Skip to main content
Advertising

ChicagoBears.com | The Official Website of the Chicago Bears

Extra Points

Extra Points: Dissecting Bears' decisive 2-point conversion

Bears WR Damiere Byrd in action against the Seattle Seahawks.

A day later, taking a look back at the Bears' 25-24 comeback win over the Seahawks in Seattle:

Play of the game

Even after the Bears stormed back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit Sunday in Seattle with a field goal and a touchdown, they still trailed 24-23 when they lined up for a two-point conversion with just 1:01 remaining.

The play that was called was designed for Damiere Byrd to run interference that would free up Darnell Mooney, the primary target. Byrd lined up wide right and ran a quick slant, while Mooney sprinted from the right slot to the right flat. But the Seahawks defenders switched receivers, leaving neither one open.

Byrd drifted back in the end zone and ultimately made a one-handed catch with two defenders draped all over him, lifting the Bears to a 25-24 victory.

"I was talking to myself at least for a couple of seconds," Byrd said. "We locked eyes and he ended up throwing it ,and I just knew I had to go up and get it."

"It's called 'QH Swivel,' quarterback Nick Foles said. "They played it very well. They actually played it perfectly, and the reason it worked was Byrd played backyard football and knew that they covered it well. If he wouldn't have done his thing and just stopped and came back, we don't win this game. I was really happy that he played some backyard football and we ad-libbed right there."

Unsung hero

If you compiled a list of Bears players most responsible for Sunday's thrilling comeback win, it no doubt would start with Foles, Byrd and Jimmy Graham, whose 15-yard touchdown reception preceded the two-point conversion.

But the Bears undoubtedly wouldn't have won the game without a key play by right tackle Germain Ifedi. Two plays before Graham's touchdown, Foles was sacked by defensive end Carlos Dunlap, who stripped the ball from the veteran quarterback. Ifedi, who signed with the Bears last year after spending his first four NFL seasons with the Seahawks, recovered the loose ball a split-second before two defenders could grab it.

Diamonds in the rough

Rookie sixth-round draft picks Khalil Herbert and Dazz Newsome both made key contributions in Sunday's win.

Herbert, a running back from Virginia Tech, drew the Bears to within 17-14 with a 20-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter.

Newsome, a receiver from North Carolina, returned a punt 28 yards to the Seahawks' 15, setting up David Montgomery's 1-yard touchdown run that tied the score 7-7 early in the second period. Playing in his second NFL game, Newsome also made his first pro reception, picking up a first down by breaking a tackle en route to a 10-yard gain.

Opposing view

Pete Carroll, who's in his 12th season as Seahawks coach, called Sunday's defeat "about as disappointing of a loss as we've had."

"We were in control in so many ways in that game to go win it and put it away, and we just never did," Carroll said. "We let them stay alive, and they found the way to make their plays. We had to do some stuff to give them that opportunity, and they took advantage of it. Give them credit, they've been struggling all year too, and it's a big win for those guys."

Check out the best images—taken by Bears photographers—from Sunday's thrilling comeback victory over the Seahawks in snowy Seattle.

Advertising