Bears

It appeared the Bears' defense was in for a long day after the Pittsburgh Steelers marched 92 yards on 13 plays for a touchdown on their first possession. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw four passes of at least 15 yards on the drive.

Every great quarterback needs a defining moment, a signature victory, an extraordinary event that creates instant credibility for teammates and coaches and fans and foes.

Alex Brown vowed that the Bears already have taken on all the injuries they need for a while.

Robbie Gould aimed his game-winning field goal from 44 yards just inside the left upright, and the ball never veered from the middle as he kicked the Bears to victory Sunday with 15 seconds left.

'I think they brought me in for a reason,'' Jay Cutler said after the Bears' thrilling 17-14 win over the Steelers.

Ten observations from yesterday's 17-14 victory over the Steelers:

The Seahawks are looking to rally from an injury-plagued 4-12 season in Mike Holmgren's final year. Jim Mora Jr. now runs the team, and his group followed an easy shutout of the Rams with a bad loss Sunday to the 49ers.

There weren't many among the more than 60,000 on Sunday at Soldier Field who thought the Bears ever had things under control, not until the final 15 seconds.

Hunter Hillenmeyer looked the part. The linebacker stood in the middle of the Bears' defense pointing and shouting and looking very much like a man in charge. He may not have played the leading man in the defense as spectacularly as Brian Urlacher often has during his decade with the Bears, but he played it capably, and that was enough on a rain-soaked afternoon saturated with urgency usually reserved for December.

Every great quarterback needs a defining moment, a signature victory, an extraordinary event that creates instant credibility for teammates and coaches and fans and foes.

There weren’t many of the more than 60,000 at Soldier Field for Sunday’s home opener who thought the Bears ever had things under control, not until the last 15 seconds.

Alex Brown vowed that the Bears have already taken on all the injuries they need for a while.

Good things happen when you run the ball. At least that's how the saying goes. Neither the Bears nor the Pittsburgh Steelers know much about that these days.

``I think they brought me in for a reason,’’ said Jay Cutler after the Bears thrilling 17-14 win over the Steelers.

The Bears face a big challenge in trying to overcome the loss of middle linebacker

The Seahawks are looking to rally from an injury-plagued 4-12 season in Mike Holmgren’s final year. Jim Mora, Jr. now runs the team and his group followed an easy shutout of St. Louis with a bad loss at San Francisco on Sunday. Keep an eye on the status of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who was knocked out of the game with a rib injury and is unlikely to go against the Bears. The backup is Senaca Wallace, who isn’t nearly as good a player. The big off-season signing was wide receiver T.J. Houshmanzadeh, who has been playing despite painful back spasms. The real story here has been the breakdown on defense, the unit that Mora specializes in running. Injuries have hurt that group as well with linebacker Leroy Hill (groin) out and Lofa Tatopu (hamstring) playing hurt. Rookie Aaron Curry has enjoyed some moments, but the Seahawks were embarrassed by San Francisco’s Frank Gores, who broke touchdown runs of 79 and 80 yards and finished with 207 yards on 16 carries. The Bears are just 1-4 at Seattle with the only win coming during the Seahawks expansion season.