SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Shaun Alexander and rookie Marcus Trufant came up big when the Seattle Seahawks needed it most.
Alexander had the go-ahead 25-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds left and Trufant followed with an interception as the Seahawks edged the Chicago Bears, 24-17, to improve to 5-1 for the first time in franchise history.
The Seahawks, who have a one-game lead over the St. Louis Rams atop the NFC West, have three victories in the final three minutes this season.
"There's a maturity that takes place over time," Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said. "Once you overcome an obstacle, you build confidence in yourself that you can do it again. We're not picking apart too much how we got to 5-1, but we're happy to be here."
Last week, Seattle blew a 17-point halftime lead before rallying to defeat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-19, on a late field goal by Josh Brown.
This time, the Seahawks wasted a 17-6 fourth-quarter lead. The Bears rallied to tie the game on a one-yard run by Stanley Pritchett with 4:12 left and a wild two-point conversion run by Chris Chandler in which the 38-year-old quarterback rolled out to his right, saw nobody open and dove into the end zone amid a bevy of defenders.
"(Our coaching staff) expected to catch them a little off guard with the (line) shift, but they zoned it all off," Chandler said. "It was kind of like sandlot, just kind of running, looking for anything that was open."
The tying touchdown drive began after Seattle receiver Koren Robinson was stripped of the ball by Bears rookie cornerback Charles Tillman and teammate Bobby Gray pounced on it at the Chicago 33.
But on the Seahawks' ensuing drive, Tillman was whistled for interference on Robinson. Alexander, who had 101 yards and two TDs on 21 carries, scored on the next play, bouncing outside to the left and juking safety Mike Brown before running into the end zone.
"I was holding that play back, but I thought it would work," Holmgren said. "It was designed to break to the outside. The line did a great job, and Shaun got outside and took it in."
"We've come to expect big plays out of each other. Today was my turn," Alexander said. "The play bunched up in the middle, so I freelanced a little bit and took it to the outside."
Three plays later, Chandler was intercepted at the Bears 39 by Trufant, who played collegiately at Washington State. Alexander rushed for another first down to help run out the clock.
"The quarterback forced the ball and I got it," Trufant said. "As a rookie, I know that they're going to come at me almost every play. I've got to be prepared."
Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck completed 19-of-27 passes for 215 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Bobby Engram had six catches for 73 yards and a touchdown against his former team.
"When they tied it up, the attitude we had was simply that it was our turn," Hasselbeck said. "It felt like all of the pressure was on them to stop us, not on us to score, which is a change from the past.
"We're not putting the big numbers up like last year, but I'm not sure anybody really cares. We have plenty of room to improve, but to be 5-1 with the mistakes that we've made is a nice feeling to have."
Engram had a pass bounce off his facemask in the Chicago end zone with 10 seconds left in the first half. Brown picked it off to prevent Seattle from opening a 21-6 advantage.
Chandler went 19-of-34 for 149 yards and two interceptions for Chicago (1-5), which dropped its 11th consecutive road game.
The Bears did not dress injured star running back Anthony Thomas. Backup Adrian Peterson missed most of the second half with a left ankle injury.
Seattle took a 7-3 lead on a one-yard run by Alexander 2:19 into the second quarter after the Bears' R.W. McQuarters was whistled for interference against Darrell Jackson in the end zone. Chicago committed three penalties on Seattle's nine-play, 65-yard drive.
After Seahawks linebacker Anthony Simmons intercepted Chandler, Hasselbeck made it 14-3 with 8:47 left in the half on a 25-yard pass to Engram, who played for Chicago from 1996-2000.
Paul Edinger connected on field goals of 50, 35 and 40 yards for Chicago, pulling the Bears within 17-9 with 13:28 to play.
"Once again, we kicked kicked too many field goals to win the football game," Bears coach Dick Jauron said. "we have to convert more of our opportunities into scores. That being said, Paul had another outstanding day. He has had a tremendous year kicking for us."
