted how fun it was. We had a bye week in the playoffs, home-field advantage. That makes it really nice. We didn’t have that this year.”

Hasselbeck’s and Grossman’s numbers were similar. Both were sacked three times. Hasselbeck finished 18 of 33 for 195 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Grossman was 21 of 38 for 282 yards with one TD and one interception. However, Hasselbeck’s interception was a poorly thrown pass to a well-covered Bobby Engram. Grossman’s was on a pass that should have been caught by Muhsin Muhammad.

Hasselbeck’s rating was 69.6; Grossman’s was 76.9.

Grossman’s touchdown pass was a 68-yard beauty to Bernard Berrian in the second quarter. Grossman came up with the clutch throw to Davis in overtime.

Never thought I’d see it.