The Bears have trumpeted Devin Hester as their No. 1 receiver since last season. He lived up to those claims Sunday, and he appears ready to settle into that role permanently.

Nothing Hester has done in his three years since converting from cornerback to wide receiver screamed "go-to guy" more than his game-winning 36-yard touchdown catch on the first play after the two-minute warning.

With the Bears trailing 19-17 at the Seahawks 36-yard line, Hester ran a quick slant toward the middle of the field, leaped to catch a high throw from Jay Cutler and was hit immediately. But he bounced off safety Deon Grant and cornerback Travis Fisher and sprinted into the end zone for a 25-19 victory for the Bears (2-1).

"They brought a little bit of pressure, which we anticipated, and it was press man-to-man coverage," Cutler said. "Whenever we get Devin one-on-one, we think the edge is on our side. He ran a great route, I put it a little bit out there and he made a heck of a catch and run. He makes one guy miss, and it's a touchdown and that's the game."

Hester finished with five catches for 76 yards and was confident enough in his ability to beat the Seahawks' coverage that he told Cutler to get him the ball.

"Whenever you get in a rhythm, and you feel it and you're kind of dominating, you want the ball in your hands," Hester said. "I stepped up to him and I said, 'Hey, I think we can get a shot on this if we throw a slant.' He came to me when it counted, and I stepped up and made a play. That's how it went down."

Sunday's game may go down as the one where Hester became what Bears coach Lovie Smith believed he could be since last season: a No. 1 receiver in the NFL.

Hester leads the Bears with 187 receiving yards and is tied with Earl Bennett (four catches for 80 yards Sunday) for the team lead with 13 receptions. If he maintains the same pace for a full season, Hester will finish with 70 catches for 997 yards.

His 51 catches for 665 yards last season weren't nearly enough to convince skeptics and even most Bears fans that he was a legitimate No. 1 receiver when the team started training camp. Cutler says he quickly realized that the critics were wrong about Hester.

"He's shown me something since I first got here," said Cutler, who arrived via trade on April 2. "They said he didn't know the playbook, he couldn't get out of cuts, he had trouble catching the ball. All of that's been false since day one.

"He's worked as hard if not harder than everybody in that room to get ready for the season. He's really driven. He wanted the ball a lot today. He was always in my ear, saying, 'I got it, give it to me.' Whenever we called his number, he came up big for us."