The Seattle Seahawks will live to see another day.
Or two. Or perhaps many more.
After a 6-3 win over the Chicago Bears in front of a spirited crowd at Soldier Field on Thursday Night Football that featured more punts (13) than points (9), the Seahawks now wait to see if Arizona can knock off the Rams on Saturday. That would set up a winner-take-all regular-season finale on Jan. 5 in Los Angeles. If the Rams win Saturday, game No. 17 almost certainly becomes meaningless for Seattle, barring a long string of NFL game results that would swing the “strength of victory” tiebreaker in the Seahawks’ direction.
“Just how we drew it up — exactly what we expected, 6-3,” quipped Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, whose team improved to 9-7 in his first season as a head coach. “It’s not easy coming across the country on a short week and playing in an atmosphere like that. Our guys deserve a lot of credit for their poise. Stuck together in the face of adversity throughout the game.”
Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon celebrates a sack of Bears quarterback Caleb William at Soldier Field in Chicago on Dec. 26, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Edwin Hooper / Seattle Seahawks)
In a game that featured a pair of former Archbishop Murphy High School stars — Abraham Lucas for Seattle and Kyler Gordon for Chicago — The Seahawks defense tormented Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft. Williams, who entered the game as the most sacked quarterback in the NFL this season, was taken down seven times on Thursday to push his total to 67. Seattle defensive end Leonard Williams sacked Williams twice, giving him 10 for the season.
Uchenna Nwosu, Devon Witherspoon, Jarran Reed, Rayshawn Jenkins and Derick Hall each recorded a sack as Macdonald’s defense used an array of blitzes to keep Chicago’s signal caller guessing. Williams also saw his string of 353 passes without throwing an interception end as Chicago threatened to steal a win at the end. The Bears, who have lost 10 straight after a 4-2 start, gained 49 of their 179 yards on their final drive.
The win helped mask an ugly offensive outing by the Seahawks, who managed to outproduce Chicago by 86 yards. Zach Charbonnet gained 57 yards on 15 carries, and Kenny McIntosh added seven rushes for 46 yards as the Seahawks picked up 122 yards on the ground. Though Quarterback Geno Smith completed just 17 of 23 passes for 160 yards, he avoided throwing a tide-turning interception.
“Obviously when you score six points, you’re going to come away thinking that you can do a lot of things better,” Smith said. “… but I also think we moved the ball really well. I was really proud of the way we ran the ball. I thought we were effective in the passing game.
“We could have used a few more explosives, but … hats off to the Bears. They’ve got a talented group on defense and they made it tough for us.”
Kyler Gordon, a Bears cornerback out of Archbishop Murphy High School in Everett and the University of Washington, appeared to have flipped the game in the third quarter when he returned Seahawks tight end Pharoah Brown’s fumble for a touchdown. However, Gordon was ruled to have been down by contact as he recovered the loose ball. The Bears used six plays to net one yard before one of Tori Taylor’s seven Bears punts.
“I wanted that touchdown bad, man,” Gordon told Marquee Sports Network. “A Christmas miracle — I needed it.”
Another former Husky got into the end zone for the Bears. Former UW receiver Rome Odunze had a second-quarter touchdown catch nullified by a holding penalty committed by Bears guard Jake Curhan, a former Seahawk.
Caleb Williams made some plays on the final drive that threatened to make Saturday’s Arizona-LA game meaningless. Williams converted two fourth downs and a third-and-14 as he used 13 plays to drive the Bears 49 yards to the Seahawks 40. He then threw four straight incomplete passes, the final of which was intercepted by Seattle cornerback Riq Woolen.
“There are times when you can have a better call, want a better call, things like that, but we didn’t execute,” Caleb Wiliams said. “I didn’t execute on many different occasions in this game. It’s frustrating. “
Seahawks safety Coby Bryant blitzed on Chicago’s final offensive play, forcing Williams to heave and pray as Seattle presented a different defensive look.
“In critical moments, I think it speaks a lot to the trust we have in our guys that they can go get the job done,” Macdonald said.
The Seahawks improved to 6-1 on the road. Should the Rams win on Saturday, it will be the 3-6 home record at Lumen Field that will stand out. Seattle is the first team in NFL history to lose six games at home and win nine in the same season. If the Seahawks receive the needed help from Arizona on Saturday, they could earn a tenth home game, as the NFC champions will host a Wildcard Round playoff game.
“We are still seeing it as a possibility,” Leonard Williams said. “In a way, we’re trying to say ‘Let’s control the controllables and let the other things fall into place as they will. We have to win out. … We might get a chance.”
This story originally appeared in seattlesportsnow.com, of which Aaron Coe is a co-founder.
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