National Football League
Chicago 35, Seattle 24
When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 16, 2011
Where: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
Temperature: 24°
Head Official: Alberto Riveron
Attendance: 62265

Jay Cutler certainly made his first playoff start a good one.

Cutler ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more as the Chicago Bears advanced to the NFC Championship with a 35-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

The second-seeded Bears (12-5) will host the sixth-seeded Green Bay Packers next weekend. The NFC North rivals split their two regular-season games, with both clubs winning at home.

After rushing for just one touchdown all season, Cutler ran in from six and nine yards out for Chicago (12-5), which scored touchdowns on three of its first four possessions and never looked back.

Cutler rushed five times for 46 yards, the most by a Bears quarterback in a playoff game since Sid Luckman ran for 64 yards against the Washington Redskins in 1943.

Cutler completed 15 of 28 passes for 274 yards - including a 58-yard scoring strike to tight end Greg Olsen just 2:52 into the contest. The reception was the longest catch of the career of Olsen, who finished with three receptions for 113 yards.

After Chester Taylor rushed in from one yard out later in the quarter, Cutler called his own number to cap two more drives to put the game out of reach. The quarterback eluded several would-be tacklers before diving into the end zone midway through the second quarter, and then reached the pylon with 4:12 in the third.

One week after burning the New Orleans Saints with four touchdown passes, Matt Hasselbeck threw three more on Sunday. Mike Williams reeled in touchdown grabs of two and three yards in the fourth quarter, while Brandon Stokley capped the scoring with a 9-yard strike.

Marshawn Lynch had four carries for two yards as NFC West champion Seattle finished its season with an 8-9 mark.

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Seattle   Chicago
Golden Tate Player Matt Forte
1 Attempts 25
13 Yards 80
13.0 Avg Yards 3.2
0 Touchdowns 0
13 Long 11
Receiving
Seattle   Chicago
Brandon Stokley Player Greg Olsen
8 Receptions 3
85 Yards 113
10.6 Avg Yards 37.7
1 Touchdowns 1
21 Long 58
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Seattle 276 34 242 3 1 1 3.0 2
Chicago 437 176 261 5 0 0 2.0 0
Upcoming Games
  • Chicago will play their next game at home against Green Bay. The Bears have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.