Postgame analysis: Seahawks 23, Bears 17 OT

Russell Wilson has officially arrived, and the Seattle Seahawks may have done the same as a viable playoff team Sunday after a stunning 23-17 overtime victory at Soldier Field over the Chicago Bears.

The rookie Wilson was 23 of 37 for 293 yards and rallied the Seahawks from a 14-10 fourth-quarter deficit with a 97-yard touchdown drive. Then, after the Bears staged their own comeback to tie on Robbie Gould's 46-yard field goal, Wilson in overtime guided his team 80 yards to the game-winning TD.

Wilson seemed to answer questions about whether Seattle (7-5) was a playoff team with its 1-5 road record before Sunday and an inability to win close games. His rollouts, passes on the run and runs off the read-option befuddled an aging Bears defense that prides itself on holding late leads yet seemed to wear out as the game went on.

Wilson ran for 19 yards and threw for 86 yards on the go-ahead 97-yard drive in which the Seahawks overcame a holding penalty. Wilson found WR Golden Tate for a 14-yard TD for the 17-14 lead, but the Bears (8-4) came back with Gould's field goal two plays after a 56-yard pass from Jay Cutler to Brandon Marshall with nine seconds remaining.

In the overtime, Wilson continued to run and gained 28 yards on three runs during an 80-yard drive that ended on a 13-yard TD pass to Sidney Rice.

The Bears had been 64-10 under coach Lovie Smith when leading after three quarters, and appeared to have the game in hand despite a gamble by the coach in the second quarter when they failed on a fourth-and-1 run by Michael Bush, instead of trying a 33-yard field goal for what would have been a 10-0 lead.

A handful of replacements on the offensive line kept Cutler protected well enough to go 17 of 26 for 233 yards, including 10 for 165 yards to Marshall. But the Bears' defense collapsed under the pressure of trying to stop Wilson and defending against Seattle RB Marshawn Lynch, who had 87 yards on 19 carries.

The Bears' defense looked worn and frazzled and it created questions about whether age is a factor. With five players 30 or older and a handful of injured players, they could be fading at the wrong time. They gave up a late first-half field goal drive, a late TD drive and an OT TD drive.

The win left Seattle alone at 7-5 for the sixth and final wild-card spot, while the Bears fell into a tie with the Green Bay Packers for the NFC North lead. The Bears and Packers play again in two weeks and the Packers already have the tiebreaker by virtue of a 23-10 Week 2 win at Green Bay.

When the game turned: Bears coach Smith thought it turned on his failed gamble at the Seahawks' 16-yard line, but the more obvious point was in the fourth quarter with Seattle facing a third-and-14 at the Seattle 14-yard line after a holding penalty. Wilson got back 11 yards immediately on a pass to WR Doug Baldwin, then found TE Zach Miller on the crucial fourth-and-3 play at the Bears' 45 for a 7-yard gain with MLB Brian Urlacher covering. From there, Wilson was able to hit Rice for 28 yards to set up the 14-yard go-ahead Tate TD, and the Bears needed Gould's field goal for overtime.

Highlight moments: The game-winning TD pass to Rice, who took a blow to the head from Bears S Major Wright as he dove over the goal line, but was OK afterward. ... Wilson's 12-yard scramble on third-and-5 around right end to put the Seahawks in scoring position at the Bears' 25, setting up the game-winning TD. ... The 59-yard Cutler-to-Marshall strike with nine seconds left in regulation that set up the tying field goal. It was basically a playground play, and Marshall beat CB Richard Sherman by outleaping him for the ball. ... Wilson's 49-yard pass to Tate in the second quarter when he beat CB Tim Jennings to set up the Seahawks' first TD. ... In the lowlight moment, WR Earl Bennett dropped a sure 62-yard TD in the second quarter.

Top-shelf performances:

• Seahawks QB Wilson -- 23 of 37 for 293 yards, 2TDs; 9 carries for 71 yards

• Bears QB Cutler -- 233 passing yards, 119.6 passer rating

• Bears WR Marshall -- 56-yard catch to set up tying FG, 10 catches for 165 yards

• Seahawks WR Rice -- 6 cathces for 99 yards

• Sehawks WR Tate -- 5 catches for 96 yards; 49-yarder set up TD

What they said about Seattle winning a big road game:

• Seahawks coach Carroll: "It's been a long time coming. I can only go back that this whole season -- for the rest of my life -- will be looking back at these games where we had these wonderful chances. But we're better now than we were. And Russell (Wilson) has everything at his disposal now."

• Seahawks QB Wilson: "Guys were paying attention to detail and it was a spectacular win for us."

• Seahawks WR Tate: "Obviously we faced adversity a few times. So to see us battle back like that, our offense to be able to move the ball at the end of the game, two long drives at the end to win, really twice, is huge."

What the Bears said about blowing a fourth-quarter lead:

• Bears coach Smith: "That hasn't happened to us very often around here. Terrible job I did getting our football team ready. I thought we were ready to go. ... Defensively we didn't get a lot done. We had opportunities. Third downs were terrible today for us."

What they said about Russell Wilson:

• Bears DT Henry Melton: "They were chipping inside and he would just scramble outside. We shouldn't have let him out there. You've got to keep that edge there. We were working on that all week. And we knew he was going to do it. We just let him out.

• Seahawks coach Carroll: "For a young kid like him, it was just exquisite poise. There were so many plays in there where he had to do something special on the play -- to move, to throw, to find the right guy."

What they said about the Bears defense wearing down:

• Bears coach Smith: "Fatigue plays in when you don't get off (the field) on third downs, and then you don't get off on fourth downs."

Injury update: Bears -- Bennett (concussion), LB Urlacher (hamstring), CB Jenning (shoulder), S Chris Conte (illness). Urlacher and Jennings were injured near game's end -- Jennings on the final drive of regulation and Urlacher on the TD drive in OT. Seahawks -- LG James Carpenter (knee). He will undergo an MRI this week. Rice, who appeared to have a possible concussion on the final play of the game, was OK afterward. Doctors gave him a concussion exam because he has a history of them, but the Seahawks thought he would befineK.

Going forward: Bears -- They travel to Minnesota for a rematch with the Vikings (1 p.m. ET), who are playing for their playoff lives. Seattle -- Seahawks host Arizona on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. They lost 20-16 in their season opener on the road to Arizona.