Seahawks earn key road win as Bears’ streak continues

CHICAGO — The Seahawks didn’t necessarily need to win Thursday night to keep their playoff hopes alive, and their offense played like it.

They were undisciplined and were hit with a couple of procedural penalties and a personal foul on DK Metcalf.

They were ineffective, managing only 265 yards and a pair of field goals in their worst offensive performance in more than a calendar year.

And in the end, the Seahawks emerged victorious thanks to their defense, which was as ferocious as the offense was forgettable. The 6-3 scoreline was not over until Riq Woolen intercepted Caleb Williams’ desperate attempt, a fitting end to a fight in a game dominated by Mike Macdonald’s defence.

It shouldn’t have been this close against a four-win Bears team that had lost nine straight games, but the Seahawks’ win means they won’t necessarily be eliminated from playoff contention with a Los Angeles Rams win on Saturday over the Arizona Cardinals.

The Seahawks’ only path to the playoffs is as NFC West champions, and the best chance of that happening is for Los Angeles to lose on Saturday and for the Seahawks to beat them next week at So-Fi Stadium, where Geno Smith and the Seattle offense will play. They have to be much better than Thursday night.

Here’s what you need to know for both teams:

QB Breakdown: Geno Smith was disappointing, completing 17 of 23 passes for 160 yards with no touchdown on a humid night in the mid-40s. He didn’t throw any interceptions, which has been his Achilles heel in 2024, but he was nearly intercepted in the red zone on Seattle’s first drive. One of the three sacks he received came on a play in which he had to get rid of the ball but held onto it while trying to buy time, resulting in a fumble that Seattle recovered. Smith tends to play much better indoors, so he won’t mind heading from Chicago to So-Fi Stadium next weekend, where he’ll have $6 million worth of contract incentives on the line, and potentially a playoff berth as well. against the Rams.

Promising trend: Williams entered Thursday as the NFL’s sackest quarterback, and the Seahawks’ deep pass rush took advantage. They pressured Williams on 10 of his first 20 dropbacks and kept him pressured throughout the game. Seattle finished with seven sacks by six different players. One came from Uchenna Nwosu, the first of an injury-plagued season.

Promising trend, Part 2: It came against a below-average Bears run defense, but the Seahawks found some success on the ground. His 53 rushing yards on his first field goal nearly matched last week’s total of 59. They finished with 122 rushing yards on 25 carries, with Zach Charbonnet (57 yards on 15 attempts) leading the way after Seattle placed Kenneth Walker III on IR. The Seahawks haven’t run the ball as often or as well as Macdonald wants this season, which has put a microscope on first-year OC Ryan Grubb. But the running game was at times one of the few bright spots of Seattle’s offense against Chicago.

Fundamental game: Late in the third quarter, tight end Pharaoh Brown was stripped by cornerback Kyler Gordon, who returned the ball for what was initially ruled a touchdown. That would have given Chicago a 10-6 lead, but officials ruled that Gordon was down due to contact, and Seattle’s defense eventually rescued Brown by forcing a punt. Nwosu’s sack for a 14-yard loss helped stop the drive. –Brady Henderson

Next match: at Los Angeles Rams (to be confirmed, January 4 or 5)

Slow starts have been a problem all season for the Bears, who have scored a combined 20 points in 16 first quarters. During his weekly pregame interview on ESPN 1000, Chicago general manager Ryan Poles gave his two cents on the root of those issues.

“I think it’s because of training camp,” Poles said. “It’s just some of the things that weren’t addressed or detailed enough, whatever it was.”

Chicago’s offense was a disaster on a night when quarterback Caleb Williams averaged 1.3 passing yards per completion, his lowest mark of the season according to ESPN Research. Behind an offensive line that was missing left tackle Braxton Jones, who was placed on injured reserve this week, and left guard Teven Jenkins, who was ruled out with a calf injury, Williams struggled. The Bears’ offense converted 33% of their third-down attempts and looked listless on seven drives that ended in punts.

The Bears suffered their 10th straight loss against Seattle and will conclude a season that fell far short of expectations in Green Bay in Week 18.

Describe the game in two words: Tough surveillance. The Bears couldn’t find offensive traction while averaging 3.1 yards per play. Chicago’s best drive, which racked up 67 yards and took 7:47, resulted in a field goal after a holding penalty on left guard Jake Curhan negated a touchdown from Caleb Williams to Rome Odunze. The defense kept things close, but this was an ugly Thursday night game for both teams.

Worrying trend: Caleb Williams has taken a lot of hits this season. Williams was relentlessly pressured on dropbacks all night, leading to him being sacked seven times. That brings the quarterback’s total to 67 sacks this season, the second-most by a rookie quarterback behind David Carr’s record mark (76) in 2002.

Most surprising performance: The Bears defense recorded three sacks for the first time since hosting Minnesota in Week 12. Former Seahawks defensive end Darrell Taylor had his first sack since Chicago’s season-opening win against Tennessee, while Defensive tackle Byron Cowart recorded his first complete sack since December 10, 2020. . -Courtney Cronin

Next match: at Green Bay Packers (TBA, January 4 or 5)