CHICAGO/SEATTLE — Jeffery Simmons needed only one game to show Chicago why the Bears gave up two first-round picks to get him. The defensive lineman, acquired last week in a trade with Tennessee, had a sack on the opening drive, added another tackle for loss, and finished with six tackles and a pass defensed as the Bears beat the Seattle Seahawks 34-17 on Monday night.
Quarterback Caleb Williams opened the scoring with a touchdown pass on Chicago’s first drive and went on to have one of his most efficient nights of the season against a Seattle defense known for making life hard on opposing offenses. Williams finished 247 yards passing, completed 71% of his throws, took only one sack and did not turn the ball over as the Bears improved to 6-2.
Williams’ command of the offense helped set up three short touchdown runs from D’Andre Swift, giving Chicago enough cushion to withstand anything Seattle’s offense could muster against Simmons and a Bears defense that held the Seahawks to 252 total yards and just one third-down conversion in 11 attempts.
The loss was the third in four games for the defending champion Seahawks (4-4), who now sit outside the top of the NFC playoff picture with little margin left for error. It also snapped a 30-game streak, dating through the regular season and playoffs, in which Seattle had never lost by more than four points — the fourth-longest such streak of the Super Bowl era.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold went 17 of 34 for 188 yards and two touchdowns, but a fourth-quarter interception set up Swift’s third touchdown of the night, pushing Chicago’s lead to 34-17 with 4:41 remaining.
Seattle’s running game continued to struggle even after the team traded last week for three-time All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson and got Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price back from injury. The Seahawks managed just 81 rushing yards on the night.
How the game unfolded
Chicago set the tone immediately with a 17-play opening drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Luther Burden. Two more field goals in the first half and a 1-yard touchdown run by Swift in the third quarter built the Bears’ lead to 20-9.
Simmons and the rest of Chicago’s defense kept Seattle’s offense largely shut down through most of the first half, until Darnold connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a 43-yard completion with 30 seconds left in the second quarter.
Seattle’s chances dimmed further early in the fourth quarter when a 33-yard field-goal attempt by Jason Myers was blocked. But DeMarcus Lawrence forced a fumble by Chicago’s Colston Loveland on the ensuing possession, giving the Seahawks a short field that led to a 7-yard touchdown pass from Darnold to Cooper Kupp. A successful two-point conversion cut Chicago’s lead to 20-17.
Chicago answered right back with another touchdown drive, and Darnold’s late interception sealed the Bears’ win.
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